Ethan Hawke
IN A VALLEY OF VIOLENCE
– A FILM REVIEW
After watching Ethan
Hawke gamely slog through the bloated and rambling MAGNIFICENT 7 reboot, it’s a
pleasure to see him given a real chance to act again, in the small but
ambitious new Western, IN A VALLEY OF VIOLENCE, now in theatres and available
on Amazon, iTunes and Vudu. It’s written
and directed by the aptly named Ti West, better known for horror films –
V/H/S/, HOUSE OF THE DEVIL – than oaters, but he makes a strong impression in
his first stab at the genre.
James Ransome
Hawke plays Paul, a
troubled drifter headed to Mexico with his horse and dog, whose stop for
provisions in a small town turns into a nightmare. Gilly (James Ransome), the town bully with
delusions of grandeur, tries to draw Paul into a fight, which leads to a
hateful act I’ll not reveal, and Paul’s subsequent quest for revenge. Here Paul comes into conflict with the town’s
Marshal (John Travolta), who was urban the last time he was a cowboy. He's sympathetic to Paul, but he’s also Gilly’s
father.
John Travlota
A couple of young
ladies, sisters running the hotel, feature prominently: beautiful red-headed
Ellen (Karen Gillan of DR. WHO and SELFIE) is Gilly’s girlfriend, who sees his
shortcomings, but considers him the only man in town with a future. Her younger sister Mary-Anne (Taissa Farmiga)
is less self-absorbed, and attracted to Paul as a man, and as a way to get out
of the town.
Hawke with Taissa Farmiga
The action is exciting,
the plotting sensible, the performances uniformly strong – West knows very well
how to create characters and structure dramatic scenes, adding humor without
getting cute. There’s a particularly
nice extended conversation between Paul and Mary-Anne, where both excel –
especially the quirkily frantic but endearing Farmiga.
It’s a good film,
although not notably original. The bully
son of the prominent townsman wasn’t exactly new in ’55 when Anthony Mann used
it so well against Jimmy Stewart in THE MAN FROM LARAMIE, and it became an
annoying familiar cliché on episodic TV. You can argue whether the opening, feature a
fine turn by Burn Gorman as a man of the cloth, is an homage or a steal from
the opening of THE SHOOTIST. But what is
inarguable is that the scene takes twice as long here as it does in the Wayne
film: virtually every sequence in this film is a bit too long, a few much too long. West is his own editor: he needs to turn the
scissors over to someone a bit more ruthless.
Also, the town is too
underpopulated. At one point, one of the
sisters comments that she’s not a whore, and if that’s what you want, you can
find it at the saloon. But we never see
a whore, or saloon girl, or any female other than the sisters in the entire
film. Similarly, Travolta’s Marshal worries
about his position in the town if he should let anything bad happen to his
son. But the town appears to consist of
less people than you can count on your fingers.
It would work if it were said humorously, or if he was a madman
presiding over a ghost town, but clearly there just wasn’t the budget for
extras.
The music score by
West’s frequent collaborator Jeff Grace is at times Morricone-derivative but
effective. The cinematography by Eric
Robbins is handsome, and his exteriors evoke Andrew Wyeth paintings. Particularly striking are the costumes by
Malgosia Turzanska, who did the same chores on the excellent HELL OR HIGH
WATER. The Blumhouse Film is expected to go to disk on December 27th.
AUTRY’S INDIAN
MARKETPLACE DRAWS HUGE CROWDS
This Saturday and
Sunday tremendous crowds once again descended on The Autry for the annual American Indian Arts Marketplace, where two-hundred
artists from over forty tribes presented their work under an immense tent. Painting, sculpture, jewelry, textiles –
every medium and every form imaginable were included. Among my personal favorites were a marble
bison carved by Robert Dale Tsosie, traditional Hopi carved figures by Bendrew
Atokuku, and the first prize for sculpture, an irornwork by Jason Reed Brown.
Outside of the tent, in
addition to art and craft demonstrations and fry bread, there were kiosks with
informative representatives for different concerns. Kenneth Van Wey of the U.S. Department of the
Interior Indian Arts and Crafts Board (I.A.C.B.) was eager to discuss the problem
of fraudulent ‘Indian art’, and the Indian
Arts and Crafts Act passed in 1990, which forbids passing off as ‘Indian
Made’ any art from a different source.
The problem is widespread. Pendleton Woolen Mills recently reached a
settlement for misleading labeling of blankets as “Indian Product.” Part of the settlement includes Pendleton donating over forty-thousand
dollars to the Red Cloud Indian School’s Heritage Center in South Dakota. Also, coordinated searches and seizures were
made in New Mexico, California, and the Philippines, leading to the arrest of
three New Mexicans for trying to sell Filipino jewelry as Indian-made. Learn more at www.doi.gov/iacb
Kenneth Van Wey
At the next tent, Jim
Davis of TLC, the nonprofit The Language
Conservancy, reminded me that starting in 1879, it was official U.S. policy
to try to erase Native American language, a policy that lasted in some cases
into the 1990s. As a result, 90% of
Native American speakers are over 65; the languages are disappearing. TLC’s mission is to save the many Native
American languages by teaching them to the children of the various tribes at
their reservation schools, as well as beyond the reservation. To this end, they’ve produced dictionaries
and teaching programs in Crow, Lakota, Dakota, Hidatsa, and other
languages. They’ve dubbed Berenstein Bears videos into
Cherokee! They’re active in the Dakotas,
Oklahoma, Minnesota and elsewhere. You
can learn more at their website, http://www.languageconservancy.org/
The next booth belonged
to our local independent station, KCET, who are marking Native American Heritage Month
with a new short documentary series, TENDING THE WILD, which they are producing
in collaboration with The Autry. It’s available
both digitally and on TV, and can be seen at The Autry as part of the California Continued exhibit. Subjects include GATHERING MEDICINE, CULTURAL
BURNING to prevent wildfires, and KEEPING THE RIVER, about the importance of
salmon for Indians of the Klamath River.
Other related documentaries include HEALING THE WARRIOR’S HEART which examines
the important role of military service in Native life, and tradition and
ceremonies’ roles in reintegrating soldiers into civilian life. You can learn more, and watch several of the
shows, here: https://www.kcet.org/category/native-american-heritage-month
Saginaw Grant
You never know who you’ll
run in to at these events, and I was delighted to meet Saginaw Grant, who plays
Chief Big Bear in the recent LONE RANGER movie, and Screaming Eagle in THE
RIDICULOUS 6. And he has seven more
projects in pre- or post-production. As
I was leaving, who was coming in but LONGMIRE star Zahn McClarnon, who was also
in last year’s BONE TOMAHAWK, and has a lead role in the upcoming AMC Western
series THE SON, starring with Pierce Brosnan.
Zahn and me
A WORD ON WESTERNS TUESDAY AT THE AUTRY!
This Tuesday, November 15th,
producer and Western historian Rob Word hosts his next A Word on Westerns event at the Wells Fargo Theater. This time the topic is MAKING WESTERNS –
STORIES BEHIND THE SCENES. Rob will be
looking at what skills and qualities makes for a convincing Western actor – the
ability to ride and shoot and wear a ten-gallon hat without looking like a
half-pint? Those sharing their opinions
and experiences will be Oscar-winning actor Louis Gossett Jr., whose Westerns
include THE SKIN GAME, BLACK
BART, BONANZA, and ROOTS; actress Rosemary Forsyth, whose starred in
SHENANDOAH, TEXAS ACROSS THE RIVER, and the series KUNG FU; and Norman Powell, who
produced LAZARUS MAN and GUNSMOKE movies, and was production manager on WANTED:
DEAD OR ALIVE, THE BIG VALLEY, and Sam Peckinpah’s THE WESTERNER. Doors open at 10:30! And head across the way for lunch and more
conversation after!
OKLAHOMA! SATURDAY NOV.
19TH AT THE AUTRY!
As part of their continuing
‘What is a Western?’ series, the Autry presents OKLAHOMA!, the 1956 film version
of the Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein Musical that revolutionized the
Musical form in the way it told its story directly through song. Starring Gordon MacRae, Shirley Jones, Rod
Steiger and Gloria Grahame, it’s directed by that master of the Western, Fred
Zinnemann, whose HIGH NOON will be shown in December. OKLAHOMA! will be introduced by Josh
Garrett-Davis, Gamble Assistant Curator of Western History, Popular Culture and
Firearms. The 35mm print will be
screened at 1:30 pm in the Wells Fargo Theater.
‘CALAMITY JANE’
ANIMATED FEATURE IN THE WORKS
Calamity Jane thinking of Lucky Luke
French animators Henri
Megalon and Remi Chaye, whose current animated feature, LONG WAY NORTH concerns
a Russian aristocratic girl searching for her grandfather, will next tackle the
extremely American story, CALAMITY JANE: A CHILDHOOD OF MARTHA JANE CANNARY, according
to Deadline: Hollywood. The film will
focus on Jane as a little girl who was orphaned at ten. As Chaye explained to DEADLINE:HOLLYWOOD’s
Anita Busch, lone women and girls in the western frontier had few options for
employment beyond laundry and prostitution, and some brave souls decided to try
and pass as men.
Calamity Jane thinking of Wild Bill, at his grave.
While the feminist angle
is certainly a hook, Calamity Jane is not a major pop-culture figure in the
U.S., despite the Doris Day musical, and the popular character in DEADWOOD,
played by Robin Weigert. But she’s a
much bigger character in Europe, because of the long-time popularity of the
Franco-Belgian comic strip LUCKY LUKE, which has been running since 1946, in
which she was a major character. Says
Chaye, “We knew her as kids. She is
part of the childhood of every French person.”
AND THAT’S A WRAP!
Luke Hemsworth
Soon I’ll be writing
about my visit to the set of ABILENE, a new Western about Wild Bill Hickok, starring
WESTWORLD’s Luke Hemsworth and Kris Kristoffereson, and my days at the American
Film Market, tracking down new Westerns.
I just found out that the RED NATION FILM FESTIVAL is going on right now
in Pasadena, and will continue through November 21st. You can find out more at their official
website: http://www.rednationff.com/
LATE BREAKING NEWS –
Just learned that lovely Lupita Tovar, one of the very last stars of early
talkies, has died at 106. Among her
several Westerns she co-starred with Gene Autry in SOUTH OF THE BORDER, and was
the female lead in Universal’s Spanish-language version of DRACULA.
Lupita and Gene
Happy trails,
Henry
All Original Content
Copyright November 2016 by Henry C. Parke – All Rights Reserved
