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western #21, 'the outrage.' [another day, another movie.]

By • On • In another day. another movie., scott • 1 min read

Another punch for punch American adaptation of a Kurosawa movie. It takes the subtle musings about truth in Rashomon and instead works the word ‘truth’ into as many lines as possible to jam the concept down our throat. Most of the writing is pretty weak. Although, Shatner’s last line is pretty great. (That’s right, William Shatner is in this movie!)

The majority of the great moments lost their effect on me because they were just lifted directly out of Rashomon.

So far, Leone is the only guy who could adapt Kurosawa in a way that felt like art in its own right, as opposed to art translated to the big, dumb masses. Adaptation can still be a wonderful artistic medium, even Kurosawa was adapting novels much of the time. The problem is when all you are doing is refilming each scene in a different language with different actors, stealing shots and themes, while never offering anything new, offering nothing of yourself. That is what most filmmakers seemed to be doing when they adapted Kurosawa for America.

Also, Paul Newman was the worst Mexican ever. I love the man, but he should have never, ever played a Mexican. Plus, the decision to make the bandit a Mexican really can’t be seen as anything but racist. If people suspected an innocent man as guilty because he was Mexican, then you would have something, but simply making the infamous, treacherous bandit Mexican is lazy and racist.

Oh yeah, one more thing, that poster at the top of the post, with the line ‘was it an act of violence or an act of love?’… yeah, that wasn’t even kind of  a question asked in the movie. Throughout the course of Hollywood history, I often wonder if those who create ads for films have ever seen the film in question.

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western #20, 'rashomon.' [another day, another movie.]

By • On • In another day. another movie., scott • 1 min read

Rashomon was a story of an apparent murder and rape, told after the trial in which four people tell four different versions of what happened, and who each person blames for the murder isn’t who you’d expect.

It was more proof that Kurosawa was amazing. I could say the same things about this movie that I said about the others.

After the 30 days of 30 Westerns is over it won’t be long before I’ve watched all the Kurosawa I can get my hands on.

He was making movies in the 50’s, for mainstream Japanese cinema, filled with beauty, wisdom, and ambiguity; movies that challenged the assumptions and ignorance of his time, his movies even questioned themselves.

He also worked a lot with the same cast members, which is fun both because you get to see characters take on such different roles, and it also feels like seeing old friends again.

Rashomon made fun of sexism, but in a way that for most of the movie it just made you wonder if he was being sexist. And, in a brilliant “fight” scene Kurosawa also made fun of men pretending they are far tougher and stronger than they are.

The movie was subtle and perfect.

Americans, get over your aversion to subtitles and watch some damned Kurosawa!!

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western #19, 'the proposition.' [another day, another movie.]

By • On • In another day. another movie., scott • 1 min read

It’s probably getting tiring, me writing about how amazing so many of these movies are, but this was another example of amazing filmmaking.

Written by Nick Cave (yes, THE Nick Cave) and Directed by John Hillcoat, it moves the Western to Australia, which is about as apples to apples as a comparison can be.

The film is dark, brooding, violent and disturbing, it is also beautifully shot and stunningly acted. If Oscars were based purely on merit, and everyone had a fair shot, there were at least four performances, plus direction, cinematography, and perhaps screenplay, that would have at least gotten nominations.

Stunning, deeply affecting storytelling, I have a feeling I’ll be carrying this one around for a while. It wrestled with morality in a way that was relentless in taking the ordinariness of human depravity seriously.

There is a scene in the final minutes of the film, where the combination of wonderful direction and amazing acting by Emily Watson create a moment as arresting as any I’ve seen. The full reality of the moment is so palpable, you could choke on the horror and tension of it. I’ve never wanted to reach through a screen and intervene more in my life.

Utterly brilliant filmmaking.

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western #17, 'dead man.' [another day, another movie.]

By • On • In Uncategorized • 1 min read

This 1995 film by Jim Jarmusch was yet another movie that blew me away. Like any Jim Jarmusch film, it was full of overt metaphor, absurdity, and off-kilter performances. I loved it!

It’s amazing the way Jarmusch, as well as the entire cast, were able to use absurdity to tell a story that also felt so down to earth and real. The storytelling is so careful and intentional, and Jarmusch is a master at creating moments where the hilarious is always touched by the tragic, and the tragic by the hilarious. My experience of it was at once darkly humorous and heartbreaking.

It was by far the least conventional of the Westerns, but it included most of the themes and clichés nonetheless, albeit turning most of them on their heads and critiquing them.

I said it once, and I’ll say it again, I loved this movie!

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western #14, 'hang 'em high.' [another day, another movie.]

By • On • In another day. another movie., scott • 1 min read

With a title like Hang ’em High, I figured this would be a story about Clint Eastwood’s characters hanging a bunch of ‘bad guys.’

Instead, it was far more ambiguous and intelligent than that. A wonderful film to watch after suffering through True Grit.

It was a great rumination on the relationship and differences between justice and vengeance, and most of the characters were a realistic mixture of good and bad. It was strong across the board, and there isn’t much more to say than that.

This was also the first film I’ve seen featuring the stunningly beautiful and heartbreakingly tragic Inger Stevens.

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western #12, 'shane.' [another day, another movie.]

By • On • In another day. another movie., scott • 1 min read

Another classic of the genre that I’d never seen before.

I was so impressed with how good it was. Such a great story, well directed and acted. Jack Palance was great in his small role as the gunslinger for hire, and Alan Ladd was fantastic, all 5’6″ of him.

It was so great. I was stunned by the emotional nuance and complexity, as well as how charged some scenes were.  I really wasn’t expecting much going into it, and early on I was a little worried. But it really was a fantastic film. Tragic and beautiful.

It’s pretty rare, even in 2010, to find a film that leaves questions open for the viewer to decide. Yet, in 1953 Shane engages questions of violence, conflict, love, the value of human life and morality with subtlety and ambiguity. All that can’t be debated in the film’s message is that we make choices, and there are consequences, and usually life isn’t fair.

The climax of the film is so quiet and unassuming.

Ah, so good. For me this was the biggest surprise so far. I expected a generic Western. Instead I found genuinely moving storytelling.

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western #11, 'unforgiven.' [another day, another movie.]

By • On • In another day. another movie., scott • 1 min read

This is the first of the Westerns we have watched so far that I actually owned, so, obviously I liked this one going into it.

Eastwood responds to the Western genre that helped make his career. Even going so far as to say it basically encapsulates everything he feels about the genre.

It is slow and taut, filled with great characters played brilliantly by gifted actors.

If Cooperstown was for actors instead of baseball players, Gene Hackman would only have to screen The Royal Tenenbaums and Unforgiven back to back and he would have my vote to get in without any further conversation.

It doesn’t deal with the Native American issues, but it pulls back the curtain a bit on the rest of what lies implicit in the Western genre.

As is the case with much of Eastwood’s directorial work, the story turns the myth of redemptive violence on its head. There is always a cost.

Great movie, all around.

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western #8, 'seven samurai.' [another day, another movie.]

By • On • In another day. another movie., scott • 1 min read

Holy shit, this movie was magnificent! Everything about it was nothing short of amazing.

There is no possible hyperbole when praising Kurosawa. This is only my third film from his catalogue, but I am just blown away by his ability to visually tell a story. The stuff he was doing in the 50’s… it’s just unbelievable.

Seven Samurai is poignant, sweet, sentimental, brutal, hilarious, and filled with depth and wisdom. It was absolutely stunning, this story of tender warriors, protecting the innocent, some making the ultimate sacrifice willingly.

The acting was also fantastic. It was brilliant across the board, but none more so than in the case of our old friend Toshiro Mifune. He exhibited an amazing ability to act hilariously insane and unhinged, and then suddenly become the emotional anchor of a moment, sometimes in the same scene.

This movie was spellbinding. I really can’t believe how good it was. I genuinely felt for each character, even though each was developed with a wonderful subtlety. I have no clue as to the backstory of most of the characters, outside of the fact that they were ronin, and yet Kurosawa’s skillful writing and directing, coupled with amazing performances simply worked each character into my heart.

It was around three and a half hours long, and I was sad to see it end. Easily my favorite movie so far.

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western #6, 'the searchers.' [another day, another movie.]

By • On • In another day. another movie., scott • 1 min read

The Searchers is another movie praised quite highly by AFI. Not only was it #12 on the ‘100 Years, 100 Movies’ list, they also selected it as the greatest Western of all time.

Directed by John Ford, it was released almost twenty years after Stagecoach.

The Positives: Visually, The Searchers was really impressive. Ford clearly took great pains to find remarkable shots and angles, and it was most certainly a beautiful film from that standpoint. There were moments where I found myself enjoying the film in spite of myself, which is no small praise.

The movie, up until the last ten minutes or so, was also far more ambiguous about racism than Stagecoach. Much of the racism was named and some even condemned in the text of the film.

There was also ambiguity in the morality of the characters. Wayne’s character was a thief with legitimate rage issues, and they never apologized or demonized it, they just let the character be. That’s something I didn’t expect, and it was refreshing. 

The Negatives: For one, I’m decidedly not a John Wayne fan. I wonder if perhaps it is just different sensibilities in different eras, but to me all of his characters just seem drunk most of the time. His long, drawling speech coupled with his clumsy and awkward gait and movements just come across as being a lush, not an everyman.

Also, while I commend Ford for even attempting to address the racism in society and film, he ultimately failed. The racism was so deep that even the attempt to condemn racism was racist. For goodness sake, the main villain of the film was a Commanche war chief played by a German man painted a bronzish tan color… that’s right, a painted German guy.

Also, any ambiguity the film lets sit in the air during the movie falls apart during the climax, when all the white people kill off all the Indians and live happily ever after. Hooray!

It was almost as if Ford was saying, ‘Hey racism makes me uncomfortable, it’s downright sad even. But, they are savages, so what are you really going to do about it? If they refused to become “Americans” like us, they needed to be dealt with eventually.’

I guess for me, it doesn’t really matter how well a movie is made when its messages are this ugly, whether that was the intent or not.

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