tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15283666.post4710389437440809224..comments2024-03-14T03:15:28.803-07:00Comments on The End of Cinema: Man Of The West, RevisitedSean Gilmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16124894627028920508noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15283666.post-42581965881943647182007-06-14T18:48:00.000-07:002007-06-14T18:48:00.000-07:00Hey,I'm glad you gave the movie another chance, ev...Hey,<BR/>I'm glad you gave the movie another chance, even if you didn't like it all that better--you certainly gave it a fair shot and make very good points about its weaknesses. Anyways, a few last thoughts:<BR/><BR/>I agree that acting can be very difficult to judge, and depends maybe more than any other cinematic element on the viewer for effectiveness. Jimmy Stewart is my favorite actor as well, and by his lofty standard, just about everyone else including Cooper falls short. I do think that Cooper's weariness ("boredom"?) concentrates his performance: he's directly channeling the essence of his character and screen persona here without his usual mannerisms. Cooper made this when he was a dying man, and his minimalist work here seems analogous to the late films of masters like Dreyer's "Gertrud" or Lang's "1000 Eyes of Dr Mabuse", where everything extraneous about the filmmaking (or the performance in this case) has been stripped away, and we're left with an unusually direct and pure portrait of the ideas and feelings animating the man.<BR/><BR/>I love all of these films dearly, but I think Winchester 73 is very schematic and Liberty Valance very theatrical (in good ways), while narrative holes abound in The Searchers and Once Upon a Time. In each case it's primarily the direction that transcends these problems and even turns them into strengths, and I would argue the same applies to Man of the West. Its other great strength is the remarkable sense of tragedy--for weeks after seeing the film the "I've come to see you, cousin -- Over here, cousin" exchange echoed in my head.<BR/><BR/>Much as I love Man of the West, I won't argue with elevating Mann's other work above it; his 1950s movies form a remarkable string of masterpieces akin to (greater than?) Hitchcock's or Ray's decade-long hit parades. Between Vertigo and Strangers on a Train, who's to choose? As long as your post encourages anyone out there to watch another Mann movie, I'm satisfied.<BR/><BR/>Happy viewings,<BR/><BR/>AndrewAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com