Unfinished search

Jaleel 2021-12-08 08:01:40

The story takes place in the American West after the Civil War. The protagonist veteran Ethan returned to his hometown after retiring from the war and reunited with his brother's family. However, the happy life of family reunion that could have been expected did not last for a few days, because the Indian attack was broken. The elder brother-in-law and their younger son were killed, and the two younger daughters Lucy and Debbie were taken away. In resentment, Ethan led his brother's adopted son Martin on the road to search for the footprints of the Indians and save Lucy and Debbie.

The story of the whole movie takes place in two very distinct scenes, one is a vast and empty outdoor, and the other is a crowded indoor. The contrast between the two is obvious and interspersed with each other. An indoor scene is followed by an outdoor scene, which gives the whole movie a very obvious rhythm change. When searching for Indians outside, the picture shows a typical American western landscape, with desolate and vast yellow sands and towering boulders. The shots are mostly distant scenes, where the protagonist appears very small and weak, as if the Indians might come out to attack them at any time. In fact, every time the protagonist team was outside, they did have fierce conflicts with Indians or profiteers. The other part of the indoor scene is completely different. There are five main interior scenes. The first is the beginning of Ethan’s return to his brother’s house, the second is Ethan and Martin temporarily staying at Luoli’s house, the third is Luoli reading Martin’s letter at home, and the fourth is It was Lori's wedding, and the last paragraph was when everyone successfully rescued Debbie and returned to Lori's house. In these scenes, the audience can clearly feel the smallness of the room, the room is full of various things, and there are many characters every time, which even shows the narrowness of the indoor space. The indoor shots are mostly medium shots and 3/4 shots, and several people are often crowded into one shot. These people are talking with you one by one, but they are very noisy but lively and warm. The scene frame formed by the recurring door and window frames clearly separates the indoor and outdoor. The outside is empty and dangerous, and the rhythm is tense, while the inside is crowded and lively, with a relaxed rhythm.

In addition to using the scenery as the rhythm, the two main characters-Ethan and Martin are also important factors that dominate the rhythm of the film. Ethan is a battle-tested veteran, calm and even a little cold. Martin is still a young boy, easy to panic, but also innocent and kind. The plots surrounding Ethan are mostly intense hunts and gun battles, while the plot surrounding Martin is the romantic love between him and Lori, which brought them a little bit of joy to the audience during the long and almost hopeless search. And hope, will slow down the whole tense plot. The scenes in the desert are mostly exciting, and the only easy plot is that Martin accidentally bought an Indian wife. This section brought laughter to both themselves and the audience, and relaxed everyone's tense nerves a little bit in order to welcome the next point of excitement.

The beginning and the end of this movie echo clearly. The movie begins at Ethan's brother's house and ends at Luoli's house. The picture at the beginning is dark, and a dazzling light emerges from the frame formed by the door frame in the dark, making people realize that the dark side is indoors, and the bright side is outdoor. First, a woman walked out from the dark room to the bright outside, and then the brother and the family came out one after another from the room. Everyone stood on the porch and looked into the distance and waited. The male protagonist approached on horseback from the vast desert. . At the end of the movie, the door frame becomes the dividing line again. The outside is bright and the interior is as dark as it was at the beginning of the movie. The Indian tribe was defeated, Debbie was successfully rescued, Martin and Lori were reunited, everyone cheered and embraced one by one into Lori's house, from the bright and wide outdoor into the dark and narrow interior. But the male lead Ethan was standing outside the house keeping a certain distance from everyone at this time, watching the lively crowd finally turned his back. The door was closed, the light disappeared, and the film ended here.

In addition to the beginning and the end, there is an impressive scene with a door frame as a frame at the beginning of the film. The children all went to the room to sleep, the sister-in-law and brother also went to the bedroom, but Ethan came out of the room and sat at the door. At this time, the camera followed Ethan's gaze and looked back at the back of his brother entering the bedroom. In this scene, the door frame of the house is surrounded by the small door frame of the bedroom, creating two frames in the lens. The brother's family is inside the frame and Ethan is isolated. The frames in these three paragraphs have separated Ethan from the others. It can be seen that although he has returned from the battlefield, he has not fully integrated into the crowd from beginning to end.

The story takes place after the American Civil War and involves conflicts between white Americans and Indians, which naturally reminds people of racism. But the film does not delve into what racism is, nor does it discuss what is right or wrong or try to find a solution. In the film, the conflict between the two races existed from beginning to end, and it was not as complete as politically correct as I expected. It focuses only on a small person in this context-the veteran Ethan. Ethan's hatred of the Indians was very strong. He shot the dead of the Indians to vent his anger. He also had to make up a few shots for the Indians who fled. Even Debbie, who was assimilated by the Indians, wanted to kill. Ethan's goal seems to have changed from rescuing Debbie from the very beginning to hunting down the Indians. Fortunately, Ethan rescued Debbie in the end and didn't kill her. Ethan's changes can also be seen in the change in his attitude towards Martin. When we first met, Ethan minded that Martin's Indian descent treated him badly, but later he planned to hand over all his wealth to Martin to inherit.

In the battle, Ethan was at ease, but after returning to a peaceful daily life, he was at a loss. Only when he was hunting down the Indians to save Debbie did he regain his spirit. But what about after Debbie was rescued? Ethan still doesn't seem to know how to live a peaceful and happy life like everyone else. The civil war is over, and the marks of war and racism on people will not disappear so easily. The search over the past five years has not only been looking for Debbie who was taken away, but also Ethan’s identity or belonging after being discharged from the army. At the end of the film, Ethan’s back behind closed the door tells us that he still has to Keep searching.

View more about The Searchers reviews

Extended Reading
  • Laney 2022-03-23 09:01:54

    The second half-hour plot lacks logic in the character's emotions, and focuses too much on the character's antics.

  • Verda 2022-04-23 07:02:04

    Family, civilization, savagery, race, women, all elements of a heroic western have uncles and nieces, and Martin's Indian blood, it seems that the director is not racist. But the lack of descriptions about the assimilation and transformation of the little niece is inexplicable. Beautiful photography, door frame framing, opening composition.

The Searchers quotes

  • 2nd Lt. Greenhill: Can't I stay? Please?

    Reverend Clayton: Oh, all right. But you watch me, boy! I'm the hardcase you're up against out here, not them childish savages! And if you don't hear my first holler, you better read my mind 'cause I don't aim to raise no two hollers on any subject at hand!

    2nd Lt. Greenhill: [salutes with his saber and nearly decapitates the Reverend] Yes sir!

    Reverend Clayton: Boy, watch that knife!

  • Mose Harper: [preparing for an Indian attack] That which we are about to receive, we thank thee, O Lord.