Cheyenne Autumn(dir. John Ford)
He used this film as a way to atone for some of his sins as a filmmaker relating to the portrayal of Indians in his previous work and ended up making probably his most politically incorrect and offensive film to most viewers and fans today. I wasn't offended, but it's easy to understand how someone would be offended by the film and be unable to defend it as wholeheartedly as his earlier work because of the use of Latino actors for the roles of Indians. Maybe, during the time when films like Guess Who's Coming to Dinner were considered cutting edge socially conscious cinema, this was considered noble and important, but now, it's hard not to look at it with disdain for such a ridiculous move on the filmmakers' part. However, I can't look at the film too negatively mainly because of recent examples in cinema(Memoirs of a Geisha, I'm looking at you) that are even more offensive and ridiculous in their casting and given the time it was released, it's hard to criticize Ford's sentiment, even if the Indians are predictably portrayed as noble victims instead of full-rounded characters in the film. Being a Ford fan, the idea of a film directed by him with a truly epic running time is especially enticing and even if this film doesn't rank among his best work, it's still a fascinating watch much in the same way as a film like Southland Tales is. As a cohesive whole, it might not work as well as one would like, but for the sum of its parts like a memorable comedic interlude with James Stewart playing an amusingly apathetic Wyatt Earp, it definitely warrants a watch. I recommend.
*** out of ****
He used this film as a way to atone for some of his sins as a filmmaker relating to the portrayal of Indians in his previous work and ended up making probably his most politically incorrect and offensive film to most viewers and fans today. I wasn't offended, but it's easy to understand how someone would be offended by the film and be unable to defend it as wholeheartedly as his earlier work because of the use of Latino actors for the roles of Indians. Maybe, during the time when films like Guess Who's Coming to Dinner were considered cutting edge socially conscious cinema, this was considered noble and important, but now, it's hard not to look at it with disdain for such a ridiculous move on the filmmakers' part. However, I can't look at the film too negatively mainly because of recent examples in cinema(Memoirs of a Geisha, I'm looking at you) that are even more offensive and ridiculous in their casting and given the time it was released, it's hard to criticize Ford's sentiment, even if the Indians are predictably portrayed as noble victims instead of full-rounded characters in the film. Being a Ford fan, the idea of a film directed by him with a truly epic running time is especially enticing and even if this film doesn't rank among his best work, it's still a fascinating watch much in the same way as a film like Southland Tales is. As a cohesive whole, it might not work as well as one would like, but for the sum of its parts like a memorable comedic interlude with James Stewart playing an amusingly apathetic Wyatt Earp, it definitely warrants a watch. I recommend.
*** out of ****
1 comment:
Oh big Scotty Key....
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