stage coach

So, its hard for me to watch a western without thinking of my little sisster, at any given opertunity she would sit down and watch anything atall that involved cowboys and indians, the west and that kinda anoying singalong type soundtack. one of the most depressing favorites of hers was the one that is like the others but everything seems to just go terribly wrong for the whole town in the end. So for me when i heard western i felt i had a pretty good idea what to expect, not that i was dreading the idea of watching it just that i felt i knew what type of thing was going to happen ......

so yes there was the classic chase scene the campfire scene and a showdown at the end but boy was this stylishly done. With lines like,

" an angel in the jungle" and a cracker at the end

"Saved from the blessings of civilisation."

This film is gripping from start to finish.

this is the first western i have seen in black and white so that made a big difference straight away, from the start just visually i was open to the idea that this wasn't going to be just like the others.

There was the perfect road movie cast, the serious brooding John Wayne and the socially ostrocized Dallas who is emplyed to be something of a prostitue, the rich pregnant lady who was nice enough but a bit of a bitch, Hetfeild the swarve good looker and several comic relief’s.

The women are strong characters from the start, even when they are told the cartridge will be in danger and that if they stay on so will they, they refuse to get of and don’t seem that bothered by the idea. There is allot of role reversal with Dallas and Wayne, at one point she goes to serve him dinner and he takes the bowl out of her hand and serves it for her.

The screenplay weaved happily through the upbeat stingy western music. When it comes to longer dialogs with Ringo kid its very stylish and to the point, there doesn’t seem to b a wasted word and Wayne’s execution is word perfect. They never held onto the serious words for that long you always new there would be some comic relief round the corner, which was a really nice touch in the screenplay as it acted as a yoyo effect.

The cinematography was very beautiful to from the wide sweeping shot to the tight close shots inside the stagecoach. These shots were particularly brave as they lingered with no dialog on expression- acting so strong no words were needed, well-polished and lovely lit working to their best advantages with the black and white film. The corridor scene was also a really well lit and framed shot, Dallas was kept in a pool of light and you could just see Wayne highlighted in the corner of the shot.

the classic shoot out scene at the end of the film cleverly cut away from the action instead of shoving it , playing out slowly showing reactions of dallas and the saloon really worked and made a statement that this wasn't just your average cowboy movie .

the moments in the salloon are so tense its horrible , you just want something to happen , the silence is defining as its in such stark contrast to the jogging western music you get so used to throughout the film.

amazing :)

peace x