The Assassination of Jesse James...

[zalena]

from Manola Dargis' review of The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. I haven't decided if I'm going to see it yet:

The question of whether the world or cinema needs another monument to an American gangster, a thug who lived by the gun and repeatedly killed in cold blood, remains unanswered by the film and its makers. And perhaps that isn’t a question worth asking. This is, after all, meant to be an evening’s entertainment, and its burdens should remain modest even if its goals are not.... The true story of Jesse James, despite all the dime novels and B movies, remains untold, perhaps because in its savagery it really is as American as apple pie and, as such, unspeakably hard to tell.

It's an excellent question, and one I've asked repeatedly as I've explored both Westerns in film, and the West in history and popular imagination.

Comments

[borbor-chan.livejournal.com]

Maybe the question is usually unasked (and definitely unanswered) because it exposes that America is, to an extent, a nation by and for gangsters - individuals who buck the law in the name of their "freedom" to pursue their way of life, the acquisition of wealth, sex, and power, even at the expense of their fellow citizens? Despite the intentions of our estimable and highly-educated founding fathers, what sounds more American than that?

I didn't see more than a few episodes, but I imagine "Deadwood" ended up beating this theme over its viewers' heads with a sledgehammer.

[zalena.livejournal.com]

I watched a good portion of the first season and gave up in a pique of Western hating. This is before Eastwood. I kind of feel like I should try watching it again, mostly because I feel like I need to justify hating it. (Also because I want to see if my viewpoint has changed.)

[borbor-chan.livejournal.com]

I have always loved westerns but that show it pretty hard to take, despite all the leather, blood, and cleavage, which would usually make for a good hour of tv in my book. All the cussing and violence feels artificial, like it's making up for the predictable, VERY slow plot. Not to say anything of the faux "feminist" characters crammed in there. One of HBO's worst.