Kind of a Movie Review

I saw the new Coen brothers version of "True Grit" on the big screen. While viewing it, I was reminded that on the big screen is the only way to watch such a flick with much outdoor photography.

Stray thoughts:
-This version is actually more like the 1969 Henry Hathaway/John Wayne original than advertised, with many scenes and much dialogue that's virtually the same.
-The photography is this version is fine. In the original it was a tad better.
-The Epilogue in the new version is a mistake-- in part because the older depiction of Mattie, the girl at the center of the story, looks nothing like the 14-year old actress we've been watching. The original version of the film might be edged out in several respects by the new version-- but has a better, classic ending, with the line, "Come and see an old fat man some time!" Hard to top that.
-Jeff Bridges as Rooster Cogburn is called "fat" throughout the film, but he's kind of a skinny fat man. Think of a skinny Santa Claus at a shopping mall. Curiously, the character who looks fat is Matt Damon as the Texas Ranger, who should be lean for lean times. It's disconcerting to see a character who should be handsome, to give the proper edge to the interaction between he and Mattie, and notice in every scene the character is in his double chin. He's been supposedly tracking an outlaw across the West, yet apparently eating very well! Uh, Matt, might want to push yourself away from those movie set buffets next time out.
-My feeling at the end of the Coen's flick, was that it was a very good film, but it left me wanting more. They hinted at how good the Western film can be-- and has been in the past on occasion. Maybe just a bit more myth would help. Isn't that what the Western is about?
-Since the 1960's we've seen the de-mythicizing, de-glamorizing of the American West-- but I'd say it's gone far enough. We're not getting historical truth, though this is what's being sold. Or, the Coen brothers work to make the West and its inhabitants look as ugly as possible. But what turned the American West and its characters into myth was the beauty of the landscapes and the riders-- Indians, cowboys, vacqueros, and such-- who moved through the landscapes. Take a look at Remington and Russell paintings some time. American cowboys, gunfighters like Bill Hickock, scouts like Buffalo Bill, and even soldiers like George Custer, used the freedom of the West to create a unique and quite flamboyant costume. The costume helped create the myth-- it did so not because it was ugly to look at! The West was populated by young people. Some of them were quite rough-looking (see Billy the Kid), but most took pride in "cleaning up" when they got off the trail. No doubt there were smelly buffalo hunter types in the West, but no doubt also they stood out. The new "True Grit" is rather skewed because everybody is unpleasant to look at. Okay, Coens-- you've made your point. Your cynicism about people prevents you from creating a better work, in this viewer's humble opinion. You have a few gorgeous vistas in the film, but leave this moviegoer wanting more.
-In a related point: Why all the old people everywhere? Sorry, but the West wasn't settled by 70 year-olds. It was too tough for that. The town sheriff near the beginning, for instance, is impossible, as are many others. This was new territory for those who went into it. It was hard land even to get to, by horse or wagon. Older people didn't survive, or stayed home. A small but crucial point. The American West of the second half of the 19th century happened during the Romantic era. Those who lived in it were in many respects Byronesque. Poetry and myth-- which is as historical anyway as what recent moviemakers are giving us, and more fun.

Invitation Update

I talked by phone with Mayor Bloomberg's staff yesterday. They're apparently lining up events for him to appear at, but can make no commitments or guarantees-- it sounds like only if it's very close to the event. Which means I'll have to look elsewhere for a big name to appear it the screening. (At least the Mayor's office finally got back to me!) I'll keep people posted. . . .

Can-Do Liberalism?!

THE THINKING behind the screening of “El Cid” in New York City is a throwback to the kind of old-fashioned can-do liberalism represented by the movie itself. Think JFK. A vigorous liberalism which believes in goodness, humanity, and right versus wrong. Recall that in the movie, Rodrigo rejects extremists in both camps. His integrity carries the day against impossible odds, which makes him a noble figure. Doing what’s right, not expedient, is his ethos, his mission. This is what makes him a compelling figure throughout.

The Golden Age of Movies?

THREE MOVIE ERAS

Here are three movie trailers from three different periods of movie making. It seems obvious which period carried the highest production values; i.e., the best aural and visual experience, which, when seen in theaters, on film, is a huge part of what the art of film is about.

"Mutiny on the Bounty" 1935. (Early Hollywood.)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtmV2tpbnjA&feature=related

"Mutiny on the Bounty" 1962. (Wide screen/original Technicolor era.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEmZ_A0UTrA

"The Bounty" 1984. (Post inflation/revisionist era.)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5QER2wu0lg&feature=related

Other aspects of the three films-- screenplay, casting, acting, editing-- are up for debate.

Planning the Project

FYI: I still believe I can pull the El Cid Project off-- which means staging a showing of the film, as film, in New York City, hopefully close to Ground Zero. There are, of course, details and preparations to work out.

In the meantime I'm working on a post devoted to the Miseducation of America-- about how we've been raising a generation of so-called "best and brightest" who don't even believe in their own country, and whose thinking on most topics is generally all screwed up. Stay tuned.

Another Classic

Here’s the main title to another great film made in 1961, “The Guns of Navarone.”

www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvM4q0Vbsy0&feature=related

A story about latter-day heroes. It has many of the same strengths as “El Cid”: wonderful cinematography, magnificent score, strong acting, classic pacing where everything is set up step-by-step to bring the moviegoer emotionally into the film experience. The structure is intentionally mythic—the Guns are like ancient monsters—to match the mythic setting. Seen on a giant screen, this is a tremendous experience.

We can only revive the culture if we’re able to recognize our cultural high points. Fifty years of cultural garbage have destroyed many values, but perhaps not all of them.

(Note: The narration by James Robertson Justice is missing from this video, unfortunately; a speech about "gods and demi-gods" which is important to setting the story and mood.)

Ben Yagoda: Out of Touch

OR, FIGHTING PAST WARS

Here’s a curious column appearing this day in the Philadelphia Inquirer, a bankrupt newspaper:

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/20101102_The_last_days_of_obscenity.html

Writer Ben Yagoda is fighting battles of fifty years ago. I guess it makes the battles fairly winnable. But where are newspaper columns from Ben Yagoda about the disappearance of Molly Norris?

The threat to free speech in America today doesn’t involve obscenity. Indeed, in this rather obscene society, one finds all the obscenity one can want. Four letter words have become regular discourse. The threat to free expression now comes from the advocates of political correctness, a viewpoint which demands that all speech be squelched which can possibly offend the sensibilities of specially-designated groups. In Molly Norris’s case, the religion of Islam, which meanwhile is busily squelching all contrary beliefs wherever it can. (57 Christians including two priests slaughtered in Baghdad Sunday. We fought a bloody war for that?)

We’re living in a world where down is up and up is down. Characters like Ben Yagoda are part of the problem. Look how bravely he defends D.H. Lawrence! 50 or 80 years after the fact when no risk is involved. About Molly Norris, from this defender of liberal principles, nary a word.