"Unconventional western of sadness and foolish, defensive people." -
Shane Hyde on 28th January 2011
This is a quiet, sad, fatalistic western and one of the best things Warren Beatty ever did. Loosely based on a 1959 novel by Edmund Naughton, which Altman said contain... more >
This is a quiet, sad, fatalistic western and one of the best things Warren Beatty ever did. Loosely based on a 1959 novel by Edmund Naughton, which Altman said contained all the standard western clichs which allowed him to destroy all the myths of heroism. If youre looking for the usual western conventions then look elsewhere.
The film is set around the turn of the 20th century in the American Northwest. It opens to a washed-out wintry landscape and the music of Leonard Cohen. We see a stranger riding into a muddy mining town, he is McCabe (Beatty) and as he approaches the town he changes his clothes into something more dignified and gentlemanly. He has a reputation for killing a man, we never know if its true, but its enough to get him his own way with the simple town-folk. McCabe is a bit of a conman who sees himself as an entrepreneur and views this growing settlement as an opportunity for making money. He plans to build a casino and a brothel, and wants things his own way but hes a terrible organiser and when he tries running his operation from tents it proves chaotic.
In walks Julie Christie with her tough business sense and her conviction that his brothel needs her management. McCabe doesnt like alliances but he relents, shes so persuasive he really has no choice, but this is the only time in the film that lets anyone through his defenses. Hes believes in old fashioned things such as honour and virtue but makes terrible business decisions in trying to keep his independence. He doesnt really have a vision so much as muddles through rejecting all relationships with others. But he's also a bit of a fool whose actions are self-defeating and when he refuses a takeover by a large corporation it leads, not so much to tragedy, as further isolation of the two main characters.
In many ways this film reminds me of Altmans California Split, which came 3 years later. Both films are about gamblers and loners. The characters of Mrs Miller and McCabe are so isolated emotionally and physically. She is defensive and unable to relax without Opium. McCabe tries to reach out to her but hes so clumsy and incapable of communicating his feelings. They both only really trust money. And this is the real tragedy of the film. At the end you are left with sense of sadness as the weather and history passes over these foolish lives. < less
