[DVDVRMC] The Outlaw Josey Wales.

[Execproducer]

  There might be some, tempted by opposition to Clint Eastwood's politics, who would disparage The Outlaw Josey Wales based upon the source materiel. If you want to learn more about the infamous Asa Earl Carter, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asa_Earl_Carter , author of  Gone to Texas  and The Education of Little Tree, go for it. I'm not going to be discussing him here. This isn't The Birth of a Nation.

 

Josey Wales opens with Eastwood as a mere mortal of a Missouri farmer who is unable to protect his family during a raid by a pro-Union militia led by Capt. Terrill. Wales joins Bloody Bill Anderson's Confederate guerrillas to seek his revenge. We can presume he participated in The Lawrence Massacre and The Centralia Massacre from the opening credit montage before  the film jumps to the end of the war, with the Confederates surrendering to Terrill's forces. Wales declines to join them, which turns out to be a wise move when the amnesty guaranteed to Capt. Fletcher (John Vernon) turns out to be a death-trap. Josey attacks and kills a bunch of dudes and rescues one wounded compatriot while Fletcher is forced to watch.

 

Eastwood had already specialized in portraying ordinary men turned Avenging Angels in films like Hang 'Em High and High Plains Drifter.   But in Josey Wales revenge comes to him as Terrill's forces, with Fletcher in tow, pursue Wales to Texas. Along the way, Wales, as the loner figure that Clint does so well, finds himself  the leader of a disparate band of dispossessed Indians and victimized settlers, slowly regaining the humanity that died with his family. And he kills a lot more soldiers and bounty hunters. 

 

What is great about this film? Every Fucking Thing! The portrayal of Native Americans is handled with utmost respect. The scene where Wales exchanges words of Life and Death with Ten Bears (Will Sampson) is maybe the best of the film. The Navajo woman Little Moonlight (Geraldine Kearns)  feels like a call back to Look from The Searchers but she fares far better in both her fate and her portrayal. And Chief Dan George! He was nominated for an Oscar for Little Big Man. He damn sure should  have been nominated here. Lone Watie is one of cinemas Great Characters.   There are a host of fantastic character actors who show up here. Richard Farnsworth, Matt Clark, Bill McKinney, John Quade to name a few. This may be John Vernon's best role. Legend has it that Lee Marvin felt the need to punch him in the gut in order to elicit some fire in his performance as he felt Vernon was too weak to to match him in Point Blank. Nearly a decade later, Vernon developed the necessary gravitas to hang with Clint.      

 

Longtime Eastwood DP Bruce Surtees does some of his best work. The detail to attention regarding clothing and weaponry of the era appears spot on.  This was Eastwood's 5th feature as a director. After some personal and professional conflict with original director Philip Kaufman, Clint pulled a Jackie Chan, taking over the film to make his most assured film to that point. This, to me, is Eastwood's best western, better even than Unforgiven and one of his best films, period.   

[J.H.]

I've talked about this movie in the Westerns thread. It actually used to be a staple of TBS on Saturdays after WCW in the 80s, which is where I first watched it. I love Josey and Lone Watie 's discussion of how Josey analyzed one gunfight. It gives you an understanding off both psychology of the fight and the psychology of Wales as cold blooded killer. Clint amazing as Josey is stone cold as far showing his emotions but its his voice that conveys everything. His disgust for the carpetbagger snake oil salesman, how he actually did care for the one kid that stayed with him after everyone else went for amnesty... hell even his little smiles when he has all of his conversations with Lone Watie. The smirk on his face when Lone Watie rolls off the "She thinks I'm some sorta Cherokee Chief" line followed by Josey's "Well I wonder where she got that idea from" is one of those little moments of humor that help make this not such a grim film. Hell I think Josey/Watie might be one of the best duos/buddy combo in all of cinema.

 

I love this movie to death. It remains my favorite Western and easily is in my top 5 for all time favorite movie

 

James

[RIPPA]

This was on AMC a week or two ago and I was able to see the listing in time to record it. Now I just have to finally watch it.

But it is possible it will air a few more times

[Jingus]

Now I just have to finally watch it.

Ditto. I got me a copy, hopefully I'll tackle it this week.

I will admit, though, that I once tried to watch the movie and quickly got bored and turned it off after a few minutes. Maybe that was just a bad day, I dunno. But I'm ambivalent on a lot of Clint's older non-Leone westerns anyway, finding many of them to be style-over-substance exercises that skimp on the script and leave me cold. I thought Hang 'em High was confusing and muddled and got tied up in its own scrambled message, Pale Rider was dull and slow and froze me out with the pretentious supernatural bullshit, and I outright fucking despised High Plains Drifter (although that one was much more of a dealbreaker with exactly one part rather than the whole movie, that being the inexcusable "hey, she LIKES it!" rape scene that just ruined everything for me and made me wish for the "hero" to catch a slug between the eyes, if not between the balls). But then again, I hold Unforgiven to be one of the tippy-top flawless awe-inspiring masterpieces of the entire Western genre, so Clint's earned himself more than enough credit that I'd be willing to give The Outlaw Josey Wales another shot.

[EVA]

I love HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER, but yea...that rape scene is kinda inexcusable.

[J.H.]

I've never heard of anyone not liking Pale Rider, but then I kind of view that as part of an unofficial Western trilogy with Josey Wales and Unforgiven.

 

James