It's like some lost 70s revisionist Western, the little brother of McCabe & Mrs Miller perhaps. It's almost amazing how Dominik got away with making such a slow and moody film. Probably he wouldn't have without Brad Pitt in the lead role. Who's good, but the film still belongs to Casey Affleck. And is it the most beautiful, most Terrence Malicky Western ever made? Roger Deakins' cinematography is some kind of wonder. Possibly the film drags a tiny bit in the middle, but then it gets even more interesting after the death of Jesse James, when we follow Robert Ford who has to live with the conscience and regret of his act. It's one of the few films where a narrative voice actually works. And I like how muted the gunshots are, sounding almost as sad as the sound effects in a Chris Ware comic.
I place it up there with Unforgiven, beautiful looking film and, as you said, the second half is totally captivating.
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ReplyDeleteSå forleden Dominiks nyeste, "Killing Them Softly." Veldig dialogtung og tydelig svært inspirert av Scorsese og Tarantino. Filmen var nok en gang sterk rent visuelt, men ellers ganske skuffende med tanke på et tregt plot og uinteressante karakterer, selv om Pitt var ok. Men som en politisk kommentar fungerte den aldeles ikke.
ReplyDeleteHar lest blandet kritikk av Killing Them Softly, er fortsatt interessert i aa se den en dag.
ReplyDeleteI never got around to see this movie, but your recommendation makes me want to run out and buy it.
ReplyDeleteThere's something almost Scandinavian about the slowness of the film! I read somewhere that the first cut of the film was four hours long, and it was shown like that at some festival, then it was cut down to the current two and a half hours. I'd actually like an extended edition dvd, showing the original cut, but that probably won't happen.
ReplyDeleteNot a bad film! I don't like Casey Affleck, but I recognize that in this movie was pretty good.
ReplyDeleteI love western movies (particularly the trilogy of dollar). Jason, do you made any comic of western genre?
Yes, the Leone Westerns are great. And also Once Upon A Time in America.
ReplyDeleteI did this story called Low Moon which is a play on the Western genre.