Last week’s viewing:
(Reminder of audience: Me, 19-year old & 15.5 year old. Experienced film-watchers, mature and patient with the differences between older films and contemporary culture.)
Once Upon a Time in the West :
Sergio Leone, again. A year ago around this time we did a weird pilgrimage in the midst of our Spain trip to the location of the famed circular-cemetery-showdown scene in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Also on that trip, we did a crazy hop across the water to Lucca, Italy to see Ennio Morricone’s “Final Concert” – and looking at his website, it seems that yes, that was accurate. Son #5 is crazy for Leone’s films and for Morricone’smusic, but we had never watched this one – celebrated by some as the best, and notable, for, among other things, genial Henry Fonda playing a thoroughly despicable character.
I mostly enjoyed it – it was a little long, and honestly, while the Claudia Cardinale character was, indeed, a little more complicated than the “prostitute with the heart of gold” stereotype, the regular featuring of her half-clothed self got to be ridiculous. Oh! Time to run the water for my bath! Yeah, whatever.
The opening scene (embedded above) is stunning. Long, silent, menacing, mysterious. Gorgeously shot, as is the whole film, of course. Breaking Bad wouldn’t exist without Leone, for sure. The plot is a little confusing, but the point is clear: The mythology of the West is just that – mythology. Once upon a time.
On a similar theme: The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. Another classic I’d never seen. I admit that I’m not a fan of either John Wayne or Jimmy Stewart’s acting. It’s all about the persona, though, and both fit here, as Ford explores the question of masculinity and the shape of the West – really, the shape of civilization, period – the ultimate question whenever we talk about the settlement of the American West. Again, it’s about the power and function of myth, which I really can’t address directly without spoiling the film. Let’s just put it this way – the vivid, visible discomfort expressed by two main characters in the closing scene of the film is intended to inspire our questions and discomfort as well: about the origins and growth of the country in which we live, and perhaps, casting a wider net, about the myths upon which our individual lives are constructed as well.
An interesting side-note. As I watched the film, I was struck by the character of Pompey – the rancher John Wayne’s employee/ranch hand, who is Black. There were several scenes in which Pompey’s presence and role is not quite in the center, but unmistakable and therefore important, as well. In other words – he didn’t have to be in that scene, doing what he was doing. Most striking to me was the election scene, in which the males of the area gather to elect delegates – they crowd into the saloon, and in almost every scene, Pompey is there, just at the edges of the frame, sitting, looking to the side. Liberty Valance was released in 1962, and it seemed so clear to me that in addition to the general questioning of national myth, Ford was presenting a subtle statement on race – well, not so subtle in some scenes (the schoolroom scene), but in cases like this – visible to those with eyes to see – and once you notice it, overwhelming.
I found a good article on the question of race and Liberty Valance in which the author discusses all of these issues and relates how director John Ford intended to make three more films starring Woody Strode, who played Pompey.
It is also worth noting that when he died, Ford had plans for three films likely starring Strode. One was The Josh Clayton Story, a western about black cavalrymen, and another was a Western screenplay with a white protagonist that Ford wanted rewritten so that Strode could assume the title role. The last Ford project announced to the press came in March 1972 when “Variety reported that Strode or Williamson would star in a Ford film called The Grave Diggers, an original by Bellah and his son James Jr. about Benjamin Davis, the first black West Point graduate to retire with the rank of major general.” Ford’s plans to make movies surrounding issues of race—and in these three examples also starring African Americans—at the end of his life points to the larger Ford trend of overtly examining race in American culture in his later work, with films such as The Searchers (1956), Sergeant Rutledge (1960), Two Rode Together (1961), and Cheyenne Autumn (1964).
Minority Report – eh, it was okay.
I think I saw this in the theaters when it came out, but I’m not sure. In my head, I always confuse it with Twelve Monkeys, which I definitely saw in the theater.
There were certain aspects of the future-visioning which I found engaging and interesting, but the plottiness of the last part I found tedious.
His Girl Friday – time for a comedy break! Of course, I’ve seen it many times, the boys had seen it ages ago, but not recently enough that they remembered much of it. Always great. And a refreshing reminder of a couple of things: First of all, the concept of the “strong woman” and the “woman in the workplace” was not invented in 1968. Secondly, for all of our present-day mooning about the Nobility of the Press, this (along with its origin story The Front Page) is an excellent reminder that for most of its history, journalism has been experienced as a shady, self-interested pursuit. What raised the image of journalists? Three things, I think: war correspondents, the love affair of certain elements of the press and the Kennedy administration and, of course, Woodward and Bernstein and Watergate.
His Girl Friday, besides being a cracking time, is a useful reminder of reality.
Last night, Son #5 watched Interstellar. Son #4 was at work and I wasn’t interested. He loved it.
This week? Not sure. I do think Master and Commander will be on the list, though.