Posted on 02/03/2018 7:06:44 AM PST by Kaslin
The new Western Hostiles begins with an unshakably violent event. A small family is attacked and brutalized by a group of Native Americans. There’s no justification for the violence. Only bloodshed.
There’s no moral ambiguity in that sequence but as the film tells a larger story, moral ambivalence takes center stage as the story explores the omnipresence of violence in the Old West.
Set in 1896, the feature stars Oscar winner Christian Bale as Captain Joseph J. Blocker. Blocker is a weary warrior who has seen his share of violence and engaged in his share of battles. He’s seen friends die at the hands of Native Americans and believes he knows exactly what the enemy looks like. His latest assignment from the federal government puts him in a difficult position.
He’s tasked with escorting Chief Yellow Hawk (Wes Studi), a Native American warrior, and his family back home. The chief is dying and the President of the United States wants him to return back to Montana to die in peace. As the journey begins, Blocker finds no comfort or peace in his mission (the man he’s tasked with protecting looks like so many of the men he’s killed) but as their path from New Mexico continues, the American Captain begins to find understanding with the Native American chief.
Written by Scott Cooper and adapted from the manuscript by Donald E. Stewart, the plot places the two men close to one another as they face the dangerous world around them.
Bale, who was a perfect choice for the lead role, brings an emotional restraint to his character that subtly hints at his background. Blocker doesn’t speak often about his past and the brutality he’s faced or utilized but the audience can see his weariness and pain from his facial expressions and by the way he never flinches from violence.
The deep themes are explored richly with a supporting cast that emphasizes different perspectives. The physically-exhausted Yellow Hawk has seen many battles as well and shares many similarities with Blocker but doesn’t need to say them aloud. He also knows the weaknesses of Blocker’s bigotry and tells Blocker about the disparity between the different Native American tribes. He knows which tribes are simply fighting in defense and which ones need no justification for bloodshed.
There’s also a Master Sergeant (Rory Cohrane), who has grown accustomed to a lifestyle of fighting and even says he’s gotten used to murder. He tells a young lieutenant (Jesse Plemons) about how natural violence has become for him and the lieutenant says that he fears the idea of feeling the same way.
In two hours and fourteen minutes, Cooper — who also directed the feature — has time to reveal all of these different personalities. Each of them add to the murkiness of the debate of right versus wrong. The first scene is an obvious display of brutality but by the feature’s closing moments, Cooper has revealed layer upon layer of grey, showing both audiences and the characters how complicated the Old West truly could be.
Unlike other Westerns, this feature never shies away from the emotional pain that people suffered under such brutal conditions. Actress Rosamund Pike does incredible understated work as a widow who watches her family get slaughtered in front of her. Her heartbreak is not only obvious during the shooting but it’s also showcased in a painfully realistic sequence showing her digging graves for her loved ones.
There are a few characters (members of Little Hawk’s family come to mind) who aren’t given the opportunity to grow here unfortunately. The film is so great at revealing differing personalities and the moral ambiguities of the Old West so it’s disappointing that not all of the characters are given similar opportunities.
As a character study of a few main characters though, Hostiles is remarkably thoughtful and morally provocative.
1896 is still way too late to base a movie with her as a survivor of an indian attack and he's a soldier who's seen too much.
And you are probably right about the movie.
In Mexico, according to Earl Stanley Gardner, the last Indian attack was by Apaches in 1939. Yes, 1939.
GO SEE IT! OUTSTANDING
The first half was filmed on my mother’s family’s ancestral homestead in New Mexico - The Ghost Ranch In Abiquiu, NM ( it was so beautiful I stayed to the end credits to find out where it was filmed )
Yes, Yellow Hawk is Cheyenne
Thanks for posting this info. I had planned to see the movie next week.
>>I’ve heard that this is a well made movie, but I’m not going to see it. I am tired of Hollywood’s constant pushing of “the moral ambiguities”.<<
Exactly. Plenty other alternatives for a couple hours of entertainment.
>>Having said that, one of the actors in 12 Strong did have a Trump quote that’s ‘ out there’<<
I had just decided to skip Hostiles and see 12 Strong instead. So what was the jist of the quote you’re referring to?
If you want to know, please Google .....Michael Shannon, Trump .....and you’ll see how very insulting he is.
I apologize for not sending the link.....I’m a bit of a dinosaur with that kind of thing.
I believe Shannon has one of the major parts in the movie, 12 Strong
1892
Wow!...the Ghost Ranch belongs to your family!
Used to. Belongs to Pentacostal Ministries now, I think
My GGG Uncles founded it after the Civil War and were eventually forced off for being horse thieves and " desperadoes" - One of the family was hanged in Colorado for having something to do killing a state legislator.
Archuleta Mesa is another well known family homestead.
The Comanche were indeed brutal and cruel, and then we whipped them and forced them to behave.
Don’t romanticize violent Neolithic savages!
I was reared along the Red River in Texas just South of Comanche County, Oklahoma and went to High school with several grandchildren of Quanah Parker and even lived next door to a grandchild of the Chief. Our football coach was full Comanche. I heard stories of the Comanche exploits from the sons and grandchildren.
I watched “Hostiles” last night and really enjoyed it. The theme was most interesting — the intersection of a cavalry career officer, settlers, and Indians. I thought setting it immediately after the frontier closed (1890) was brilliant.
It blended so many things together - extreme violence, grief, sorrow, military orders, enemies overcoming lifelong hatred of each other, male and female perspectives of loss and grief, comradeship, strong femininity and masculinity. The tag line was “We are all hostiles” and that does sum it up.
I just had to resurrect this old thread to mention how much I liked it.
I just watched “Hostiles” last night — really GREAT movie. The normal touch of late 20th and early 21st century sensibilities, but not overweening as is frequently the case these days. That was the most realistic and extreme brutality and violence I’ve seen in a movie. The Comanche raid on the settlers was horrendous — one moment you are a happy family and the next Dad and the kids are all gone to a violent death.
There were so many concurrent themes woven throughout the movie I was spellbound watching it.
Hostiles was really good. Christian Bale is such
a good actor in everything he does.
I agree with you, Godless is excellent.
I have watched it 3 times now. I love it.
The cast, the writing!!!
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