Tag: Charles Bronson

Fear And Anger (Death Wish, 2018)

Death_Wish_posterThe seventies were a time of unrest and in some parts of America, high crime.  Tough Guy Charles Bronson brought to live an everyman pushed to the edge by criminals who attack his wife and daughter. The original Death Wish spawned four sequels. Architect Paul Kersey journeyed through crime ridden neighborhoods to do what police could…or would not…do.

In Eli Roth’s remake, America’s favorite tough guy, Bruce Willis, plays Paul Kersey. In the original franchise he was a mild mannered architect. Here, we find Paul Kersey to be a skilled surgeon in the emergency room. The film shows Kersey to be a decent guy, but also one who backs down in confrontation. It also makes a point in one scene to show that Paul does not own any guns.  But when his wife and daughter are attacked, the police start to seem a lot less effective. It eats at Paul and he becomes drawn to a local gun store.

After a couple false starts, Paul manages to foil a car jacking and soon follows it up by killing a noted drug dealer. The media erupts and Paul is nicknamed the Grim Reaper.

Many have noted that it is practically an ad for the NRA. But really, this film is more of a promotion of the fear that certain politicians foist upon us. Fears of rampant crime, violent drug dealers, foreign invaders and so on. And it is not that these things do not exist. But the film overhypes them.

Eli Roth uses his trademark subtlety with this one.  The core of the film is revenge because “You touched my stuff!”  This may seem harsh, but the daughter spends almost the entire film in a coma and her mother is dead. The women in his life are reduced to being stuff to drive his anger, fear and resentment.

The way the film ties up it’s story is just overly neat and tidy. Implausibly so. Roth plays lip service to the idea that maybe Kersey is in the wrong…but it is set dressing. It is painfully clear that we are to identify with and thrill over his violence and cruelty.

When I took the disk from the player…I really found the movie pretty unremarkable, fading from my memory. It follows the required rules of action movies…but it fails to make the character interesting or complex. This is not John McClane taking on terrorists whose plot he stumbled into.  This is a predator going on the hunt, which is a lot harder to root for.

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All Stand Together pt 1 (The Magnificent Seven, 1960)

Magnificant_Seven_PosterBandit Calvera and his gang are terrorizing the people of a small Mexican town. After one raid, he promises to return to steal more from the people. The leaders of the village put together what they have to invest in weapons.

Chris Adams steps in suggesting hiring gunfighters.  While reluctant, after helping select the other gunfighters, Chris agrees to help defend the town.

The Magnificent Seven cleverly sets up it’s two main leads Chris  and Vin (Yul Brynner and Steve McQueen) as decent tough guys.  They discover the local coroner has an issue.  There is a body that needs transporting.  But the deceased is Native American and the white locals are refusing access to the cemetery. The two volunteer to take the hearse to the cemetery.  This seen is really full of charm and gets you pumped to follow these two. And they manage to succeed in their mission with only a couple of flesh wounds.  These men are not cold blooded killers.  They are willing to do as little harm as possible.

This is a stellar cast of tough guys, but not in some cheap sense.  They are mostly good and decent (Harry Luck is a bit mercenary, joining up because he believes there must be treasure if Chris is involved, but even he ends up willing t risk his life for the town). Eli Wallach, of course, makes for a great villain.

The music is energetic and fun, especially the heroic theme song.

The Magnificent Seven is a truly great and fun western.

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A Looooong Time Ago (Once Upon a Time In the West, 1968)

Once_Upon_a_Time_West_PosterOnce Upon a Time In the West specializes in a big trait of Sergio Leone’s work…patience. The film opens with a scene of three men waiting for a train to arrive.  Everything is quiet, with hardly a word spoken.  Only the sounds of a rickety windmill and water dripping onto a hat fill the soundscape.  The three men’s motives uncertain.  And we wait.

And wait.

And wait.

And wait.

And it is amazing.  This could, and frankly, should be a terribly dull sequence…but the tension keeps building until the train arrives.  And all we see is a man toss a bag off and the train moves on…but it is the reveal of what waits behind the train.  We see a lone man standing before the other three.  In a great bit of snappy dialog, the stranger notes they only brought three horses.  One of the thugs laughs and says they are a horse short.  After a pause, the man replies “You brought two horses two many.”

Once Upon a Time in the West follows  the story of a young woman named Jill.  She has arrived to be with her new husband and his children, only to discover on arrival the an and his children have been murdered.  A railroad baron and his associate want her land, but two men have stepped in to challenge the crooked men. Cheyenne and “Harmonica” have different reasons for coming to town, but they unite to help Jill (while fulfilling their own plans).

Leone knows how to do an introduction.  With Robard’s Cheyenne, he goes for a humorous introduction.  We see Jill in a Catina talking with the owner, when they are interrupted by the sound of a gunfight.  We never see it, only hear it, and it’s comic effect hits home as Cheyenne walks through the door full of swagger.  In the same scene, we see a shot of Harmonica (Charles Bronson) sitting in the corner.  There is a swinging lamp and the light and shadow dance across Bronson’s face poetically.

Henry Fonda’s villainous Frank (a gang leader who has adapted to the business world of the railroad barons) is charming and frightening.  Claudia Cardinale is lovely in every scene, but it is not simply her beauty that the character brings to the table.  She is a strong and dominant force in the film.

So many things that seem like they would have been fine as simple character affectations actually have deeper meaning and connections. We never learn Harmonica’s name, instead, when Frank grills him for who he is, he replies with the names of men Frank has killed.  And his harmonica playing has a dark twist added.

Ennio Morricone produces another wonderful soundtrack.  Harmonic’s playing is woven into it and it is some of the simplest and most haunted sounds you will ever hear.

The film is long, and I get why some find it to slow moving…but to me, this is part of what makes it such a rewarding viewing experience.  Leone gives you the opportunity to soak in the environment.  It is a film worthy of the term “Classic Western”.

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