Part 1
The 1983 movie Conan The Barbarian starring Arnold Schwarzenneger as a slave turned swordmaster was heavily influenced by the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche, indeed in the first few opening scenes we the see phrase “What does not kill me, makes me stronger” which other than “God is dead” is the phrase which most sums up the Nietzscherian philosophy.
Also in the opening scenes we see a dialogue between a young Conan and his father about the teachings of their god whom they call Krom. It is said that Krom taught man the power of steel, to trust in the might of a sword over that of men, women and wealth. And that when they die, Conan and his clansmen will be asked about the Riddle of Steel.
But since Conan was based on a comic series and for their to be a story to talk about Conan’s family are killed early as the story unfolds by Thulsa Doom (played by a younger James Earl Jones).
Thulsa is the head of a cult. Cults, if you don’t know it already, specialize in brainwashing people and getting them to do whatever the leaders want the followers to do…without a single threat of violence.
Part 2
Conan is taken as a slave, and in the movie we see him toiling for years milling wheat while turning a giant stone around and around (a nod to the Greek character Sisyphus perhaps?). As he toils, the camera focuses on his muscular development, as a portent to him building strength to support his burning desire to avenge the death of his family.
Even if the story ends here I think it’s something everyone can relate to.
A young boy's family is killed by a cult and one of the most enduring memories he has of his father is is his father telling him a story from the lore of his people. In the story the boy learns that strength and might are the only forces which count, and with that the boy decides to build up his strength and acquire a sword to avenge the deaths of his family.
Eventually Conan becomes a powerful swordmaster and is set free by his master.
Somewhere in the movie Conan is asked what is best in life, and he answers with “To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women.”
Pretty violent if you ask me, but let’s not forget what Thulsa did to Conan’s family.
Part 3
Conan acquires a big sword and set’s off on having his revenge but things don’t turn out as he plans. He is captured, beaten up and left for dead by Thulsa. As Conan is being beaten up Thulsa tells him that he is familiar with the tale of Krom’s gift of the sword but that Krom is wrong. As the head of a cult, Thulsa has infinitely more power since he controls the minds of men. And whoever controls the minds of men, controls the swords they wield.
The lesson is here about the importance of brainwashing. That you can do and get a way with a lot if you learn to use the minds of oppressed slave-like people against them.
Close to this scene we also see how Conan’s sword breaks, dashing his hopes of achieving a noble revenge since the means of his Will has now been destroyed.
Part 4
Tied to a tree as he is left for dead with birds circling above him (perhaps a nod to the Greek character Prometheus) Conan resolves that beating Thulsa, despite everything he has been through, is STILL possible.
So with an ordinary sword, a weakened broken body and better late than never Conan attempts his revenge once more and manages to overcome Thulsa’s brainwashing cult and kill Thulsa by lopping off his head.
Conclusion
This is a really a story that delivers on so many levels.
What starts out as a tragic tale about a naieve warrior people who are dependent on swordsmanship and violence to deal with the realities of the world only to be destroyed by the more pragmatic Thulsa who prefers to control the brains behind the human operations instead, to Conan’s slavery, his liberation and his defeat by Thulsa, to his recovery and persistence at achieving his life mission and eventually succeeding we can appreciate a fascinating story about the value of will-power and persistance.
That this story was written by a fan of Nietzsche’s works is not coincidence as Nietzche wrote a lot about the power of heroic persistence in the face of seemingly poor odds.