Director: Andrew Dominik
Starring: Brad Pitt, Casey Affleck, Sam Rockwell, Jeremy Renner, Sam Shephard
This will be the LFF Movie Club’s film to watch over the weekend and then discuss on Monday.
The One Where LFF Watch Jesse James Get Shot By Robert Ford (Who Was A Coward)
“Jesus Jesse… He’s just a kid”
“He knows where his Uncle Jimmy is. That’s gonna make him old soon enough… Now tell me where Jim is…?
Where’s Jim? Where’s Jim? Where’s Jim? Where’s Jim?”
I remember the first time I saw the trailer for The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford. I knew instantly that Brad Pitt would get the kudos, but that the supporting cast looked brilliant too. It didn’t bother me. I’ve wanted a Brad Pitt Oscar since Fight Club, (actually, Seven), and if he was going to get the recognition of being one of the most talented, and risky, Actors out there… Well, I was all for it.
Then something strange happened. Jesse James came and went at the cinema quicker the latest Uwe Boll film. The reviews were glowing. All of the talk was about how the acting, (from all), was truly immense. The talk was that Andrew Dominik was one to watch, (well deserved after the brilliant Chopper – but alas, where is he now??). So why did it come and go? Why did I never get to see this modern classic on the big screen?
I have my own theories. The main one is that in 2007, the Western genre was dead (again). Kevin Costner had given us Open Range, (again, where was the respect that deserved?). Deadwood was getting people excited on the small screen. The Proposition tried to break through. But a Western? A fully fledged guys and horses western? I’m just not sure there was a big enough audience. And that’s a crying shame.
In the grand scheme of things, there is always DVD/Blu Ray. But studying the figures for Jesse, something just doesn’t add up. Less than $4M in the US? Outrageous. Maybe it was marketed wrong. Because, when you watch it again, it’s far more than a western. It may be one of the greatest films about friendship ever.
Take the scene on the porch. Having only just met Robert Ford, and being unsure of him, (or permanently on opium?), Jesse listens intently to him. Why? Because Robert is reading about Jesse. Creating a legend. The sort of writing that would be found in newspapers at the time, to spread the word. Jesse James was an outlaw. A celebrity of days gone by. What I love about the scene is that Jesse is finally getting something from this friendship. Soon after that, he sends his cousin, and far better friends away. He knows that Robert can give him companionship that the others can’t. Robert will say things that Jesse wants to hear. Talk of him as a Hero. A Legend. And there is no doubt his ego needs that. Pitt plays Jesse as a person we should fear, (the gun to the head of the train driver tells us that), but we like him also. That makes it the perfect role for Brad Pitt. He is, if we’re honest, a little unhinged.
The train robbery at the very start, (well, twenty minutes in, but again, if we’re honest, not a lot actually happens before that), is a masterpiece. From Jesse laying on the tracks to hear if the train is on time, (it is), to the use of lighting.
Now, I love films. Love, love, love them. But that is normally the end of it. That explains my rambling style of reviewing them. I normally have a lot to say, but it’s about this, or maybe that… or, oh, I forgot about that bit. I very rarely sit down and study a film in the way a critic would.
Now, I’ll quantify that. I can look at a Ridley Scott film and appreciate his use of lighting, or how he frame Michael Douglas going across the field at the end of Black Rain. But it probably ends there. I can look at the editing in a Tony Scott film, and wonder if he’s permanently on drugs. (Unstoppable was SHIT!). But it ends there.
Every once in a while, a film comes along that will make me sit bolt upright. I’ll take everything in. Forget that the acting is superb, (I generally just assume that’s the Director letting them do their thing, or maybe reining someone like Pitt in a bit… Or maybe letting him dial it up to eleven. Read: 12 Monkeys). Jesse James is that movie.
The train robbery is breath-taking filmmaking. The light of the train, breaking through the trees. Or even the robbers having lanterns. Stunning. And, maybe more importantly, not of this world/time. This film starts to feel not of this Earth, for me. At the point where the train slams its brakes on, and Pitt gets his “Hero shot”, walking through the smoke. Brilliant.
Before this even happens, we get a voice over. And we get scenes of days gone by. Dominek blurs the outside of the image, though. It’s a bit like watching an establishing scene, through the eye of Mordor. And for me, it works brilliantly. I hadn’t really seen that effect before. But for the first time in a long time, I knew I was watching a film that wanted to be different. Even if that would ultimately make it pay, (at the Box Office at least).
Tombstone managed a similar thing. I’ll always remember seeing that at the cinema with my Dad. When the voice over finished, “They called them… Cowboys”, Dad leant in and said, “This is going to be good”. Some films just put you at ease, don’t they? From going to Blockbuster, and thinking, “Shit. 160 minutes. Really?”, you know instantly it will be worth it.
The scene in the bedroom where all of the train robbers have a shoot out is another classic. Robert sat in the corner, (a bit like Marvin), as people miss each other from two feet away. I love that attention to detail. We get the “kill cam” shot, too. But the reality is, unless you’re Jesse James, (or Robert), those guns were pretty inaccurate. Especially as the adrenaline is going.
The scene where Dominek is brave enough to imply a sexual relationship between the two? Brilliant. Adding layers to Affleck’s immense turn as Robert Ford. It’s the first time Robert has seen this legend with out his guns. Then, Jesse wipes his face. What’s that on the chair? His gun. These are real people. Where the slightest gesture means something.
Jesse James never panders to modern sensibilities. It’s a long, long film. There are moments where you are asked to enjoy the silence. And use it. And I appreciate that isn’t for everyone. For me? It’s perfect. I wouldn’t change a single thing about The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford. Apart from the lack of respect and acknowledgment it gets.
Damn. Why did I get rid of Red Dead Redemption? I fancy hunting some buffalo, with John Barry on in the background.
“Insomnia stained his eyes like soot… And the omens promised bad luck… which dungeoned him”
