I fell in love with a store today, Pip-Squeak Chapeau.

It’s the three month old, concept store of designer Sveta Dresher.

(this pic doesn’t do it justice)

There was something magical about the whitewashed floorboards and videography on the walls playing to Arvo Pärt (who’s name she kindly wrote down for me).  The multi-sensory experience was like walking through clouds and made me want to touch each of the natural fiber, frilly and knitty items – the perfect environment for such tactile things.

I wanted everything!  From every hand-made chiffon skirt and knitted dress, to each carefully chosen journal…this is going to be dangerous…

At least my new found obsession with Estonian composer, Arvo Pärt won’t cost me too much:

On a chirpier note, watch Björk interview Arvo Pärt for the BBC program “Modern Minimalist” (1997)

You guys are pros. The best. I’m sure you can make it out of the casino. Of course, lest we forget, once you’re out the front door, you’re still in the middle of the fucking desert!

– Reuben

Breaking away from his trademark quirky sensibility, Steven Soderbergh remade the 1960s Rat Pack classic heist film, Ocean’s Eleven. Instead of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammie Davis, Jr., the main leads are George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Matt Damon. Quite a departure. Soderbergh has some success with mainstream movies; I think that his subsequent Ocean’s trilogy exposed himself more to the mainstream consciousness.

Re-channeling his Out of Sight persona, George Clooney plays the titular Danny Ocean that is recently paroled after four years. When he is released, he goes to old stomping grounds to reconnect with his former crewmembers, travel across the country to reconnect with the poker teacher to the stars, Rusty (Pitt).

Ocean’s plan is to steal “x” amount dollars from three casinos, the Bellagio, the Mirage and the MGM Grand all of them owned Las Vegas casino owner, Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia). He would need a large crew at least a dozen to pull off the multiple cons needed to pull off the heist.

Seeing that they need a way inside the way, Danny and Rusty pay a visit to a former casino owner that was wronged by Benedict and knows the ins and outs of the security system, Reuben (Elliott Gould). After he is in, the rest of the crew is assembled like Frank (Bernie Mac), two drivers the twins, Virgil and Turk (Casey Affleck, Scott Caan), electronic expert Livingston (Eddie Jemison), explosives Basher Tarr (Don Cheadle), a “grease man” Yen (Shaobo Qin), Saul (Carl Reiner) and last but not least, master of disguise, Linus (Damon).

They have pow-wow to lay out the foundation of this impossible feat. If they succeed, they stand to get 150 million dollars when the casinos are distracted from an upcoming fight between Lennox Lewis and Wladimir Klitschko that same day. In order to let the heist run slowly, they have to lay the groundwork like plant a device on the casino’s closed circuit camera, recreating the vault to practice, the daily routine of their mark.

While relaying the routine of Benedict, Linus thought it would be a good idea to enlist the help of Benedict’s main squeeze, Tess (Julia Roberts) who was also Danny’s ex-wife. Danny’s ulterior motive becomes clear that steals the money is not his only motivation. He wants to get Tess back.

The movie is slick and a little too polished. I had the same problem with this movie as I did with Spike Lee’s Inside Man. I don’t like it when a filmmaker talks down the audience. We don’t need to know every single detail that needed to be explained. When the heist was taking place, I didn’t believe that these people would be able to pull that off. The only person that I liked was Andy Garcia. He has a permanent stoic look on his face that works well with his dickish Terry Benedict.

Judgment: Have a good time with Ocean and the gang in this solid remake.

Rating: ****

I sometimes have these thoughts where Joaquin Phoenix and Casey Affleck are sitting in an editing room snickering at all the footage they’ve shot around town of Phoenix’s new endeavors. His gruff Unabomber look along with his ambition in hip-hop music has to be a ploy for a project that will eventually lead to a ’surprise’ for the public… right? Well, hindsight is always 20/20 and if I’m wrong, then I will miss you Joaquin. You really should have kept your day job!

Since Phoenix transformed into a beast and went into hiding, I decided to watch Two Lovers last weekend. Phoenix portrays a man named Leonard who lives with his parents in Brooklyn. From the get-go, Leonard is troubled as he literally makes a splash in the first few minutes of the film. When good samaritans pluck him out of the water, the audience learns that he is not only troubled, but somewhat of a cad. He doesn’t even say ‘thank you’ to his saviors, but tries to walk away unnoticed. When he reaches home, his doting parents detects something is wrong, but their countenances explains that they’ve been through this before. Even his mother played by Isabella Rossellini tries to peek under his door to make sure her son is doing okay.

Although it would be easy to dismiss Leonard early on as someone who is socially awkward and in need of a few more therapy sessions, Leonard has many surprising elements about him that are revealed as the story progresses. While working for his Jewish parents’ dry cleaning business, Leonard drums on with his mundane life until one day he meets Michelle (Gwyneth Paltrow) in the hallways of their apartment complex. Leonard and Michelle become fast friends and he eventually finds out she is dating a married man. However crestfallen by this news, Leonard still becomes infatuated with Michelle and clings by her side when she is in need. Michelle isn’t much of a likable character as even some would have expected, she is flaky and is driven more by her erratic emotions than rationale. But then again, so is Leonard.

Their relationship eventually becomes more convoluted as Leonard starts dating the daughter of his parents’ business associate. But that doesn’t stop Leonard from being there for Michelle when things become complicated with her married lover.

While watching this movie, I couldn’t help feeling beside myself about Leonard. There were times where you wanted to like him very much as he seemed to mesh well with those around him (he even has a great dance number!), but it also left me feeling uncomfortable because I couldn’t tell his sincerity one way or another. Phoenix and Paltrow performs well as expected in their roles. But by the end, the film left me at a loss as I didn’t see a point to this story. Yeah, people do suck. What else is knew?

Running Time: 110 minutes

Rated R – some profanity and brief nudity

Bottom Line: It’s worth a gander, but no hurry.

To Die For | Gus Van Sant, 1995

Leading lady Nicole Kidman has had many ups and downs in her career. Perhaps the downs outweigh the ups, but I’m sure the lady herself would quite rightly argue that she has kept two feet firmly in the Hollywood spotlight for many years now. Even today at 40 she is still heralded as one of America’s most bankable female performers. All of this tends to distract from the point I’m attempting to make – that Kidman has talent as an actress. It’s only six or seven years since her acclaimed show in The Hours scooped a best actress Oscar, though people seem to have already forgotten this feat. It was a performance that I believe was perhaps eclipsed a year later with her role in Lars Von Trier’s overlooked experimental effort Dogville. In To Die For Kidman easily matches these two renditions; she plays aspiring TV girl Suzanne Stone, a driven and dangerous young woman who will do just about anything to make it in the industry. The character is an extremely colourful one that makes an impact using a confident, almost arrogant attitude , that is offset with some well placed femininity to seduce if not intimidate entirely. Kidman plays this role perfectly, creating a ravishing woman of the world whose naivety is shown with the kind of subtlety I previously thought to be beyond the actress.

Kidman is backed up by the equally impressive and fresh-faced Joaquin Phoenix in one of his earlier roles. He plays Jimmy Emmett, an oppressed adolescent who falls for Ms. Stone and whom she eventually uses thoroughly to get what she wants from life. Namely the killing of her own husband Larry (Matt Dillon) who she believes is standing in the way of her own blossoming career. With To Die For, Gus Van Sant chose the curious and risky process of splitting up the storytelling into direct-to-camera rants from each character: an insightful choice, but one that ultimately falls flat in creating any kind of dramatic suspense whatsoever. Thus, we find it difficult to become embroiled in the plot – something not helped by the largely confused motives exhibited also. Despite the decent performances all round (look out for a young Casey Affleck as Jimmy’s oafish friend), To Die For fails on many levels thanks to a lack of truly involving the audience in the central character’s plight. Yes, she is a diabolically watchable personality, but one whose motive is truly lost thanks to Van Sant’s fumbling. Hence, while entertaining, her position is also rather a shallow one. An interesting overall concept that tries vainly to employ some kind of black comedy to distract from a conceited plot, in the end rendering it quite pointless.

Our Rating:

The body of Jesse James is photographed for the history books in "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford".

(Andrew Dominik, 2007)

November 18, 2009

by Joel Crary

At the end of “The Man Who Shot Liberty Vallance”, James Stewart has finished relaying his story of gunning down the infamous outlaw for a reporter, finally coming clean that it was John Wayne whose aim was true. It won’t fly in the press, the reporter famously asserts: “This is the West, sir. When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.” In spite of its wonderful cinematography and a great performance by Casey Affleck, I was thoroughly let down by “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford”. It makes the mistake of printing the facts, and too many at that.

The film stars Brad Pitt as the outlaw and he’s just fine in the role. Jesse snarls and acts kind of nuts and seems dangerously unpredictable. He’s a hero to the young Ford (Affleck), who desperately wants to join his gang. Indeed, Affleck plays the role with a pitiable brilliance – in one scene, he forks over all of the knowledge he’s gained about Jesse from the pulp paperbacks that he keeps in a shoebox under his bed, drawing comparisons to himself down to the number of letters in their respective older brothers’ names.

Jesse laughs in his face. We kind of want to see him get his due, and this is one of the film’s faults – it can’t commit to supporting either of its protagonists. There is no indication of why Jesse is the way he is. Keeping him a mystery would be fine if Ford were the focus of the narrative, but for the film’s first half, which casts its net too widely in needlessly trying to establish supporting characters, he is not. Finally, Ford jumps into action, dispatching Jesse’s cousin Wood (Jeremy Renner) in a gunfight that he had no part in. The kid might have the guts to fire on Jesse after all.

By the gunfight scene, the film had worn me down with its pacing, which is far too gradual and ultimately causes its structure as a whole to collapse from underneath itself. The last half hour offers a potentially fascinating conclusion, but compared to how the film has told the story to that point, everything ends up feeling rushed and superficial. Andrew Dominik, who based his script on the novel by Ron Hansen, would have been wiser to vary his approach with regard to timelines. All of the moments he chooses to chronicle, such as Wood and Dick Liddil’s (Paul Schneider) romp up to Jesse’s uncle’s house and Jesse’s relation of his execution of Ed Miller (Garret Dillahunt) to Robert’s brother Charley (Sam Rockwell), might have indeed been necessary, but they aren’t placed in a relation to one another that makes them seem particularly relevant to the plot.

Dominik implements a narrator to poetically describe his characters’ lives and internalized feelings to the point of absurdity. In one scene, Ford paces around Jesse’s house from room to room while the narrator details every move he makes, even though they are plainly visible, robbing Affleck of the chance to communicate his mindset physically. This exhibits only a cowardice in technique, not in Robert Ford. The narrator describes Jesse’s home life. A good thing, too, because there would be hardly any indication that he had one otherwise. Poor Mary-Louise Parker is given precious little to do in her role as Mrs. James other than to shriek in horror upon his assassination, the one plot element that holds interest when nothing else of interest really presents itself.

“Assassination” is ultimately a story about how a man like Jesse James, who masterminded nearly 30 holdups, who outsmarted many men to their deaths in the violent environment of the old West, who trusted only two men in 10,000, and then not by much, could be shot by a punk kid with a crush on him. It takes an interesting turn in depicting the aftermath, but the slow buildup to the shooting doesn’t allow the film’s conclusions regarding Ford’s character to carry much dramatic weight. Jesse and Ford’s relationship is key, but the film spends far too much time diverting from it in order to pay attention to every single facet of the historical circumstances. In the telling of a legend, that’s wholly unnecessary. In the relating of fact, it’s tedious.

originally published in the middlebury campus

Spring time brings a mixed bag to movie theaters. There is rarely the over the top bombast that one finds during the summer, the introspective independent films that usual see the light of day toward the end of the fall, or even the laughably terrible films that are released in January or February. The spring usually finds films popping up in cineplexes that are too unimpressive to see release at any other time, which usually means nothing worth spending time on is gracing our local theaters. This is actually a blessing in disguise because it can afford one the opportunity to go back and check out films that might have slipped by during their theatrical run and are now being released on DVD. One of the films that slipped past most people when it had its initial shot in theaters this past September was The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.

The plot of The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is pretty much given away in the title. The film revolves around the relationship between infamous outlaw (and star of his own series of dime novels) Jesse James and 19-year old member of Jesse James’ gang Robert Ford. The two men meet during James’ last train robbery, and the young Ford quickly becomes attached to the charismatic Jesse James, who takes Ford under his wing during and after that robbery. Ford’s attachment becomes borderline obsessed until there is an imagined slight by James, at which point Ford goes to the U.S. Marshall, where his adolescent recklessness gets the better of him and he agrees to be James’ executioner. The rest of the film plays out about how you’d expect; Jesse James is assassinated by Robert Ford.

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford was initially completed in September of 2005, but after a first cut that didn’t please Warner Brothers studio heads or test audiences, the film languished in post-production hell as director Andrew Dominik cut and tested several versions of the film, before finally settling on the version that was released in September, 2007, two years after principle photography wrapped. It’s impossible to know the original cut of the film looked like, but the film that Dominik completed is staggering.

Brad Pitt won a Best Actor prize at the Venice Film Festival for his performance as Jesse James, and he deserved it. Pitt’s James transforms over the course of the film from confident outlaw to a paranoid and psychotic insomniac, afraid of being betrayed by everyone, except for Robert Ford. It is a towering performance that could easily stand alongside any of the best performances last year and is Pitt’s finest work to date. As Robert Ford, Casey Affleck proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is one of the best actors working today. Affleck takes what could have been a whiny-19 year old interloper and turns the character into a much more tragic figure, a young man who has the idyllic image of his hero shattered and who is forced to murder the man whom he respects more than any other. The film transcends its traditional western genre and instead becomes not only a meditation on fame and the glorification of celebrity, but also about the tragic loss of youthful innocence.

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is beautiful in the same way that Terrence Malick’s Days of Heaven is beautiful. The pace of the film is slow and contemplative, as the voice of a narrator provides back story while we watch a lone figure ride out of the mountains and onto the plains (the picture was filmed in Hollywood’s latest stand-in for the old west, the Canadian Rockies). Where most westerns are about getting to the action, Dominik holds back, preferring to make the audience wait for what we all know is inevitable. This could sound pretentious and boring, but Dominik is so assured in his images and characters that each lingering shot is breathtaking. Dominik doesn’t end his film with the assassination of Jesse James; he provides a lengthy epilogue which forces the audience to consider the link between fact and fantasy, and the glorification of outlaws in the American psyche. These themes aren’t new, but here Dominik’s penchant for contemplation makes them a part of the film; they don’t exist separate from the film because they are the film.

In the end, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford isn’t for everyone, and it isn’t for everyone for the reasons I’ve just mentioned. Everything about the film, from running time to title, is long. This isn’t a film concerned with bang-bang action, and one should be aware of this going in. But if you have the time, and right mindset, this is a truly awe-inspiring film that was the unfair target of critical and studio scorn, and audience indifference at the time of its release. It’s really a shame, because The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is a masterpiece.

Nel nuovo film di Michael Winterbottom, The Killer inside Me, con Casey Affleck (lo sculacciatore) e Jessica Alba (poi amata).

Der britische Regisseur Michael Winterbottom (“9 Songs”) bringt uns mit seinem neuesten Film “The Killer Inside Me” eine Geschichte, die von dem Hilfssherriff Lou Ford erzählt, der nach und nach als psychisch gestörter Killer enttarnt wird. Der Film hat weltweit bisher noch kein Veröffentlichungsdatum. Für die USA und für Neuseeland ist der Film aber bereits für das Jahr 2010 angekündigt. Ein über 5 Minuten langer Promo Trailer zum Film existiert aber bereits. Aber man soll gewarnt sein: Es gibt Sex- und recht verstörende Gewaltszenen zu sehen, also nicht gucken wenn ihr unter 18 Jahre alt sein solltet!

Michael Winterbottom (“9 Songs”) führte Regie bei “The Killer Inside Me”. In den Hauptrollen sehen wir Casey Affleck (“Gone Baby Gone”, Jessica Alba (“The Eye”), Kate Hudson (“Bride Wars”) und Bill Pullman (“Unter Kontrolle”). Der Film soll 2010 in die US Kinos kommen, ein genauer Starttermin und ein Release für Deutschland steht noch nicht fest.

I think that I’m going to expand this list from 25 to however many performances there are that I feel are noteworthy. Here are five more performances from this decade that I’ve loved. Be sure to check out parts one and two of this feature, and feel free leave me some comments on what you think!

Casey Affleck – The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)

Not since Jon Favreau called the same girl’s answering machine six consecutive times in Swingers have we witnessed such an epic display of loserdom on screen. But while Favreau’s performance was played for laughs, the 2 hours and 40 minutes we spend with Casey Affleck’s bumbling Bob Ford is far from comedic. The movie itself is a complex character study of the two men in a battle of wits (Robert Ford and Jesse James, who is played by Brad Pitt), and their never-ending quest to be one step ahead of the other. At one point, James muses to Ford, “I’m not sure if you want to be like me, or to be me.” That sentiment kind of sets the tone for Affleck’s entire performance, which twists and evolves beautifully throughout the film. I found Affleck’s performance unexpectedly moving, in a way. This is best shown in the last half hour or so of the film, after Bob has killed Jesse and has to return to the real world – only to find that they don’t want him, either. It seems odd to say, but Ford is really the heart of this film. He’s annoying and egotistical, yet Affleck’s amazing performance made me pity and even sympathize with this bizarre character.

Leonardo DiCapprio – The Departed (2006)

2006 was a great year for Leonardo DiCapprio. Even though Blood Diamond was a very powerful movie, I found myself thinking more about Dicapprio’s performance in The Departed after the fact. In Martin Scorsese’s Oscar-winning film, DiCapprio plays Billy Costigan, a conflicted young man working as an undercover investigator for the Boston police. When he’s assigned to get in with gangster Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson, who, of course, is great here) he soon finds himself in over his head. One of the things that I liked most about The Departed is that they had two characters on either side of the law, who are crossing into each other’s turf for their work (a very clean-cut Matt Damon plays Colin Sullivan, who is a Costello’s rat in the SIU), and they flip our expectations early on in the film, when we find out who is working for who. DiCapprio is so convincing as a man with a questionable family history (which is the entire reason that he was chosen to be the mole), but who is essentially good, and strives to do the right thing. The conflict that Costigan feels is played so well, and the entire process that he goes through is really amplified by DiCapprio’s great work.

Joaquin Phoenix – Signs (2002)

I think this might be the toughest choice to justify, especially since it’s from a mainstream horror movie that got mixed reviews. Horror movies are generally not known for their great acting, but Signs was really more of a character-driven thriller, despite the fact that it’s about an alien attack. Phoenix plays Merrill Hess, a former baseball prodigy living with his brother, Graham (Mel Gibson), a former priest who’s struggling to come to terms with the death of his wife. It is a supporting role for Phoenix, but he’s in most of the scenes, and I found his work very compelling. Merrill reacts so naturally to all of the bizarre things that are happening, and every facial expression and stutter subtly gives away the brave act that he’s attempting. The climax of the film is Phoenix’s time to shine (story-wise), but his best acting comes in the quieter scenes with Gibson. That being said, he’s totally convincing in the “action” parts of the movie, and also has a few really funny moments. There’s more to this film than just a few cheap scares, and I think Phoenix is one of the few actors out there who could strike that balance between fun horror acting and drama.

Kate Winslet – Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

Everything about Michel Gondry’s Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was quirky (well, it was penned by Charlie Kaufman. What did you expect?). And Kate Winslet’s role as rainbow-haired Clementine was absolutely no exception. She plays a unique, sometimes frustrating love interest for Jim Carrey’s Joel. The film starts off as an unconventional love story, and then becomes even more conventional when love goes sour, and Clementine and Joel decide that they want to erase each other from their memory entirely. The most memorable moments of Winslet’s performance come when Clementine gives glimpses of her emotional, raw inner self. This often comes during spats with Joel. While I loved Carrey’s moody, restrained performance, Winslet is the opposite. She’s fiery and passionate, and Carrey almost feels like the “straight-man” to her ultra-vibrant character. Yet the vulnerable moments are great too. And even the moments where everything is actually going right in Clementine and Joel’s relationship seem elevated from the usual romantic comedy fare. Without Winslet, much of the quirkiness, heart, and charm of this movie would be gone.

Sam Riley – Control (2007)

There were a lot of musical biopics released in the later part of this decade. My favourite of these biopics was Anton Corbijn’s Control, which chronicles the short adult life of Ian Curtis, and the rise of his band, Joy Division. It’s a pretty grim movie. Curtis cheats on his wife, has horrific seizures, struggles to find success with his band, and ultimately takes his own life. But Riley’s up to the role, clearly. In other high-profile biopics, I often feel very aware that an actor is trying very, very hard to portray every aspect of a famous figure’s persona correctly. Here, it felt like an incredibly natural performance. Riley’s Curtis is soft-spoken, withdrawn, and petulant. Yet when he steps on stage, everything comes alive in a bizarre, desperate kind of way. Riley switches between Curtis’ electric stage persona and troubled personal life with startling ease, and you can feel Curtis’ pain. At times, it feels much more like a documentary than the usual glossy biopic, and this is largely because of Riley unaffected performance. Curtis is a figure who is often romanticized in hindsight. But Joy Division was only on the cusp of success when Curtis killed himself. Riley portrays him as the real, troubled human being that he was.

I’ve been covering this one for quite a while. I posted some photos a few weeks ago and now there is a sales trailer for Michael Winterbottom’s film.

It stars Casey Affleck, Jessica Alba, Kate Hudson, Ned Beatty, Bill Pullman and Elias Koteas.

Deputy Sheriff Lou Ford is a pillar of the community in his small Texas town, patient and thoughtful. Some people think he’s a little slow and boring but that’s the worst they say about him. But then nobody knows about what Lou calls his ’sickness’. It nearly got him put away when he was younger, but his adopted brother took the rap for that. Now the sickness that has been lying dormant for a while is about to surface again – and the consequences are brutal and devastating.

The trailer is about 5 minutes long and shows quite a bit of what the story involves. If you should watch it let me know what your impressions of it were. I kind of liked it. Casey Affleck seems pretty solid in the lead.

This is a list I’ve truly been prepping for, for about a year now. About a year ago I had only seen a couple westerns that I had actually enjoyed (a few of those made this list), and I realized as a lover of movies I have not seen nearly enough westerns. So, I filled my netflix queue and got to watching and enjoying. I realized two things while watching the many westerns I did.

First of all, I’m quite sorry to say and I know many won’t agree with this statement and might even just X out of this page as soon as they read it, but an opinion’s an opinion and I’m not gonna lie to agree with society. I found John Wayne to be overrated. I’m just not a fan. I liked a few of his movies, such as The Searchers and True Grit, and my favorite would probably have to be The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, but that didn’t even make the list. It probably would be 11 or 12 though if I were to add on to this list.

Secondly, and much more importantly, I realized that Western genre is one of my favorites and this list list would be harder to make than I thought. I was very right. Through watching this dying genre I found not only fantastic westerns, but also some of the greatest movies I’ve seen of all time. Well, I’ve been waiting to do this for a very long time now. Here are my top ten favorite westerns of all time.

10. The Outlaw Josey Wales

Some of Eastwood’s best all around work in both acting and directing really shine in this film. There was only one other Clint Eastwood directed movie that was able to surpass this one and its listed later on this list. The story is a surprisingly  heart felt one and its told to near perfection.

9. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

This is the newest western to be placed on this list and in my eyes this movie is a breath of fresh air because it showed that great westerns can still be made today. Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck are phenomenal. A brilliant cast and script was combined to tell the very true and quite epic tale of the assassination of one of the most famous western outlaws there ever was.

8. The Magnificent Seven

There’s not much you can really say about The Magnificent Seven except that you have to let the movie speak for itself. Needless to say, the cast is stupendous and there are many great scenes. Most importantly though, There’s not much that compares with the camaraderie you feel with each character when that theme music comes on.

7. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

At the heart of this classic lies what may be the most iconic duo of all time. Paul Newman and Robert Redford play so impeccably well off each other that every scene is made real and memorable. The timing of every witty crack is absolutely perfect, the action sequences are highly entertaining, while sticking to realism and the finale is breathtaking.

6. Tombstone

Tombstone is a fantastic film that just barely misses my top five. Tombstone is the greatest telling of the now classic tale of Wyatt Earp and Doc Holiday. There are many memorable parts, from the classic OK coral shoot-out, to Holiday’s tricks with a tea cup in a bar. There’s something for everyone in this flick because even if you don’t find solace in the fantastic scenes, you will certainly find enjoyment out of Val Kilmer’s masterful performance as Doc Holiday.

5. For A Few More Dollars

For A Few Dollars More is a fascinating character study of bounty hunters in the old west. It’s the second film in Sergio Leone’s Man With No Name Trilogy, but as with every movie in the Dollars trilogy, it stands alone as its own fantastic story. Clint Eastwood and Lee Van Cleef make for a very interesting and entertaining pair in the old west. Leone builds tension, keeps you guessing, and in the end he most certainly does not disappoint.

4. The Proposition

The Proposition is another western that is relatively new. It was made only four years ago and I believe it is one of the greatest westerns of all time, only surpassed by some of the greatest movies I’ve ever seen. The plot of The Proposition is genuinely simple, yet superbly poetic. In the Australian Outback, a man is hired to kill his older brother in order to save his younger one from the noose. It’s the most brutal western I’ve seen and it never lets up till its pitch-perfect ending.

3. Once Upon a Time in the West

By far the greatest title for a western I’ve ever seen, if not just the greatest title for a movie. I mean, what can possibly indicate better that you’re about to watch an epic masterpiece than a title like that. Anyways, besides a great title Sergio Leone’s complex, gritty, western tale of revenge and mayhem is so amazing that it was hard to even put it at three. I’m going to say this right now, Sergio Leone builds tension better than Hitchcock does. Every single scene from the (waiting for the train) opening to the final showdown, your always on edge. I’d also like to say that Ennio Morricone is probably the greatest film composer in history. Westerns almost always have fantastic scores, but this is my favorite of any western score. Last, but certainly not least I have to mention Henry Fonda’s flawless performance as the ruthless western gunslinger Frank, certainly out of character for him and in my opinion; his best work.

2. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Most commonly called the classic western and for good reason. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is nothing and I repeat nothing short of a masterpiece. If I’m not mistaken I think the Man With No Name trilogy is the only trilogy that truly gets greater with each film. Leone’s skill for building tension, which has attempted, but never matched, was never greater than in every single, intricately plotted, scene of this movie.

What Sergio Leone, Clint Eastwood (Blondie-The Good) , Lee Van Cleef (Angel Eyes-The Bad) and Eli Wallach (Tuco- The Ugly) have given us is masterful look at the west and adventures, and subsequent stories it inspired. A story full of depth and characters, whether that be the good guys, the bad guys, and the ones in between. A timeless epic that savors my hunger for excellence with each passing scene eventually leading to what is probably the most iconic and greatest western showdown/ending ever put on screen. And for this, from the bottom of my heart, I thank them.

1. Unforgiven

As I said in the past, this was a difficult list to make, but there is not a doubt in my mind when it comes to number one. Clint Eastwood starred in many classic westerns including Sergio Leone’s classic Man With No Name Trilogy. Than he directed some of his own great westerns. His knowledge on the genre grew over years of experience and he than gave us the greatest western of all time. Unforgiven is western that was able to do what no other western was able to do. It showed us what the west really. Unforgiven showed us that a ruthless killer could fall off his horse or miss a shot.

Unforgiven shows the realistic West where no one could really be considered the good guy, not even the guy your rooting for (William Munny- Clint Eastood in an Oscar nominated performance) ,  and especially not the sheriff (Little Bill Dagget- Gene Hackman in an Oscar winning performance). Unforgiven was a masterful look into a world we’ve never seen. We thought we had, but we realize that was all just fantasy. Unforgiven mixes dark realism with the  fantasy Western genre. Add brilliant acting and characters, fantastic writing and direction and the result is not only the greatest western of all time, but one of the greatest movies ever made. A true masterpiece of our time worthy of recognition and praise.

Well.

Yesterday I began a list of my personal favorite Westerns of all time. Today, I return to finish the job – once and for all.

First, though, a quick recap. Here’s the first four entries on the list, numbered seven to four:

7. Young Guns.

The Brat Pack takes on the legend of Billy the Kid. Emilio Estevez is somehow believable as a murdering sociopath. Kiefer Sutherland continues to be awesome.

6. Silverado.

Kevin Kline and Kevin Costner team up to stop corrupt Brian Dennehy and creepy Jeff Goldblum.

Awesome.

5. Tombstone.

Kurt Russell and Val Kilmer steamroll through some of the most cringe-worthy moments in film history, seemingly through sheer force of awesomeness alone. Michael Biehn is also on hand, once again forcing us all to collectively ask: “What the hell ever happened to Michael Biehn?”

4. Unforgiven.

Clint Eastwood frowns and scowls his way towards redemption and a scheming Gene Hackman, with Morgan Freeman caught somewhere in the middle. Saul Rubinek and Richard Harris are also there for some reason.

And now…THE FINAL THREE.

Three: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. (2007)

This is the newest entry on the list, so I’m not sure if it’s properly reached “classic” status yet.

But give it time, friends – it will.

“The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford” was quite possibly my favorite movie of 2007. Very few people saw it. Even less seemed to like it. But I maintain that it is one of the most beautifully epic and gorgeously shot films I have ever witnessed. The movie is true artwork – every detail is carefully crafted for maximum impact. From the cinematography, to the sparse dialogue, to the acting, to the score by indie hero Nick Cave, everything is note perfect.

It’s certainly not a feel good movie, like some other, younger, gunnier films, but that’s okay. It’s not meant to be. While Jesse James certainly had his boyish fun side, his movie isn’t about him. It’s one of the few Jesse James movies out there, I’m sure, that he isn’t the main focus of.

This movie is about Robert Ford.

It’s about Ford, that “dirty little coward, who shot Mr. Howard,” and his tumultuous, sometimes bizarre relationship with James. Ford idolized James, even loved him – but not in a weird way. Just in the way that he wanted to be Jesse James.

Which, I guess is a little weird.

(But, c’mon…who wouldn’t want to be Jesse James?!?)

Casey Affleck plays Ford as a man who seems to be constantly on the verge of a complete meltdown. He has no real personality, no identity. In his mind’s eye, he IS James, or at the very least, James’ partner in crime. Unfortunately, Jesse James doesn’t really see it that way.

Now, I usually hear the same two complaints about this movie. For one, it’s too long. Well, deal with it. This is a grown-up movie for grown-ups. If you can’t sit and watch a movie for three hours without squirming or getting fussy, than too bad. This movie’s not for you. It’s long, yes, but that only adds to the build up. And I’ve never found it slow, either. Leisurely, sure. It takes it’s time to revel in the world it’s created, and the characters who inhabit it. And what interesting characters they are.

The second complaint is that, like “Titanic”, you already know the ending. All right, sure. It’s in the damn title, for Christ’s sake. But again, the movie isn’t about the murder of James…it’s about the journey leading up to the assassination. It wants to examine this frustrating relationship between two vastly different men, one an idol, the other the worshiper, that culminates in murder. The interesting part isn’t that Robert Ford shot Jesse James in the back of the head. The interesting part is why Robert Ford shot Jesse James in the back of the head. And in the movie, when James realizes his defeat, and gives up to dust off that picture, it’s beautiful, sad and heartbreaking – for both men.

Give it another look. The acting is superb all around, with Affleck at the head of the pack, and excellent supporting performances from Pitt and the always dependable Sam Rockwell. And, in a transparent attempt to make me love this movie even more, the lovely Zooey Deschanel also shows up, briefly, near the end.

So it’s also got that going for it. Which is nice.

Two: The Searchers. (1956)

Racism, family, and John Wayne all collide in this epic masterpiece by that master of epic masterpieces, John Ford.

Wayne, a staple of Westerns, stars as Ethan Edwards, a man searching for his lost nieces after they are abducted by Native Americans. Edwards, racist against the Natives even before they destroy his family, sets out to find the girls at any cost.

That cost, as we soon find out, is exorbitantly higher than the audience may initially think; Ethan’s hatred for the Comanche is so severe, that he would rather see his nieces dead then in Native hands. If he can’t save them from death, than at least he can try to save them from the tribe.

The film attempts to examine racism in the Old West, showcasing Ethan’s hatred for the “red man” against the Comanche chief’s racism against the “white man”. Both are extreme in their racism to the point of madness – the chief, Scar, will continue to kill and scalp white men, with no end in sight, in retaliation for his two son’s murders, and Ethan will willfully murder his own niece, rather than see her marry a Comanche.

It’s a dark, dense tale, that is uncommon even now – let alone in the 1950’s, when it was a given that all cowboys were good, all Indians savages.

Wayne is amazing as Edwards. Defiant, aggressive and stubborn, his character grows throughout the film, but only really finds redemption after being pushed to the brink – he only truly becomes human after giving up his own humanity.

It’s a great film – a social message beautifully shot and well acted. Certainly one of Ford’s best, which means it truly must stand tall in the genre. Highly recommended, this is one of the best in the genre.

One: High Noon. (1952)

The only thing more epically, badassingly awesome than the movie “High Noon,” is Gary Cooper, who stars in the movie “High Noon.”

This is number one is right here, folks. And it is awesome.

“High Noon” is a ridiculously awesome movie with a ridiculously awesome concept. Cooper plays Will Kane, the sheriff of a small town, now happily married and planning to retire. Then some dude Kane put away years ago vows revenge on Kane, heads back into town, grabs himself a posse, and wages war on our intrepid lawman.

No problem, right? Just round up some deputies, take these dudes by force, scrub up your badge for the next guy, and high-tail it outta town on the next stagecoach for a weekend honeymoon retreat with your wife at some five-star saloon or something.

WRONG.

The townspeople may admire Kane, but they sure as hell don’t want to step into his shoes. Frank Miller (Ian MacDonald) is one badass dude, and they want nothing to do with him. They suggest the same to Kane. Leave town. Forget Miller. Move on.

But Kane knows better. You deal with bullies by facing them down, not running away. Otherwise, they will hunt you down and haunt you for the rest of your life. So he stays in town. He pins that badge on his vest, and he throws down against Frank Miller and his gang, with no help from anyone but himself. Will Kane vs. THE WORLD. And in REAL TIME.

It’s a great movie that showcases the struggles of doing the right thing vs. doing the easy thing. It presents this argument mostly through dialogue, and characters action prior to the finale – and, in fact, the finale is the only place where any violence or action at all take place. Not your typical Western – especially Back In The Day.

Check it out to find out why I consider it to be the best Western ever made (personally speaking, of course.)

And you’ll also find out why Gary Cooper’s Will Kane is the greatest Western hero of all time.

Well.

That is the list as I see it. I’m sure there will be future lists down the road, but for now…I’m all listed out.

Oh, what the hell. Here’s the honorable mentions list. Check these out too, for a better representation of the genre as a whole:

The Magnificent Seven. (1960)

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. (1969)

Shane.(1953)

Rio Bravo. (1959)

The Wild Bunch. (1969)

Stagecoach. (1939)

Dances with Wolves. (1990)

And yes. I am fully aware that EVERY movie on THIS list is better than “Young Guns.”

REGULATORS!

MOUNT UP!

Casey Affleck:

Because hes way hotter than Ben.

mmmmm

Michael Winterbottom is directing Casey Affleck, Kate Hudson, Ned Beatty and Jessica Alba in the adaption of Jim Thompson’s noir novel, The Killer Inside Me.

The story follows a West Texas sheriff and his downward spiral from a boring small-town cop into a ruthless, sociopathic murderer.

Deputy Sheriff Lou Ford is a pillar of the community in his small Texas town, patient and thoughtful. Some people think he’s a little slow and boring but that’s the worst they say about him. But then nobody knows about what Lou calls his ’sickness’. It nearly got him put away when he was younger, but his adopted brother took the rap for that. Now the sickness that has been lying dormant for a while is about to surface again – and the consequences are brutal and devastating.

Stanley Kubrick described the book as “Probably the most chilling and believable first-person story of a criminally warped mind I have ever encountered.”

Not sure whether Casey Affleck is the right choice for this one. He is a great actor, but the look of him doesn’t fit the character I have in my mind, but I suppose that is the point isn’t it.

Source: Quiet Earth

perhaps because i spend so very much of my time talking and espousing and ranting, i really, really love quiet things: films, books, places. so much so that my love for quiet things will need to be broken into pieces so as not to create one massive blog entry.

i find that i especially love it in film. sophia coppola and wong kar wai are two masters of it and i have so much to say about both of them, that i’m going to leave them out for now and focus on the one genre that i really feel is served by silence almost more then any other: the western.

maybe because i have spent my whole life (pretty much) in the american west, slow pacing and soft spokenness (oo, that’s not even a word, is it?) kind of put me at ease. to be honest, the wild west is pretty boring so you have to learn how to appreciate big sky, be entertained by vistas and never under estimate the value of a well rolled tumbleweed. this is perhaps the reason why i was the only person in the theater who remained awake for the entirety of the assassination of jesse james by the coward robert ford–which i thought was a pretty cool movie.

but by talking about what IMHO (i had to ask my sister what that meant the other day because she’s younger then me and more up with text-speak and she told me it stood for “in my humble opinion” which i don’t think i would have ever figured out on my own) are the three best modern westerns out there. i hope i will get you to sit down and just enjoy how great cinematography can serve a story even better then a bunch of snappy dialogue.

numero ono: the proposition

you may not have heard of this one. it came out in, i don’t know, i think 2005. it’s set in the 1800’s in the australian outback, so instead of cowboys and indians you have aboriginals and outlaws.

nick cave (as in nick cave and the bad seeds, as in nick cave author of and the ass saw the angel) wrote the screenplay and did the soundtrack. that was my big draw to see it because i am bananas about nick cave and had this feeling, like you do when you are someone’s very loyal fan, that even if the movie was total crap, i was going to love and appreciate it out of an obligation to mr.cave’s overall bad assness (again, not a word. sorry folks. i have a head cold).

but the movie was far from crap. it was totally amazing. i got so wrapped up in what was going on that i forgot until the credits rolled that nick cave had anything to do with it. it’s the story of some irish outlaws in australia, a gang of three brothers. the middle brother is asked by the law to kill his older brother in order to save the younger brother from the noose. and you’re off!

i could have written all the dialogue for this movie on a handkerchief it was so minimal but the beauty and desolation of the australian outback, the fantastic actors who handled the sparse dialogue as preciously and perfectly as it deserved, made it totally riveting. one of my favorite last lines of any movie. ever.

those great actors by the way are: emily watson, john hurt, guy pierece, danny huston (who was in another great very quiet film no one ever talks about called birth) and ray winstone, you will remember him as the genius from sexy beast (i will have to do another post on world’s greatest british gangster movies–i’m looking at you, i’ll sleep when i’m dead). the supporting cast was also phenomenal.

dos: the assassination of jesse james by the coward robert ford

i get really defensive about this movie. like i love it too hard, y’know? i know seriously, almost nobody who likes this movie and i feel like i have to stick up for it. but i think it’s one of the best movies i have ever seen, with totally insane amazing acting and just this great quiet cinematography that i felt like really captured the american west more beautifully then any other movie i have seen.

casey affleck was gipped, GIPPED I SAY, out of an oscar. who even won that year? i would remember if i thought they did 1% of the job casey affleck did. oh, and i need to try to remember not to say “gipped”, did you guys know that’s racial slang against gypsies? isn’t that horrible? i just found that out. i mean, is should probably erase it but i am leaving it to help us all remember.

anyway, i know this movie is three hours long. but they are three beautiful hours where every scene is treated with equal weight to the others. fields of wheat are given their due and i just love that. paul schneider and sam rockwell are totally fabulous in it and though they have small parts, zooey dashchel and mary-louise parker do a georgous job.

the main argument i get with this film is that none of the characters are likeable, there is no one to root for. and i understand that argument because that’s how i feel about mad men. but at any rate, i think that even if you feel like there is no real “hero” to this story (which is actually what i like about it) i think that it can be appreciated on a pure level of haunting minimalist eye-candy…which doesn’t sound like it makes any sense but watch it and see.

tres: the new world

“what?” you are thinking, “this isn’t a WESTERN! i know westerns and there are no cowboy boots or pistol draws in this film. it’s about the colonial times, it’s about friggin’ pocahontas.” and to you i say…

yeah, you’re right. it’s not really a western. but my weak argument for including it is that during those days all of america was “the west”. there was a scary vast, emptiness to what was to become america, which i think is an important element in all good westerns. besides, is “colonial” even a genre? i don’t think so.

this movie is like eating a 5 star meal with your eyes. it’s like eating an 10 star meal (does it go that high?). and no, it’s not because of colin farrell or christian bale (for the best christian bale crush-a-thon watch little women and turn off right before jo says ‘no’. or just use this as an excuse to re-watch reign of fire). it’s like, have you ever gone to a big, giant garden in full bloom? or alternately in the middle of winter and everything is covered in icicles? and it’s quiet and you got the chance to just really take everything in? that is what the new world is like.

while watching this movie i felt like everything was sad and everything was radiant, which i think is what great movies make you feel. the eye of the director never falters, and i am not normally a colin farrell fan but in this movie he absolutely broke my heart. it made me think that inside all the hunky irishness  there is a real actor but sadly, i don’t think anyone but terrance malick has been able to capture it or bring it out of him or whatever.

i have no clue what happened to the beautiful and talented girl who played pocahontas, q’orianka kilcher, she was also just crushing in this film. weird fact: she is jewel’s cousin, like the singer jewel from the 90’s.

i heard virtually nothing about this film and i try to bring it up all the time and no one has seen it. on the rare occasion someone has they’re always like “it was too long!” or even sometimes “it was too quiet!”. and then i throw a cup of coffee in their face and storm out. just kidding.

and yeah, i love tarantino, i love wes anderson (i LOVE wes anderson, let me amend that). but sometimes you have to stop and smell the roses, be quiet, let the beauty sink in. these three films are roses. western roses? dusty roses? i am trying to see how cheesy i can make my lame metaphor. they are like quaking aspens in the fall?

anyway, hop on your netflix, check them out.

p.s- if you are looking for a good mid-western quiet film (i’m really pushing it, huh?) check out all the real girls. and although so much as been said about it, i will just say it again, there will be blood. maybe best movie ever? sort of a western. very quiet and very amazing. totally…screwed (see, i didn’t do it again) out of best picture (note that i did not include no country for old men on here, a quiet film, but in my opinion a so-so one). plus, every halloween i really think about being daniel “bastard in a basket” plainview, he is just so out there, i love him in this funny way. it’s fun to get a few drinks in your friends and then ask everyone to do their best danny p. really done now.

Psycho - Marion Cotillard

Dial M For Murder – Charlize Theron

North By Northwest – Seth Rogen

Rear Window – Scarlet Johannson + Javier Bardem

Több a törés után!

(Rebecca - Keira Knightly, Jennifer Jason Leigh /Vertigo - Renee Zellweger /Strangers on a Train- Emile Hirsch, James McAvoy /The Birds – Jodie Foster / To Catch A Thief – Gywneth Paltrow, Robert Downey Jr. / Lifeboat -Tang Wei, Josh Brolin, Casey Affleck, Eva Marie Saint, Ben Foster, Omar Metwally, Julie Christie.)

Vanity Fair

Casey Affleck: Weirding out in Ben’s footsteps.

APPEARANCE: 3

I: Oh, I really enjoy the under appreciated Affleck! I like his curly hair and his Boston accent. I think he’s charming and kind of rough around the edges and cool. He seems a bit short, but other than that, I think he’s definitely fine.

L: Does he seem short? I thought he seemed tall and lean, which I appreciate. He does have a boyish cuteness that makes me swoon. The curly hair is absolutely a plus.

PORTFOLIO: 1

L: I don’t follow his career too closely, but of course I lurve 200 Cigarettes—his role in that had me hoping he was like that in real life. But then there was the abysmal Gerry with your other boyfriend Matt Damon, and then…and then? Casey Affleck needs to get out on the scene more, man!

I: He definitely hasn’t done enough! Ben is leaving him in the dust. He has great potential as evidenced by 200 Cigs and that fucking Zach Braff movie that I hated (but Casey was good in), The Last Kiss. Could he be a leading man?

CHOICES: 1

I: So get this! I think Casey Affleck is in cahoots with Joaquin Phoenix (because Casey married JP’s sister) and has something to do with that weirdo shit JP is trying to pull. He’s like, in charge of that documentary about JP’s beard. So I don’t know what to think of him!

L: Whaaa? Why is he humoring JP like that?

PERSONALITY: 2

L: Do you think he seems too serious? Hmm. I like picturing him as his 200 Cigs self but now that he’s all mixed up in that Phoenix crowd and encouraging JP’s beard… What would his purpose at our gathering be?

I: Sigh. I’ve always enjoyed Casey Affleck and thought he was the underdog of the Afflecks, but now that he’s in on this stupid J.Phoenix project, I don’t know what to think. Maybe we’ll invite him just so we can ask him what the hell is going on. He’d probably be boring and quiet though.

ROMANTIC POTENTIAL: 1.5

I: I want to imagine myself getting down with him but I don’t think I can! I wonder if he’s an awkward lay and doesn’t take any initiative. And he’s too anxious and weird to plan a good date and just gets frustrated because I expect too much of him. Blegh.

L: Haha @ your Casey Affleck stress. I can’t see myself having a wild romp with him. I bet it’d be like Carrie and Berger’s first time—all silent and cringe worthy. Meanwhile, you’d be sneaking glances at the clock, thinking, “What’s Ben up to now?” Sorry, Casey A.! What about him doing boyfriend things? I can’t really see that either. If either one of us were dating him, he seems like he’d get disgruntled because we’d be so whimsical when he’d rather talk about the beauty of a dead bird or something.

SUGGESTIONS

L: Oh dears. How about stop doing movies like “Gerry”; let Joaquin be; do a fun, fanciful mainstream role…

I: He needs to find his own avenue that doesn’t involve stupid documentaries starring Joaquin Phoenix. He needs to be cute and quirky in a romantic role! He maybe could have followed in the footsteps of JGL and thrived in roles where he was awkward yet charming, but he just didn’t! Oh well… his loss.

FINAL GRADE: 8.5/25 D+

‘I am an eye. I am a mechanical eye. I, a machine, I am showing you a world, the likes of which only I can see.’

Het is een gevleugelde uitspraak van de legendarische Russische filmmaker Dziga Vertov. In de jaren twintig van de vorige eeuw kwam hij met het begrip Kino Eye op de proppen om de haast magische kracht van de camera te bestempelen. Met de ontwikkeling van de technologie is die camera vandaag de dag geen log bakbeest meer, zoals in Vertovs tijd. Integendeel: camera’s vliegen door sleutelgaten, glijden door hotelgangen, nemen hele films in één doorlopend shot op, en vervormen de wereld naar believen. Op deze blog, en in de Xi, wil ik meerdere keren een relatief onderbelichte film bestuderen om de keuzes en het stempel van de director of photography te achterhalen. Dit keer Andrew Dominiks moderne klassieker (en persoonlijke filmfavoriet) The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, met weergaloos camerawerk van de gelauwerde Roger Deakins.

Brad Pitt als Jesse James in "The Assassination..."

In de film met de belachelijk lange en opmerkelijk onthullende titel draait alles om Jesse James (gespeeld door Brad Pitt), een Amerikaanse outlaw in de tweede helft van de negentiende eeuw. James en zijn bende teisteren grote bankcorporaties en spoorwegnetwerken in hun niet-aflatende zoektocht naar geld. Onder de delinquenten in James’ bende bevinden zich de gebroeders Ford, waarvan de jongste, Robert (een magistrale rol van Casey Affleck), een bijzonder intense haat-liefdeverhouding met de bendeleider heeft. James’ paranoïde houding en onvoorspelbare karakter maken hem een moeilijk te peilen figuur. Hoewel dit zijn mythische, haast heroïsche status onder het volk ten goede komt, begint Robert, die er een niet zo stiekeme idolatrie voor James op nahoudt, zich meer en meer te ergeren aan de onkwetsbaarheid en arrogantie van de illustere bandiet. Uiteindelijk beginnen de zinderende spanningen tussen de twee mannen dergelijke hoogtes te bereiken dat de titelbelofte wel ingelost móet worden.

‘Zinderend’, ‘mythisch’, ‘intens’, ‘onvoorspelbaar’; het zijn allen trefwoorden die ook hun weerslag hebben gekend op de cinematografie van Roger Deakins. Deakins verdiende zijn sporen met films als The Shawshank Redemption en A Beautiful Mind. Hij verwierf grote roem door zijn haast onafgebroken samenwerking sinds 1991 met de gebroeders Coen (The Big Lebowski, No Country For Old Men) en als de nieuwe vaste cinematograaf van Sam Mendes (Jarhead, Revolutionary Road) sinds de dood van Conrad L. Hall. Deakins staat bekend om de kracht die hij uit minimalistische, zelfs eenvoudige shots weet te puren. Zelfs in het huidige digitale tijdperk zoekt Deakins de mogelijkheden van de camera en de belichting, van het ambacht. Zijn shots lijken vaak te ademen door de belangrijke mate waarin zij bijdragen aan de sfeer van de film. De sneeuwvlaktes in Fargo, de iets te fel verlichte gangen in Revolutionary Road, de dreigende luchten van No Country For Old Men; het is Deakins’ grote prestatie dat zijn cinematografie op zichzelf altijd bijzonder origineel en wonderschoon is, maar tegelijkertijd nooit de aandacht van het verhaal afleidt.

Pitt als James en het graan als, eh, het graan in "The Assassination..."

Eén van de meest treffende voorbeelden hiervan is Deakins’ werk aan The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. De cinematograaf heeft gezocht naar een stilistische methode die recht doet aan de insteek en de visie van regisseur Andrew Dominik. Generisch gezien ligt Jesse James namelijk mijlenver buiten de gebaande paden; het is noch een typische biografie, noch een western, noch een avonturen- of actiefilm. De film is een psychologisch geladen, poëtische en contemplatieve bespiegeling van sterrenstatus in de negentiende eeuw – daarmee hevig knipogend naar de huidige situatie. Deze onalledaagse insteek vraagt om een ietwat ongewone manier om in beeld gebracht te worden.

Eén van de meest ingrijpende visuele methodes waar Deakins naar gegrepen heeft, is het gebruik van pinhole photography. Deze vorm van cameravoering is te vergelijken met de klassieke camera obscura zoals wij die kennen van zeventiende-eeuwse Nederlandse schildersmeesters. Hierbij wordt er geen gebruik gemaakt van een cameralens, maar van een dichte doosconstructie met een klein gaatje. Deze minuscule opening in de doos zorgt voor de focus van de camera. De randen van het beeld vervormen echter door het ontbreken van een helder afbakenende cameralens. Het effect is vergelijkbaar met kijken door de loop van een geweer of een hele smalle buis; je kunt maar naar één specifiek object of persoon kijken, een helder en scherp centrum. De rest van het gefilmde is vervormd en lijkt het beeld uit te glijden.

Pitt in stoel als James in stoel in "The Assassination..."

Deakins hanteert deze visuele stijl hoofdzakelijk in twee typen filmscènes. Aan de ene kant zien we deze visuele stijl, in combinatie met tergend trage track-ins, vaak terug in dialoogloze situaties waarin de aandacht bij het personage van Jesse James ligt. Dit zijn bijvoorbeeld scènes waarin Jesse rustig met een handeling en of buiten het huis bezig is, andere mensen met zijn ogen volgt, of in gedachten verzonken is. De innerlijke emoties en gedachten komen hier niet tot uiting middels dialoog. Daarom versterkt Deakins het woordeloze acteerwerk van de acteur in kwestie, in dit geval Brad Pitt, middels de toepassing van de pinholecamera. De vervormde randen en verzengende focus op het personage van Jesse verlenen deze scènes een subtiele dreiging, hoe rustiek en licht de desbetreffende scène ook moge zijn.

Daarnaast zien we ook vaak pinholeshots in niet-persoonsgebonden situaties, met name in dichterlijke, artistieke weergaven van het landschap, de omgeving en de lucht. Jesse James bevat een flinke hoeveelheid Van Sant-achtige shots van voorbijtrekkende wolken, ditmaal echter extra intrigerend gefilmd middels het gebruik van de pinholeconstructie. Wolken trekken voorbij met een alarmerende snelheid richting de vervormde wereld aan de rand van het beeld. Details in het landschap vallen plotsklaps met genadeloze precisie op. Ook de wereld om de personages heen lijkt te verglijden in de steeds duister wordende geestelijke staat van het hoofdpersonage.

Landschap, met daarin Casey Affleck te paard, in "The Assassination..."

Daarnaast speelt Deakins op bijzondere wijze met het licht. De meeste scènes met het personage van Casey Affleck, de jonge, onzekere Robert Ford, zijn opvallend goed belicht. Zelfs als we Robert in avondlijke scènes zien, is met name zijn gezicht altijd bijzonder goed te zien door Deakins belichtingsplan. De onschuld, naïviteit en jeugdigheid van het personage komen op die wijze sterk uit de verf; Roberts wereld is immers nog licht en stralend, gespeend van iedere duistere kanttekening. Aan het eind van de film, als de filmtitel zich voltrokken heeft, komt het personage lichttechnisch gezien in sterkere beeldcontrasten terecht. Zo bevat de laatste akte van de film een aantal scènes waarin Robert en zijn broer het leven van Jesse James naspelen in theaters. Hier valt op hoe óverbelicht Robert plotsklaps is, zeker in vergelijking tot het bedreigende duister waarin het theaterpubliek zich bevindt.

Casey Affleck in de briljante rol van Bob Ford in "The Assassination..."

Het personage van Jesse James wordt aan de andere kant veel vaker onder- dan overbelicht. In veel situaties zien we Jesse James niet duidelijk, of slechts zijn silhouet, zijn ogen of zijn contouren. In scènes die zich overdag afspelen, wordt vaak gespeeld met de kleuren waartegen Jesse James wordt afgezet. Treffend is bijvoorbeeld de manier waarop Jesse vaak tussen wuivende graanhalmen en andere bruintinten wordt afgeschilderd. Hierdoor versmelt zijn personage als het ware met de omgeving waar hij zich in bevindt, en dat geeft aan de outlaw weer een betekenis mee dat hij feitelijk altijd en overal aanwezig is. Jesse James lijkt immer alles te weten en iedereen te doorgronden, alsof hij inzoomt op individuen met de scherpte en precisie van een pinholecamera.

Pitt in het donker in "The Assassination...". Oh, en hij is Jesse James.

Tenslotte mag ik een van de cinematografische stokpaardjes uit deze film niet vergeten, een scène die ondergetekende ertoe bracht om The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford als casusfilm voor deze rubriek te nemen. In de eerste akte van de film is te zien hoe de bende van James zich opmaakt voor een grote, en tijdelijk laatste, treinroof. Op de bewuste avond volgt de camera hoe de bendeleden zich tussen de bomen naast het treinspoor verschuilen met hun lampen, terwijl James en zijn broers een blokkade op de rails voltooien. Uiteindelijk vraagt Jesse James aan zijn kornuiten om de lichten te doven. Het mysterieuze beeld van dansende, warme lichtbollen tussen de contouren van het bos vervaagt daardoor langzaam. De camera glijdt langzaam langs Jesse James naar voren.

Dan is het plotsklaps pikdonker in het beeld. En dat blijft het. Op de geluidsband is zacht gerommel in de verte te horen, een zwaar basgeluid dat langzaam maar zeker aan kracht wint. En dan, ineens, in het puntje van het scherm: een voortbewegend lichtje. Traag maar onherroepelijk schrijdt het lichtje richting de kijker. Het wordt groter en groter en belicht steeds meer van het gebied waar het doorheen laveert. De bomen doemen op, de treinrails en de wegversperring worden uitgetekend door het licht, de schimmen van de bendeleden worden zichtbaar. Het zware dondergeluid van de trein zwelt aan en plots stoot de trein tégen de camera aan, die achteruit met de trein mee glijdt. Terwijl de trein met piepende remmen zijn vaart mindert, stapt aan de rechterkant Jesse het beeld in. Hij gaat op de barricade staan, met zijn rug naar de camera, van voren belicht door de felle lamp van de trein.

The American hero: Jesse James/Brad Pitt in "The Assassination..."

En daar staat hij. Een crimineel van mythische proporties, een ambigue en onpeilbare schurk met een heldenstatus. De American hero van de bandeloze negentiende eeuw. Eén beeld, perfect belicht, omkadert en gevat door Roger Deakins, een held van de moderne filmcamera. Dát is cinematografie.

Dit artikel is, in een licht aangepaste versie, oorspronkelijk geschreven voor Xi, jrg. 18, nr. 1.