Film Review
The most highly regarded of all John Ford's great westerns is also one
of the director's most subversive, since it confronts the issue of
racism, specifically the ingrained hatred of Anglo-Americans towards
Native Americans, head on. When the film was made, racism was a
hot topic in the United States, with civil rights politics increasing
tensions between different racial groupings.
The Searchers may not handle the
issue with much subtlety but, to its credit, it is the first film that
shows racial hatred as the primary motivating force in the white man's
determination to exterminate the Native Americans. In no small
way it helped to change public attitudes on the race issue, mainly by
encouraging other influential artists and commentators to continue
reminding Americans of their shameful history and of the need
to make amends.
The Searchers is also
technically John Ford's most ambitious film, and the one of his films
that can legitimately be called an epic. The stunning panoramas,
mostly shot in Ford's beloved Monument Valley, the sprawling narrative
and the underlying political subtext all contribute to this being the
director's masterpiece, a complex and compelling western that is
ambiguous, poignant and highly poetic. The film would be
unbearably bleak were it not for some inspired moments of comedy which
offer a much-needed relief from the tense, doom-laden drama.
In a surprisingly antipathetic role, John Wayne gives one of his better
performances, one that paints the traditional western hero with a great
sense of irony, suggesting that his courage and resolve may be the
product of less noble motivating forces than raw heroism. Unlike most westerns,
which tend to glamorise the settlers and portray the Indians as
faceless savages,
The Searchers
is a film that strives for historical accuracy. It laid the
groundwork for the modern westerns which rejected the old myths and
showed us the grim truth of how the west was really won.
© James Travers 2009
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Next John Ford film:
Gideon's Day (1958)
Film Synopsis
In 1868, Ethan Edwards returns to his brother, Aaron, who lives on a
frontier farmstead in northern Texas with his wife Martha and their
three young children: Ben, Lucy and Debbie. The farm is also home
to Martin Pawley, who was adopted by Aaron after having been rescued as
a boy from Indians by Ethan. Aaaron hasn't seen his
brother for years, not since he fought for the Confederacy during the
Civil War, and rumour has it that he has been up to no good. The
next day, Ethan, Martin and Brad Jorgensen, Lucy's fiancé, are
lured away from the farmstead by Comanche Indians. On their
return, they find the farm in flames. Aaron, Martha and Ben all
dead and Lucy and Debbie are missing. Ranger Captain Clayton
leads a party to look for the missing girls who, it is assumed, have
been abducted by the Comanches. When Ethan reveals that he has
found Lucy's dead body, Brad makes a solo attack on the Comanches and
is killed. In a search that will last many years, Ethan and
Martin continue looking for Debbie, but for different reasons.
Whilst Martin wants to save his half-sister, Ethan has resolved to kill
her since, in his eyes, it is better to be dead than to live as a
squaw...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.