HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER (1973). Directed by Clint Eastwood. Starring Clint Eastwood. As a consequence of a dark secret, the small mining town of Lago is wary of strangers. After hearing that a gang of vicious criminals is on its way to extract vengeance against the town, however, they find themselves out of options. In desperation, they hire a mysterious drifter (Clint Eastwood) to save them. The drifter proceeds to help the town to prepare a garish welcome for the outlaws as he literally “paints the town red” and punishes both the outlaws and the townspeople for their past transgressions. I like to think of this film as the supernatural sequel to High Noon (1952). Although Clint Eastwood’s second turn as a director would seem to find him back within his comfort zone after his first attempt, the romantic horror suspense thriller Play Misty for Me (1971), he manages to take his first self-directed Western to places that no Westerns had really gone before, and few have gone since. Clint Eastwood’s macho persona is so set in stone by this point that it is sometimes too easy to forget the staggering range he has successfully displayed as an actor, director, and producer, as well as the big risks that he has taken at key points throughout his career. Stylistically, he has obviously learned a lot from his work with directors such as Sergio Leone and Don Siegel, but Eastwood also chooses to insert many of the horror elements that he explored with Play Misty for Me. The result is a gritty, cynical, creepy, and occasionally unsettling Western that is more reminiscent of an Ambrose Bierce story than a typical Western. Decades later, Eastwood would go on to revisit this brand of Western with Pale Rider (1985). Although he is obviously still honing his directing chops at this point, which can give the film a bit of a mechanical feel, this actually works in the film’s favor because it contributes to its weird, off-kilter vibe. Some of the supporting actors and actresses come across as annoying and spurious, but I’m pretty sure they’re supposed to. Needless to say, Eastwood rocks the shit out of this iteration of “The Man With No Name,” a character he was born to play. The cinematography is great at capturing the stark desert locations, and is frequently reminiscent of Leone. Dee Barton’s score isn’t quite as memorable as Morricone’s compositions, but is ethereal and creepy enough to suit the mood of the film. This is the film that introduced Clint Eastwood as one of the primary visionaries at the forefront of the revisionist Western movement, and not just its most prominent actor. It helped to change the Western genre forever. John Wayne hated this movie, if that can be considered an applicable litmus test. It’s far from perfect, but it’s easily one of the best and most memorable Westerns of the 1970s. Recommended. -MOJO HAND https://youtube/watch?v=i1almB9zxX4
Posted on: Sun, 05 Oct 2014 00:43:14 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015