I'm Talking to Myself Aren't I? pt2

And now part two in a series called: I'm Talking to Myself Aren't I?


After the sobering reality of a my break I got into the more celebrated films. From the previous two films, I am fully expecting torture. Rested up and ready, I put in the movie High Noon. Like a white light shining down from the heavens, sent to purify my senses. A choir of angels sang the songs one would expect from such a profound moment. This movie was a kick ass western. Thank you god! (tough you only get a little g). High Noon stars Gary Cooper as a law man retiring to start a new life outside a world involving guns and violence. At the risk of redundancy, I really expected more of the same from this movie. You hear Gary Cooper and think "Hollywood fluff" ... well at least I do. I can see how I'd be alone on that. What i mean when I say "Hollywood fluff", I speak of the type of actor who has probably played his movie choice roles very safely. I don't think I've ever really heard of a Gary Cooper film, except for Mr. Deeds, but I do know people mention him in the same breath as Cary Grant, Jimmy Stewart, Bogart and Abbott and Costello (so what? they don't fit... I was running out of famous old movie stars) . He also gets a mention in "Putting on the Ritz" for what it's worth. What really struck a cord with me in this movie is the vividness of strength in Gary Coopers character Will Kane. What is great with Will is that he has all the movie trappings of a law man in the old west, strong moral fiber, will do the right thing even if it kills him, and expects those around him to band together in times of need. The filmmakers create world where these ideals exist and are shared on the surface with friends, but then tuens the table on them when the going gets tough. As if a comment in it's self on how westerns are built on these unreal ideologies, our lead spends the whole movie trying to round up a posse of townsfolk to stop a released criminal from setting up shop in town again. We're shown a well loved lawman within the first 4 minutes of the movie, who cleaned up a corrupt town, who 5 minutes from then is having trouble finding friendships he thought he had. This is unheard of in these types of movies. This movie was made in 1952 and took risks that even modern movie studios would have trouble making. Most western movies made around this time and before followed a formula that presented a cut a dry world were you know who the bad guys are, you know who the good guys are and you probably know how it's going to end. This type of movie wasn't supposed to exist during this time period. It's an anomaly. The good guy isn't supposed to have all these friends make excuse after excuse why the won't or can't help. He's got people in town he never knew hated him and would love to see him dead before the day is done. The man is literally an "ideal man" trapped in reality. It's his characters slow realization that makes not only the movie but the character so compelling and tragic. This is a great movie and should be seen and owned. So this is what a good western is like. Now I'm excited. Now I have optimism seeping from my pores. Next is True Grit.

Going in again I had reservations about watching a John Wayne movie. I had a better reason this time than any other apprehension I had about the other movies. I've seen a John Wayne film before. The Searchers. Although I liked the movie, I thought John Wayne came off like a wooden action figure (actions figures are not dolls!) with a pulley string in the back to make him talk. This movie killed any desire to see a John Wayne film again. But this is research I'm doing... I'm a professional... and professionals do what they gotta do.......... watch another movie. True Grit made in 1969 is a fine example of the western movie genre pulling away from ideal stereotypes to the anti-hero/no goodnick hero type. This is more my flavor... but that's a generational thing, and I know that. What stood out to me in this film is the strong writing of dialogue. The banter between Wayne's 'Rooster' Cogburn and Kim Darby's Mattie Ross is priceless. Darby's performance is priceless on it's own as well. In hindsight one wonders how Darby didn't have a bigger career. The flat out surprise of the film is John Wayne. He's actually alive in this film. I'm not sure if it was all that time between Searchers and this movie that he buckled down on his acting and really gave it a try, but it was appreciated. The movie was so engaging on a writing and acting level the overall outcome of what transpired was almost meaningless. That's how much fun sitting there watching everything unfold was. Oh my God! (you get a big g this time, but just this time) I'm actually starting to.... uh.... like (oh crap) westerns. A John Wayne movie no less to putting me in the black. The very fiber of my being is slowly morphing and what's scary is... (gulp) I don't mind.

Now I may have been having fun with the last two movies I watched, but I still felt I needed a palate cleanser. I needed a ringer of a movie. Enter good ole' Clint Eastwood. Ahhh. Refreshing. High Plains Drifter has been marked as one of Clint's strangest movies. Rightfully so. He plays another man with no name (which is how we like it) who.... drifts?... into a town that goes from desert to ocean in quite a short distance. He is town no longer than say... five minutes, maybe less before he's killed three people. This isn't your usual western town. Well for one thing, it's the only western film town I have never seen built right next to ocean and directly connected to the desert. This isn't a busy town. There are no strangers there, so when one comes in... all eyes are on him. I say him cause, come on... what woman rides into a strange town in middle nowhere? They don't! We all know women can't ride horses... it's physically impossible. Are you gonna question science?!?! I think not. And we digress. As the movie unfolds you begin to question even if Clint's character is a man or a spirit of vengeance brought about on the town for it's dark past. Sounds good huh? By the end of the movie, they've hidden the full scope of resolution so well you'll be stunned by it's subtext. In typical Eastwood cowboy movie fashion, violence is presented in a gritty "this is the evil of real world" sort way. This is what I want from my westerns and it was a lovely way to cap off my research/movie marathon.

But the research isn't quite over. I felt researching the genre of movie westerns would not be complete without seeing The Wild Bunch. This took a few extra days to get around to watching it. I had such good luck with two previous "classics" True Grit and High Noon that I thought I may be pushing my luck with a third "classic". Though I loved another Sam Peckinpah called Straw Dogs there was something about this film that worried me. It's was the classic status it was giving. The sheer number of times you hear people mention it as a inspiration film for them as an artist. I feared this movie couldn't possibly live up to that hype. I'm entitled to be wrong... and was. This movie was really kick ass. Your main characters are bad guys... really likable bad guys, which is quite a daring thing to ask of your audience. The Wild Bunch are band of robbers and murderers barely held together by loyalty. I'm not sure but I think this is the first time in cinema the audience was asked to follow such types as their leads. Not to mention (but of course I will... duh!) asked to sit through graphic depictions of violence. In the first 10 minutes of the movie someone has taken buckshot to the face and they SHOW IT! Granted not done as well as some of the blood and guts by today's standards, but the guy has a hunk of meat hanging from his face, followed by one of his friends (and I use this term loosely for this film) finishing him off. The lead, William Holden is one bad mofo' Considered to be the best ( a termed used describe him in the film) one would guess at being bad. These men live in a cut throat world where friendships can be a dangerous thing. Caring to much about the guy riding next to you could the difference a getaway and taking a bullet yourself. At the heart of the movie is the development of this problem. For a reason still escaping me (I'll watch it again to try to get a better grip) these men that make up the "Bunch" (Not this kind mind you) begin to care about each other. Where in the beginning they would just as soon shoot one of their own to get away then they would anyone else. Great concept to tackle in any film and finding it in a western... older western circa 1969... we'll call it the bronze age. It wasn't any given performance that made the film. It was the movie that as a whole that made the film. It was political and dark. It was a world of grey morals. Men didn't have qualms about shooting a cheating ho' in the belly. In actuality, if you could hold a gun they shot you. I do believe even a child gets at some point as well. In the beginning of the film a scene occurs that doesn't seem too relevant to the film just yet, that entails a bunch of children looking down into a small pit they've dug. In this pit are some scorpions fighting off and being overwhelmed by a fire ant attack. All the while the children look on mostly in enjoyment, some horror, and laugh as the scorpions begin to surcome to the inevitable end. They will die. This image reminded me so much of the Greek Gods staring down at there creations. In true Greek mythology fashion they put mortals through the wringer for pure enjoyment. There's nothing better to do when your all powerful. These children, to scale, are no exception. Powerful images and a thought provoking movie.

To cap things off. This experience has really opened up a new sect of movies I had otherwise shunned. Like with any genre of movies there will be good, there will be bad, and there certainly will be stab me in the eyes for they have been fouled types as well. My advice is to look at each cinematic experience as an opportunity to arouse that creative side in all of us. Something to dicuss and examine. And my advice is when the creative side is aroused and you engage in intercourse with it always make sure you are on the bottom, you'll have better control this way.