6/6/26 (Sat)
John Ford’s 1956 classic features John Wayne as a complex character whose obsessive hatred of the Comanche tribe recalls his self-destructive pursuit of revenge on his own disciple in Red River. The roots of his loathing are signaled in a gravestone revealing that his mother was murdered by the tribe – but the equally fanatical Scar, the head of the tribe, recalls that his children were killed by the white settlers. The cycle of vengeance thus continues unbroken.
3/22/25 (Sat)
Howard Hawks’ superb 1948 work is no country for young women, who only appear briefly at the beginning and (a tad more substantially) at the end. Otherwise it’s a man’s world as John Wayne seeks to defy the odds and move his 9,000-strong herd of cattle to Missouri regardless of the cost to the other men, provoking a mutiny among the harried team. His virtual son, played by Montgomery Clift, deposes him and leads the men to a safer route. That spurs Wayne to pledge to hunt Clift down and kill him. The final scene feels like High Noon as Clift waits for the inevitable showdown with his mentor.
Wayne is both hero (initially) and villain who, not recognizing his own obsolescence, seeks revenge on his “son” for displacing him. The setup is almost Shakespearian, which the scale of the film fully justifies.
sekenbanashi 