Jesse James is an impressive film

“The film you are about to see is a very long film. And in its length it acquires, I think, a sort of lyricism.”

This isn’t what I want to hear before I watch a film. But despite the initial scepticism engendered by QFT’s extremely nervous expert and his rambling introduction, I expect The Murder of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford to require some beating for the title of best film I see in 2008. And we’ve reached what ……. January the 7th?

The film is a subtle retelling of one of the American west’s most enduring tales. Andrew Dominik’s movie portrays a waning James and deals with the ambivalence of hero worship as well as the complex relationship between assassins and their victims. The besotted assassin Robert Ford’s admiration is tempered with jealousy and he hopes to acquire, in his murder of the Brad Pitt character, some of his fame and notoriety. His infatuation with James is inextricably linked with parallel feelings of hatred and resentment. For his part James is simultaneously drawn to Ford and repelled by him.

Ironically I did not think that the film was too long. It was easy paced and did not rely on a surfeit of shooting or action to unfold its story. Pitt plays Jesse James in impressive fashion, portraying the charisma and compelling charm of the outlaw, but also illuminating the dark and destructive elements of his character. James is seen one moment doting on his daughter and the next is administering a brutal beating to a young boy.

Casey Affleck’s Ford is also subtly drawn. The journey from wide eyed fan to assassin is entirely convincing. The tragic consequences of Ford’s own celebrity form a prescient end to the film which can be read as a parable about fame for modern times.

I know Kloot thought the film rambled on too much and I know others have shared this view, but I do not agree. I found the movie to be visually arresting and thought-provoking.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Saw this last night, based on your recommendation. Good film with excellent performances, Affleck in particular. Not in the same league as "The Lives of Others" though or possibly "This is England" for title of best film seen in 2008.
kenny
8 April 2008 at 19:50
Anonymous said…
Keep up the good work.
10 November 2008 at 12:59
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Football fever in Russia

Russia Blog is getting excited about Euro 2008. Indeed it is drawing parallels between Guus Hiddink and Peter the Great in terms of successful Russo-Dutch exchanges of expertise. Meanwhile, in Moscow, fans have been taking to the streets in order to celebrate the national team’s achievements.
Read more

Shia Revival

The Iranian author, Vali Nasr, has written an interesting book called The Shia Revival: How conflicts within Islam will shape the future .  Its argument is exceptionally pertinent at a time when European governments are edging toward arming Sunni extremists in Syria. Nasr portrays Shiism as the more liberal, palatable strand of Islam and a religion for underdogs.  He makes his point persuasively, although putting a progressive gloss on the regime in Iran and Hezbollah does undermine his thesis. A lot of the material is focussed on Iraq, where there is a Shia majority, which was suppressed during the presidency of Saddam Hussein.  The leading cleric, Ayatollah Sistani, is depicted as a moderating influence, who opposed retaliation as Sunni extremism threatened to cause sectarian civil war. The book’s opening chapter provides an erudite and fascinating history of factions within Islam.  The split dates back to the origins of the faith and a dispute over the prophet Mohammed’
Read more

Walker loada rubbish

Former BBC employee Brian Walker has overrun Slugger O’Toole lately with countless poorly structured, poorly written posts. It is possible quickly to recognize and avoid these by subjecting each Slugger piece to a cursory inspection and identifying those which feature characteristic lack of paragraphing and a tenuous grasp on the technicalities of linking source articles. Although I generally evade Walker’s posts by this method, occasionally (and unfortunately) I have persevered and found that their content is as unrewarding as the style in which they are written. Today, for instance, I inflicted upon myself Brian’s thoughts on a mooted Fianna Fail / SDLP merger . In actual fact, he is right to welcome news that the Southern Irish party has dropped this proposal from its agenda; however, the logic by which he arrives at this conclusion is parochial nonsense. To summarise, Walker believes that pursuing realignment with larger parties, whether they are from the rest of the UK or fro
Read more