According to the above standards, John McLean's "Western Slow" is a complete alternative, not to mention that it subverts the Western genre, but at least it breaks the previous inherent model, which is refreshing. "As if there is a dark river of fatalism surging under the picturesque camera lens, it is also a fascinating film that brings European flavor into the American story." This comment of the American "Variety" magazine is quite right. It summed up the unique style of "Western Slow Tunes". In my opinion, the chic shots and graphics, combined with the ubiquitous nonsense and dark humor, are almost a mix of Wes Anderson, Quentin Tarantino, and the Coen brothers. Perhaps, using these four great gods to describe Maclean is a bit overrated, but for a debut novel, it is not an exaggeration to give a high score.
The stylized picture and composition are the most intuitive first impression the film gives the audience. The director took great pains to use slow-moving photography to capture the two main characters riding on horseback, and it was obviously the postcard-like background that attracted us more at this time. The Mackenzie Basin in New Zealand, which used to be the location of "The Lord of the Rings", made its first contribution. As the International Starry Sky Nature Reserve, it is a vast and varied natural landscape, pretending to be a Colorado. In terms of composition, the director mischievously used low-position shots many times, such as the gigantic mushroom. Maybe these have no effect on the advancement of the plot, but they add interest and can quite arouse the audience's enthusiasm for watching the movie.
Maclean, on the other hand, comes from Europe, and inevitably incorporates literary and romantic qualities into the film. At the beginning of the movie, when Jay used a pistol to light up the three stars of Orion's belt in turn, a strong literary atmosphere spread unscrupulously. It also includes the constant flashbacks of the love game between Jay and Rose, the sudden appearance of three black French-speaking singers in the moor, and even Jay's whimsical railway to the moon. Of course, there's a lot of romance in the setting of a young Scotsman who goes single-handedly to the American West in search of a lover.
The biggest attraction of this film is undoubtedly that Kodi Smit-McPhee's little white literary man meets Michael Fassbender's rough brother and old driver. One innocent, one full of routines, as Cyrus remarked in the narration—the kid was a whimsical, and he saw things from a different angle. For him, we live in a land of hope and goodwill. In my eyes, this world is full of difficulties and dangers, and it is more like a thug. As long as there is a little profit, it will be ready to move, cutting your heart with a knife.
However, it was these two people who seemed to be at odds with each other, but brought joy and sorrow all the way. From this point of view, "Western Slow Tunes" can be seen as a road movie on horseback. The old driver taught the literary man by words and deeds the rules of survival in the wild land, and the literary man kept instilling the meaning of life beyond survival to the old driver. The two slowly transitioned from a mere employment relationship (or that Cyrus wanted to use Jay), and even formed a small boat of friendship, which started as a tandem in the riding position and then walked side by side. It can be seen. In my opinion, the relationship between Jay and Cyrus can be likened to Django and Dr. Schultz in Django Unchained, not only do the characters share some similarities, but they both treat each other on the road. With a subtle influence, Sellers and Dr. Schultz's ultimate sacrifice were qualitatively identical.
Of course, the director did not forget to play a black humor at the end. When we all thought that Cyrus could save Rose and his daughter from water and fire, we didn't expect that he would be shot down, and then hid behind the wall to smoke; He was accidentally wounded to death by the beloved girl, and even was shot for a while and no one paid any attention. What's even more ridiculous is that the salt shaker on the shelf was hit by a stray bullet, and the scattered salt spilled right on Jay's chest wound. In the end, the literary man died at the gunpoint of his lover, the old driver learned love and justice, and he also got Rose. Such an ending seems like a joke, but it also seems like an unchangeable fate. It is worth mentioning that, until the group battle at the end, the director still calmly maintained the usual "slow tone", so that the climax was still slow and slow, every shot and every bullet was explained carefully, the rhythm of the film was To be good from the beginning to the end.
After watching the movie, I recalled what Jay said: "For life, only survival is not enough." Suddenly I remembered what Teacher Xiaosong said: "Life is not only about the things in front of me, but also poetry and fields in the distance. ”
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