Derek-31

I don't mean to be unkind to another reviewer, but I really must take issue with the description of this film as "cerebral." Seriously, it

is ANYTHING BUT an intellectual experience -- unless one also considers novels by, say, Tom Clancy to be "cerebral", or considers

Stephen Ambrose's books to be original historical scholarship, or considers high-school to be an education. If that is the case, then, yes, this is indeed a contemplative, thought provoking piece of world-class filmmaking destined to become a

true classic alongside the works of the great masters.

Obviously, I don't share this view, and gave Part I of the film only half of my attention one evening because Vilmos Zsigmond was billed

as the DP. All I can say is, why isn't one of the world's great cinematographers getting better work? Well, he managed to give it a

certain visual sumptuousness, but in so saying I mean that it can, and perhaps should be watched without the sound, and a good Mahler

symphony turned up loud instead. The dialogue (which, admittedly, I heard in German translation) was simply not worth hearing at all, being mostly a lot of warmed-over dungeons'n'dragons sort of dribble, with some overwrought romance thrown in to appeal to Barbara Cartland readers

and die-hard Fabio fans who still secretly dream of being whisked-away to a far-off castle by a shirtless man with a big sword. If you're looking for historical insights regarding "ancient times," I'd say you might learn more from Spinal Tap's song STONEHENGE,

which deals with similar themes from "hundreds of years before the dawn of history." Anjelica Huston? Yes, she's here too. Why, I don't know. She sounds so sensible in interviews.... Anyway, she manages to deliver her

lines with a straight face. A very straight face. The main thing is that everyone was paid well and the film sold well in several international markets. Who am I to argue with success

like that?

This is not only an overlooked western, but a sorely overlooked piece of filmmaking, beautifully shot by Vilmos Zsigmond (who uses some of the slowest dissolves anywhere in cinema) and directed by Peter Fonda, who seemed bent on capturing an authentic period flavor often missing from westerns of that time. His eye for detail, and his refusal to insert too much of it, is impressive for a young director. That is, the visual authenticity, like the acting performances and dialogue, work by way of understatement. This is a very understated film, at a time when few coming from the American market were.

Ultimately, it is a sort of 'buddy' film about the deep friendship between two characters played by Fonda and Warren Oates. It also has in common with EASY RIDER the tragic, "backward" movement from West to East, which goes against the "natural" flow of American history and literature, and which ends in death here as in the earlier film, when the "hired hand" of the title takes on a sadly ironic new meaning.

Fonda directs his actors in an understated, low-key, highly naturalistic style; Warren Oates was never warmer or more at ease seeming on camera. It is good to see him relaxed and even jovial. His character is genuinely disturbed when forced to shoot in self defense a menacing drunk taking shots at him. Larry Hagman even gives a good performance here in an uncredited role as a town sheriff, caught in an awkward spot when peace in the community demands he ask Oates to leave his jurisdiction. The off-beat comedian and actor Severn Darden (memorable from THE PRESIDENT'S ANALYST, 1966) appears here in an uncharacteristic role as a malignant villain. Bruce Langhorne's music is among the most haunting anywhere in film. It will stay with you.

This film is a work of true film ART, where most westerns of its day (e.g. John Wayne's) were little more than loud, mass-market entertainments. The understated THE HIRED HAND will probably not satisfy western fans looking for action and violence in the Wayne or Eastwood mold. It is closer in feel to, say, Jan Troell's ZANDY'S BRIDE, made in the mid-70s, or HEARTLAND, the highly realistic drama of frontier struggle that closed the 70s. Yet even those who favor Peckinpah's THE WILD BUNCH (1969) should appreciate the literate script of THE HIRED HAND, written by Alan Sharp, whose credits include Arthur Penn's NIGHT MOVES (1975), and the equally overlooked Robert Aldrich western, ULZANA'S RAID (1972), which presents even more intense moral complexities.

THE HIRED HAND is, alas, now difficult to see. But make the effort, and you will be greatly rewarded.

-- Derek Bousé

The plot of HOW TO BEAT THE HIGH COST OF LIVING (1980) is largely a reworking of the 'noir' caper film THE GOOD DIE YOUNG (1954). In addition to its female cast, the later film substitutes comedy for the bleak, pessmisitic 'noir' ethos of the original, but the plotting of the story is still largely the same.

Alan Root is perhaps the world's leading wildlife and natural history filmmaker. When he made CASTLES OF CLAY, it was considered a bit of a risky venture, for it had no "charismatic mega-fauna" of the sort seen in most wildlife films. Instead, it is a portrait of the giant termite mounds found in Africa, which are indeed literally "castles of clay." Root managed to find (or construct) story, drama, and adventure in these unusual structures and the creatures that build and inhabit them.

A quarter century later the film is still highly regarded, and can be seen occasionally in the US on the Discovery Channel.

-- Derek Bousé