The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)I know that movie addicts should find love in every genre, but the Western is one that I often have trouble embracing. The majestic scenery and stirring scores usually cannot take away from the stiff acting, simplistic plots and seemingly endless action. Along with the horror-slasher films, this tends to be one of my least favorite genres. However, there are exceptions to these types of film that provide a spin on some of their old themes. These "revisionist" Westerns offer more complex characters and moral dilemmas that don't necessarily fall on black and white. Films like Unforgiven and The Assassination of Jesse James are some of my all time favorite movies, and I even think they are some of the best films of their respective decades. However, an early revisionist Western is this film, surprisingly since it came from so many people who indulged in many of those films I disliked.
The movie begins with James Stewart as a senator traveling back to the small town he once lived in to attend a funeral. Being a big name, the local newspaper wants to inquire the reasons for his visit. That triggers a flashback to when he was a young, idealistic lawyer whose confrontation with notorious outlaw Liberty Valance (Lee Marvin) leaves him ready to take him on. But when John Wayne is in your town, we all know who the real tough guy is. After Liberty winds up dead (not a spoiler due to the title) seemingly at Stewart's hand, that propels him into politics.
Lee Marvin's villain is a bit one note in the film, but he plays it to such perfection that I hardly notice his lack in depth. A sinister smile and intimidating tone always feels genuine as a man willing to toy with you before he kills you in cold blood, much in comparison to a modern iconic villain, Heath Ledger's Joker. Stewart and Wayne carry their own respective trademarks, but they also remind us why those trademarks were so successful. Stewart's mastery of the "aww-schucks" persona makes his more serious side that much more impressionable, and the tough guy Wayne puts out makes his tenderness exuded later in the film to feel particularly potent. There's also good supporting work from Vera Miles as the sweet love interest in the triangle between Wayne and Stewart, Andy Devine as a bumbling buffoon of a sheriff, and Edmond O'Brien as the hammy bloviator newspaper man.
John Ford's simple yet elegant direction has been celebrated for decades, and it's easy to see why here. Ford never hits you over the head, but he lets the action and characters take you through an incredible story. It's a fascinating story that attempts to deconstruct the traditional tropes of heroes and villains. I'll try not to give too much away, but the one of the most famous quotes of the film comes at the end, "This is the west. When the legend becomes fact, print the legend." The whole films seeks to answer why that seems so true, and it feels like a microscope actually put put against the careers of the film's director and star. It's an existential exercise in the film that is played out beautifully.
If I have one major complaint against this film, it's that for a film whose greatest asset is its villain, he doesn't show up very much. Valance is kept to a very minimum, and many of his scenes feel few and far between. This would normally be just a minor complaint, as it can usually be justified that when he does show up it means more. However, a subplot concerning the town petitioning statehood and the big ranchers trying to stop it has a connection to Valance; it is implied the ranchers hire men like Valance to keep the rules unclear and their own way of life intact. It's an interesting notion, pretty significant to the film, that isn't flushed out very well, leading to many of the scenes involving this topic tending to be quite dull and boring. The film can bounce back well, but it's a shortcoming that the film could have reached beyond.
The film has some issues here and there, but considering that this is a Western that I can actually watch is an astounding achievement in my book. The performances are top notch, particularly from Lee Marvin, and Ford spins an insightful tale that holds a mirror up against its own limited genre. Ford and Wayne made numerous Westerns that are just like the ones I can't stand, but they managed to come together to make at least one of theirs I can enjoyably sit through. It's a club that consists of very few films, and I'm glad this is one of them.
B+
No comments:
Post a Comment