When the attractive, blond townswoman Callie Travers flirtatiously insults him, he rapes her in the livery stable. I don't suppose the film, running only a little over 100 minutes, is too draggy, but there are a few overdrawn set pieces, some of which are a little forceful in a manner which makes the implied twists sort of obvious sooner that they ostensibly should be, or at least leaves the plot to outstay its welcome enough to hit formulaic moments. Kapsis; Coblentz, Kathie . The next morning, the Stranger rides past Mordecai in the cemetery. 1998 . High Plains Drifter is a 1973 American Western film directed by Clint Eastwood, written by Ernest Tidyman, and produced by Robert Daley for The Malpaso Compa. It adds to the argument that High Plains Drifter is a deconstruction of the myths of the old west. The Stranger finds Bridges and the Carlins, who just "finished off" Morgan, and harasses them with dynamite and rifle fire, leading the outlaws to believe the townspeople are responsible. Impressed by his abilities, the townsfolk hire him to protect the town, but start to second-guess their hire when he begins to take advantage of them. [23] It made its Blu-ray debut on October 15, 2013, with a newly remastered transfer,[24] and was reissued on October 27, 2020, by Kino Lorber with commentary tracks and new interviews. >> http://bit.ly/24NeaTM 367 42 comments 73 shares Most relevant Wendy Banks Nice 2y Over the course of the movie, Eastwoods Stranger acts as if hes Lagos savior, but hes not interested in protecting them, he wants them to pay for Duncans murder. If you can look past the dated sexual politics, this is a deeply cynical deconstruction of the romanticized western. Beastie BoysPaul's Boutique 2009 Capitol Records, LLC and Beastie BoysReleased on: 1989-07. Book: Cornell, Drucilla . High Plains Drifter: Directed by Clint Eastwood. The film stars Eastwood as a mysterious stranger who metes out justice in a corrupt frontier mining town. Terms and Policies 2009 . It made its Blu-ray debut on October 15, 2013, with a newly remastered transfer, and was reissued on October 27, 2020, by Kino Lorber with commentary tracks and new interviews. Clint: The Life and Legend . "[14], Arthur D. Murphy of Variety called it "a nervously humorous, self-conscious near satire on the prototype Clint Eastwood formula of the avenging mysterious stranger. the whole town knows what happened to Marshal Duncan and why, Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy, his pathetic pleas for mercy earn him no pity from either audience. A stranger (Clint Eastwood) rides out of the hot desert into a small town in the wild west. Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is Copyright 2009-2022, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Edit, This is purposely left ambiguous to give it an almost supernatural feel, but the theories put forth are as follows: (1) The stranger is Marshal Jim Duncan's brother who learned that the three men who killed his brother were being released from prison and would likely return to their town, so the stranger "passed through" in order to take revenge on the three men and on the town itself for simply standing by and watching as his brother was brutally murdered. With Clint Eastwood, Verna Bloom, Marianna Hill, Mitchell Ryan. There is the unusual, The characterization, on the stage, eminently well contrasts the well intentioned and truehearted peasant Luisa with the, From time to time, I revisit the 1932-37 recordings of the Beethoven piano sonatas by Artur Schnabel. It was one generations Great Western Star reaching his hand out to the previous generations. Whats most notable is how Eastwood holds fast to the rebel spirit of the spaghetti Westerns and revisionist New Hollywood Westerns of the previous decade, but packages it in a film thats slicker and more mainstream-friendly. A mysterious gunfighter without a name (Clint Eastwood) rides across the desert landscape and arrives in the mining town beside the sea "Lago" to stay for the night. [13], Vincent Canby of The New York Times called the film "part ghost story, part revenge Western, more than a little silly, and often quite entertaining in a way that may make you wonder if you lost your good sense. Flashbacks to Marshal Duncan's murder showed Cole wearing the biggest grin; he's definitely not smiling when he gets on the wrong end of the bullwhip, but. High Plains Drifter Clint Eastwood | In Review Online This would explain why nobody in the town recognized him, but he knew how exactly the Marshal was killed and he was able to kill the three men in the same way. 1973 | Maturity rating: 16+ | 1h 45m | Westerns. 2011 . It turned out that Eastwood was a natural born director, albeit a different breed of one. It is one of those examples, I Lombardi, Verdis fourth opera, is set during the First Crusade. By what name was High Plains Drifter (1973) officially released in India in Hindi? And two decades before Eastwood would win Best Picture and Best Director Oscars for his return to the genre with the twilight apologia Unforgiven, he still hadnt begun to grapple with the regrets and ramifications of shoot-first-ask-questions-later Old West violence. "[17] Tom Zito of The Washington Post called it "an enjoyable, well-constructed work that suffers only from a slightly tedious tone that makes the film seem longer than its 105 minutes. [4] The film was influenced by the work of Eastwood's two major collaborators, film directors Sergio Leone and Don Siegel. High Plains Drifter. on Twitter: "@dirtyracoon25 @JFowlerESPN Nah he Because of the stranger's expertise with a gun, the town votes to hire him at any cost to protect Lago from three outlawsStacey Bridges (Geoffrey Lewis), Bill Borders (Scott Walker), and Cole Carlin (Anthony James)who have just been released from jail after they brutally whipped to death Lago's previous Marshal Jim Duncan (Buddy Van Horn) and who are believed to be on their way back to Lago. Not in 2023" Link to Are You There God? He takes a room and decides to stay. The Stranger drags Sarah, kicking and screaming, into her bedroom (the only room in the hotel not damaged) where they have sex. Will the town's leaders convince the mysterious man to help? That fact that we cant identify with the silent mysterious main character like we usually do during westerns puts us more into the shoes of the agitated townsfolk, which was a nice twist. In an interview, Eastwood said that earlier versions of the script made the Stranger the dead marshal's brother. High Plains Drifter released in the year 1973. Anyway Clint Eastwood stars in and directs HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER which is a mystery western and quite dark, bloody and cool. When trouble found him, the cigar usually came out long enough . You know, the rhythm of this title really makes me think of "Catch Scratch Fever", and you know, I'll run with it, because it's better than getting the Beastie Boys song stuck in my head. The violence of the film (including a couple of murders by bull-whipping) is continual and explicit. A gun-fighting stranger comes to the small settlement of Lago and is hired to bring the townsfolk together in an attempt to hold off three outlaws who are on their way. Elements include a darker, more cynical tone, with focus on the lawlessness of the time period, favouring realism over romanticism. In this, then, is also created the possibility of free will. The, Cantata 182, composed in 1713, is for Palm Sunday, which is the first day of Holy Week and the Sunday before Easter, and. User Ratings Tidyman's screenplay was inspired by the real-life murder of Kitty Genovese in Queens in 1964, which eyewitnesses reportedly stood by and watched. Ghost Images: Cinema of the Afterlife . Fra Angelico (circa 1440-45) March 25th is the feast of the annunciation of Mary, for which Bach composed his cantata BWV 1. A film version broadcast on the Sundance Channel in 2020 has a few words noticeably cut out. Privacy Policy. Universal Pictures, It's the story of a mysterious, crack-shot out-of-towner paid handsomely to protect an idyllic California . The townspeople are scared of him, and three gunmen try, unsuccessfully, to kill him. This film just feels mean, and the nastiness all comes from the character of the stranger. The outlaws arrive and easily overcome the poor resistance of the townspeople; the defenders are all killed, while the survivors are rounded up in the saloon. McFarland & Co . Western, Original Language: With the possible exception of John Wayne, no actor was more synonymous with the movie Western during the second half of the 20th Century than Clint Eastwood. The next morning, Sarah tells the Stranger that Duncan cannot rest in peace because the town buried him in an unmarked grave. An Allegory of the Avenging Angel, in Clint Eastwood's High Plains Get the freshest reviews, news, and more delivered right to your inbox! Particularly bad is the scene where Callie ambushes the Stranger while he's taking a bath, unarmed, and fires several shots at him. The scene where Clint Eastwood is about to get his clean shave is honestly cinema at it's best. Then, upon the Stranger's final departure from Lago, the midget Mordecai is seen tending to an unmarked grave which now bears the name Jim Duncan. The text is Martin Luthers. That night, in his hotel room, the Stranger dreams of Jim Duncan, a federal marshal, being whipped to death by outlaws Stacey Bridges and brothers Dan and Cole Carlin, as Lago's citizens watch in silence. we cut to a shot of the Stranger, seemingly implying. Machoism is also a meaty theme of most westerns but that is given a slap to the face also in the film. But like a Broadway-trained thespian who periodically returns to the stage to keep his or her instincts honed, Eastwood would keep circling back to the genre that had first forged his mythology in a crucible of six-shooters and squinting glances, the Western. The film was shot on location on the shores of Mono Lake, California. He favored a less explicit and more supernatural interpretation, and excised the reference. High Plains Drifter - Rotten Tomatoes After Belding says "It couldn't be worse if the devil himself had ridden into Lago!" Dee Barton wrote the film score. The Ferrymans Obolus, the third and concluding sequence of Part 2, The idea is Gods. Naturally, they never say this guy's name, but we all know who he is, so this is pretty much Eastwood's big answer to all of those rather annoying religious references that Hollywood had been throwing in all of their westerns prior to this one. This would explain why nobody in the town recognized him, but he knew how exactly the Marshal was killed and he was able to kill the three men . Regarding power and authority, these depictions favour critical views of big business, the American government, masculine figures (including the military and their policies), and a turn to greater historical authenticity. Returning to Lago, the Stranger inspects the preparationsthe entire town painted red, armed men on rooftops, picnic tables laden with food and drink, and a big "WELCOME HOME BOYS" bannerthen he silently departs again. Read our extensive list of rules for more information on other types of posts like fan-art and self-promotion, or message the moderators if you have any questions. Director Clint Eastwood: Attention to Detail and Involvement for the Audience. 17 June 2019. With his cigar in his mouth, whether it was his Man with No Name in Leone's films or the Stranger in his own High Plains Drifter, Eastwood was a taciturn loner not looking for trouble. High Plains Drifter. on Twitter [8] The film was completed in six weeks, two days ahead of schedule, and under budget. Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story: Season 1. Cinemark Metacritic Reviews. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. High Plains Drifter: Official Clip - He Shot My Ear Off! Dee Barton's score is genuinely refreshing, capturing the supernatural feel of the film through a fusion of classic western themes and a whimsy which ranges from colorful to rather intense, while Bruce Surtees' cinematography, despite being not quite as playful as Barton's still-underused efforts, is also attractive in its bleakness, with a rugged palette over gritty art direction by Henry Bumstead. The Stranger drags Sarah, kicking and screaming, into her bedroom (the only room in the hotel not damaged) where they have sex. [7] The film was completed in six weeks, two days ahead of schedule, and under budget. Meanwhile, after spending a night in a hotel bed together, Sarah Belding tells the Stranger of her belief that Jim Duncan cannot rest in peace nor depart the physical realm because he was buried in an unmarked grave. At any rate, Ted Nugent fits better here, because you know that there is going to be some serious hard rocking when Clint Eastwood takes on this role, and I specifically mean "this" role. Its first image is of a stock Western landscape, a barren southwestern American desert, our view distorted by waves of heat. Why Does Bruce Willis Make Movies He Hates? This particular revisionist western is characterized by trippy, almost abstractionist artistic touches that are admirable as unique, and not even all that overwrought, yet the occasions in which the offbeat meditations are overplayed stand, distancing subjective value with artistic non-conventions to storytelling. The Stranger only agrees to take up the role after the town meets his bizarre demands including painting the town's buildings red and rechristening the town itself as "Hell". The town's solution to their quarrel with the marshal. Theyre already in hell for their sins (at least everyone other than Verna Bloom, who was the only person who tried to help Duncan). For a video version of my thoughts, see here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4hLVDc9yrs. "[20] John Wayne criticized the film's iconoclastic approach; in a letter to Eastwood, he wrote, "That isn't what the West was all about. And High Plains Drifter is wall to wall with killing (not to mention some pretty un-P.C. [8], The character of Marshal Duncan was played by Buddy Van Horn, Eastwood's long-time stunt double, to suggest that he and the Stranger could be the same person. HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER is perhaps Eastwood's most mean-spirited film that deals with supernatural elements and quite literally burning down every cliche, the Western cliche . We never really are told who he is or where he comes from. Under a joint production between Malpaso and Universal, the original screenplay was written by Ernest Tidyman, who had won a Best Screenplay Oscar for The French Connection.[6]. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. Watch High Plains Drifter | Netflix Dennis Harvey 48 Hills. Is 'High Plains Drifter' based on a book. A gunslinger emerges from a desert's shimmering horizon like an apparition. When the attractive, blond townswoman Callie Travers flirtatiously insults him, he rapes her in the livery stable. When they ask if they can come to the "fiesta", he says no. Drifter is lauded as being one of the very first revisionist westerns as opposed to the classic traditional westerns. Privacy Policy We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back. High Plains Drifter is a 1973 American Western film directed by Clint Eastwood, written by Ernest Tidyman, and produced by Robert Daley for The Malpaso Company and Universal Pictures. Clint Eastwood and Issues of American Masculinity . Not the townspeople, not the villains, not even the "anti-hero" at the center. One of my favorites from back in the day. Sep 7, 2010, Runtime: . Edit, American screenwriter Ernest Tidyman wrote the screenplay for High Plains Drifter and followed it up with a 1973 novelization of the film. One of my absolute favorites. Says the paradox: to save the just, you must make a pact with the Devil. Clint Eastwood's America . Bach, Cantata 1 Feast of the Annunciation of Mary, Caravaggios Dagger A Pursuit of Right Action, Mahler and Freud Meet in Leiden Of the Pilgrimage of Life, Constellations of Desire Book Three of Solitary Ethics, Beethoven Piano Sonata 29 in B, Op. 1558491201 . It is gradually revealed that the townspeople hired the outlaws to murder Duncan when he discovered that the local gold mine was illegally dug on government-owned land and would have to be closed, destroying the town's livelihood. A Stranger (Clint Eastwood) rides into in the dusty mining town of Lago, where the townspeople are living in the shadow of a dark secret. Some critics thought Eastwood's directing derivative; Arthur Knight in Saturday Review remarked that Eastwood had "absorbed the approaches of Siegel and Leone and fused them with his own paranoid vision of society". There's always retribution for your deeds. Now, with those murderers just released from prison, they want Eastwoods Stranger to defend them. In some details they will seem inappropriate at the moment but it is not wasted. Clint Eastwood's sophomore outing as director sees him back in the saddle as a mysterious stranger, and the result is one of his most memorable Westerns. The film was shot on location on the shores of Mono Lake, California. Read critic reviews. After scouting locations alone in a pickup truck in Oregon, Nevada and California,[7] he settled on the "highly photogenic" Mono Lake area. The original script identified him as the marshal's brother. New #Steelers TE Darnell Washington would have gone much higher than late-third round but "medical zonked him," as one scout said. By continuing, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Westerns often have mysterious, strong silent protagonists but high plains drifter might have gone as far as to have the stranger be some kind of spectre or ghost, sent to the town to punish them for their sins. Starring: Clint Eastwood, Verna Bloom, Marianna Hill The librettist is Temistocle Solera. The jail-freed trio realizes too late that he's after vengeance for the whip-torment they inflicted on weakling Marshal Jim Duncan (Buddy Van Horn) years ago, still the stranger's daily nightmare. Three gunmen hired to protect the town taunt and threaten him; he kills all three with little effort. I was mostly satisfied by the story as the more it went on the more I got interested. 2.75/5 - Decent. Now this may not be as good as some of Clint Eastwood other western, especially Unforgiven, but it's still a nice alternative and a unique take on the western genre from the man who is the best in that genre. Written by Ernest Tidyman, who was a bit of an uncategorizable genre schizophrenic himself having already written both the Blaxploitation classic Shaft and earned a Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar for The French Connection, High Plains Drifter is a haunting and haunted supernatural revenge story about a mysterious, cigarillo-chewing man with no name (guess who?) [21], High Plains Drifter was first released on DVD by Universal Studios Home Video on February 24, 1998. Edit, One gravestone shown in the intro is dated to 1882, so this movie most likely takes place in the mid-1880s. 6275 . Here Eastwood takes advantage of what he has learned in the spaghetti western with a plot that is fully attached to the genre. It was Eastwood's second film as director, and the first Western he directed. High Plains Drifter (1973) - Plot - IMDb The most eye-catching and best-known sequence in the film occurs when Eastwood tells the cowering citizens of Lago to paint every building in the town red as they await the three murderers return. | This is even true for the DVD version. [18] Jon Landau of Rolling Stone concurred, noting "thematic shallowness" and "verbal archness"; but he expressed approval of the dramatic scenery and cinematography. Yes, there are subtle problems throughout the film, but there are also considerable strengths, and they stood a real chance of taking a small-scale narrative and molding it into a rewarding thriller, only to go overpowered by the cold spells which, when combined with those subtle missteps, ultimately secure the final product shy of its potential. He agrees to help the townspeople, but does so with his own secret agenda. As the Stranger trains the townsfolk to take arms and the gunmen draw closer, the hidden secrets and corruptions of the town begin to unravel, and the truth behind Lago's feud with the outlaws and their culpability in the death of a federal marshal, with whom the Stranger has a connection soon comes to light A Deconstruction of the Western genre with supernatural overtones, High Plains Drifter is one of Eastwood's most popular and acclaimed films. Tidyman's screenplay was inspired by the real-life murder of Kitty Genovese in Queens in 1964, which eyewitnesses reportedly stood by and watched. "[10] The graveyard set featured in the film's final scene included tombstones inscribed "Sergio Leone" and "Don Siegel" as a humorous tribute to the two influential directors. This movie is definitely a different kind of western. Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story: Season 1, Link to Marvel Movies Ranked Worst to Best by Tomatometer, Link to RT25: Celebrating 25 Years of Rotten Tomatoes, Link to Prime Video Acquires J.J. Abrams and Matt Reeves. The supporting cast is all of humanity. The image is an example of a ticket confirmation email that AMC sent you when you purchased your ticket. The next morning, as the Stranger rides out of town, he passes Mordecai carving a fresh grave marker. As the Stranger rides off into the desert, a perplexed Mordecai stands beside the tombstone he just finished engraving: "Marshal Jim Duncan, Rest in Peace". Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available from thestaff@tvtropes.org. In High Plains Drifter, the Stranger is all but a Devil in a film brimming with nihilism; in Pale Rider, very much the positive to that film's negative, morals aren't quite so out of reach, and the Preacher is gradually revealed to be something of a Christ figure. I know, I know, I still need to get the cast names in there and I'll be eternally tweaking it, so if you have . Brutal story-line which is about as close to an explicit allegory as the western has ever come. The Stranger accepts seemingly reluctantly, to be put in charge of order and mounting a defense, recruiting the factotum dwarf as his Deputy. As an actor, he is probably better than he allows himself to be. "[16] Tom Zito of The Washington Post called it "an enjoyable, well-constructed work that suffers only from a slightly tedious tone that makes the film seem longer than its 105 minutes."[17]. The historicity of the name, in Persian, suggests the meaning little boy; in Aramaic, follower or servant, or follower and servant of God. The Drifter's rape of Callie seems to be motivated by the fact she was rude to him. A mysterious drifter referred to only as "The Stranger" rides into the dismal mining town of Lago, which has a crisis on its hands: three ruthless gunmen are making their way to the town so they can settle scores over an old wrong done to them by the townspeople. In an interview, Eastwood said that earlier versions of the script made the Stranger the dead marshal's brother. This content is imported from youTube. One thing about the story that's bad is that the town people are represented as cowards for the whole movie and they don't exactly improve though the at the end either. As a freshly minted red-hot commodity both at home and abroad, Eastwood quickly parlayed his new-found bankability into a handful of macho and muscular studio pictures like the fish-out-of-water cop thriller Coogans Bluff and the bloated WWII action-adventure Where Eagles Dare. There's always retribution for your deeds. The film was directed by Clint Eastwood and written by Ernest Tidyman and stars Clint Eastwood, Verna Bloom and Mariana Hill. During the flashback the Marshall whos getting whipped damns the townsfolk to hell whilst he dies, and my personal take on the film is that the Stranger is a kind of curse or angel of death sent to punish the town. High Plains Drifter Reviews - Metacritic Meaning of hells comin with me : r/Poormanspoison - Reddit The residents of Lago at first view the stranger with suspicion, but when news that some outlaws that are out for blood are on their way to town, they ask the stranger for his help. As he leaves, he paints over the town sign with a single word: "Hell". [25], American musician Kirk Hammett included a song named High Plains Drifter, which takes its title from the film, on his 2022 extended play, Portals. Belding, aiming a shotgun at the Stranger's back, is shot dead by Mordecai. Mordecai says, "I never did know your name," to which the Stranger replies, "Yes, you do." Returning to Lago, the Stranger inspects the preparations the entire town painted red, armed men on rooftops, picnic tables laden with food and drink, and a big "WELCOME HOME BOYS" banner then he silently departs again. Chris Nashawaty is a writer, editor, critic, and author of books about Roger Corman & Caddyshack. Callie and several men, including Morgan Allen, decide to kill the Stranger. Marshal, being whipped to death by outlaws Stacey Bridges and brothers Dan and Cole Carlin, as Lago's citizens watch in silence. Rape-Revenge Films: A Critical Study . High Plains Drifter begins in a way that should be immediately recognizable to anyone even remotely familiar with the genre: a stranger rides into town. In the final scene, the Stranger rides his horse out of town into the hot undulating waves of the desert and disappears. Check this excellent film out. The young actor had come to Hollywood from the San Francisco Bay area in the early 50s, and thanks to his 6-foot-4-inch stature and good looks was signed to a $100-a-week contract at Universal, where he was quickly put to work in a string of hokey B-movies like Revenge of the Creature and Tarantula.
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