Writer: Andrew Dominik
Director: Andrew Dominik
Director of Photography: Roger Deakins
Editor: Curtiss Clayton, Dylan Tichenor
Composer: Nick Cave, Warren Ellis
Lead Actors: Brad Pitt, Casey Afflek
Year: 2007
Here we have a lengthy title for a lengthy movie. It takes it’s time, developing characters, narrating transitions, establishing settings. It’s a film that meant to be experienced. I haven’t seen one to compare it to, but this doesn’t seem to be your typical western. It’s a slow character drama (which is what drew me to it in the first place, along with the visuals and music). It documents the ups and downs of the life of an outlaw, which seems to have more downs than ups.
The movie established the people surrounding Jesse James. It tracked them, what they were doing, where they were going. The film focuses on the assassination, yet there’s a good deal of development in the characters leading up to that. We see a lot of ill feelings between people. Everyone seemed to work together to pull of the train robbery in the beginning, but then things seemed to go downhill from there. It seemed to be an ever intensifying cycle of revenge.
Perhaps the most interesting of the characters, portrayed by a talented Casey Afflek, was the ‘bad guy’ who shot Jesse. This Robert Ford, went from an admirer to a jealous schemer looking for attention. He was initially obsessed by Jesse James, his hero. He was always trying to show himself capable, yet was never respected and was always either ignored or chewed out. He was insecure and his mannerisms seemed to mask a sort of envy. In a bit of dialog between Jesse and Bob, Jesse says, “I can’t figure it out. Do want to be like me? Or do you want to be me?”, which seems to foretell, or at least hint at, what their fate will be.
Jesse James lived by the sword and eventually died by the sword, which doesn’t really surprise me. It says Jesse never had any remorse for the crimes he committed, yet before he died, he was having cases of depression and spontaneous mood swings. I can’t help but think that state had something to do with his sneaky, homicidal lifestyle.
As alluded to before, Casey Afflek’s performance was stellar. He pulled of the conceited smirks very well. Brad Pitt didn’t let us down with his portrayal of the legend. The others were quite good as well. Pretty much all the main players, a total of eight guys, had their own face and personality. One thing I liked was that their performances were very organic. The dialog was far from reading from a script.
The photography, settings, and lighting gave a number of the sequences in the film a melancholy elegance. The palette of colors was consistent, giving the film a unique feel of its own. Adding to the sense of reminiscence, a blurred edge effect was used occasionally. This effect often occurred at image sequences overlaid with narration. These sequences showed and told a transition of time and/or character development. The music was rather sparse, except underlying these ‘transitions’, where it contributed its melancholy, minimalist goodness. The instrument pallet was sparse and present and it was slightly reminiscent to that of traditional folk. The piece “Song for Bob”, which can be heard towards the end of the movie, is an absolutely elegant piece. Fits what is happening on screen very well too. Way to go Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, keep cranking out those cinematic tunes!
This film puts this legend of Jesse James and his infamous ‘follower’ on the screen, effectively bringing the story to life with rich visuals and organic performances. We witness in a visual, and sometimes poetic, way, the transitional arch of frail humans who struggle with life and death, reputation and betrayal. The movie does have its rough edges, and there are certain parts I avoided.
Director: Andrew Dominik
Director of Photography: Roger Deakins
Editor: Curtiss Clayton, Dylan Tichenor
Composer: Nick Cave, Warren Ellis
Lead Actors: Brad Pitt, Casey Afflek
Year: 2007
Here we have a lengthy title for a lengthy movie. It takes it’s time, developing characters, narrating transitions, establishing settings. It’s a film that meant to be experienced. I haven’t seen one to compare it to, but this doesn’t seem to be your typical western. It’s a slow character drama (which is what drew me to it in the first place, along with the visuals and music). It documents the ups and downs of the life of an outlaw, which seems to have more downs than ups.
The movie established the people surrounding Jesse James. It tracked them, what they were doing, where they were going. The film focuses on the assassination, yet there’s a good deal of development in the characters leading up to that. We see a lot of ill feelings between people. Everyone seemed to work together to pull of the train robbery in the beginning, but then things seemed to go downhill from there. It seemed to be an ever intensifying cycle of revenge.
Perhaps the most interesting of the characters, portrayed by a talented Casey Afflek, was the ‘bad guy’ who shot Jesse. This Robert Ford, went from an admirer to a jealous schemer looking for attention. He was initially obsessed by Jesse James, his hero. He was always trying to show himself capable, yet was never respected and was always either ignored or chewed out. He was insecure and his mannerisms seemed to mask a sort of envy. In a bit of dialog between Jesse and Bob, Jesse says, “I can’t figure it out. Do want to be like me? Or do you want to be me?”, which seems to foretell, or at least hint at, what their fate will be.
Jesse James lived by the sword and eventually died by the sword, which doesn’t really surprise me. It says Jesse never had any remorse for the crimes he committed, yet before he died, he was having cases of depression and spontaneous mood swings. I can’t help but think that state had something to do with his sneaky, homicidal lifestyle.As alluded to before, Casey Afflek’s performance was stellar. He pulled of the conceited smirks very well. Brad Pitt didn’t let us down with his portrayal of the legend. The others were quite good as well. Pretty much all the main players, a total of eight guys, had their own face and personality. One thing I liked was that their performances were very organic. The dialog was far from reading from a script.
The photography, settings, and lighting gave a number of the sequences in the film a melancholy elegance. The palette of colors was consistent, giving the film a unique feel of its own. Adding to the sense of reminiscence, a blurred edge effect was used occasionally. This effect often occurred at image sequences overlaid with narration. These sequences showed and told a transition of time and/or character development. The music was rather sparse, except underlying these ‘transitions’, where it contributed its melancholy, minimalist goodness. The instrument pallet was sparse and present and it was slightly reminiscent to that of traditional folk. The piece “Song for Bob”, which can be heard towards the end of the movie, is an absolutely elegant piece. Fits what is happening on screen very well too. Way to go Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, keep cranking out those cinematic tunes!
This film puts this legend of Jesse James and his infamous ‘follower’ on the screen, effectively bringing the story to life with rich visuals and organic performances. We witness in a visual, and sometimes poetic, way, the transitional arch of frail humans who struggle with life and death, reputation and betrayal. The movie does have its rough edges, and there are certain parts I avoided. 
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