3:10 to Yuma: What Westerns Have Become
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SARANG (Honolulu, USA)
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3:10 to Yuma: What Westerns Have Become
3:10 to YUMA (3TY) was the movie I was eagerly waiting to watch last year. After all it is a western. I have always had a ‘love-affair’ with westerns. From my parents to my relatives, all always had praises for them. DJango, was the first western I saw ever. I still remember that I had watched it in a Black and White television ( ECTV I think). The cassette was taken for rent along with the VCP (NOT a VCR) and along with DJango , I had also seen Sinbad and the eye of the tiger. (More on that movie in another post).
The quick draws and dying men, the background scores, the dirt gave my imagination enough fodder to travel to a world completely different, where I could rule because, I was (still am) the quickest draw EVER! I used to listen to audio cassettes with soundtracks of ‘Fist Full of Dollars”, “For a Few Dollars More” and, the ever common “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly”. Clint Eastwood was the only name I knew when it came to westerns even though, I hadn’t seen any of his westerns. Later, when I was doing my Masters, is when I had time to see the movies I had always wanted to see. Even after that, I never knew who Ennio Morricone was or who Sergio Leone was.
All that outlook changed when I started watching TCM (Turner Classic Movies) channel on television. Thanks mainly to Robert Osborne the host in most of the shows on TCM, I was able to get more facts and information about the movies. I started hearing movies associated with directors. Then, I was introduced to John Ford. I was just sucked into the magic of Westerns from then on. When got time to watch the ‘Man with no name’ series again, I watched it through Sergio Leone’s eyes rather than mine. More movies I gulped down: My Darling Clementine, Fort Apache, Once upon a time in the west, How the west was won, High Plains Drifter, The Man who shot Liberty Valance, and so-on. So, why am I telling you all this? Well, I was able to get a DVD of 3TY from one of my colleagues last week. And, not to my surprise, I am NOT AT ALL impressed.
Here’s why: First of all, I did NOT know that this movie is a remake. I haven’t seen the 1957 3TY so, I think I shall blissfully ignore the old movie! Russell Crowe looked as it he was just re-enacting his role of Cort (Quick and the Dead), before he becomes a preacher. This incident might have been the reason too 
. He is the famous outlaw Ben Wade, and he plays the role comfortable well. Personally, I felt he was sleepwalking through the role. Nothing challenging or interesting in his character was shown. Christian Bale’s performance was average. His role at-least had more depth. Every one else, including the role of William Evans the son, were half baked. There isn’t enough character chemistry to keep you stuck on to the screen. The visuals are definitely NOT original to say the least. They do not hold on to you. It almost feels like this movie was made in a hurry. There is this hanging question of who Velvet is, and if Alice is in-fact Velvet, (The green eyes reference) and if William was Wade and ‘Velvet’s’ son.( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0381849/faq) Or, I would have liked if the director had a thought of exploring a bit more. So, is the father son relationship of the Evans family. It is there in the movie but lacks depth.
The visuals, the screenplay, the characters all of them lack DEPTH. Its when during the struggle that Dan mentions to Ben about him losing his leg in an accident and he is desperately trying to be a hero for his father that we get into some interesting part of the movie. Even though I was always expecting that Dan had lost his legs because of some accident than a war. His demeanour always gives a hint to that. The movie is always giving hints intentionally or not and things are left unexplored, left me dejected. There has to be more ‘reason’ on why Ben wade decides to ‘help’ Dan, rather than vague hints. Even if we take it on face value, the scene where Ben kills all his crew seems to obvious and ‘moral’. All the reasons Ben Wade’s character is made to seem more ‘human’ than insane or wicked do not work because I repeat, his character is left unexplored. Also, since I am letting my imagination loose, I also felt that there was a hanging ‘relationship’ between Charlie Prince and Ben Wade that is left completely unexplored. Charlie Prince is too ‘devoted’ to his ‘Master’ than the rest for what I think is no reason. He himself is ‘quick’ and is able to lead a pack. That is seen when he gets the rest of the crew to get together to go and rescue Ben even though the rest of the crew are not interested in getting Ben back. In any case, the story and screenplay have too many unnecessary loose ends.
This movie reminded me of ‘High Noon’ most of the time. In High Noon, even though Frank is all in the background in that movie for most of the time, you can still feel the character. The loneliness of responsibility, the diffidence towards taking the ‘right’ step, all were present and exploited and Gary Cooper made a wonderful Marshall. Grace Kelly’s presence itself is enough to make you watch the movie. There isn’t a role as such for her but all the time she’s on screen you can’t help look at her. The tension and using clocks and increasing their size as the tension mounts, gives a wonderful effect. This movie too had similar potential. All the time, it was leading up to the train to Yuma. In this case, Ben was already in the movie from the beginning, but we do not feel the pulse or the need to think of the time or think about when the train would arrive. Too many characters are introduced and none of them heighten the tension in the movie. Everyone is almost like a passerby, accidentally present in the frame. Even in a movie where tension is built up slowly like Open Range, the climax is worthwhile. In this case, even though the end is technically and anti-climax, it still leaves you wanting. You do not feel sorry or sad for Dan or William or Ben. And you definitely DO NOT care for the train to Yuma. Its presence is as unwanted as AB Sr.’s presence in JBJ. I agree that the object is not getting Ben to the train but is about Dan and his struggle with life and family, but characters are so flaky that the intended idea fizzles out.
Visually too, this movie fails to make a mark. All the visuals shown are very average. Nothing stands out. Even the quick draw is so mediocre that it doesn’t interest you. If you look at Unforgiven, the visuals are to say the least stunning and even though the movie has only a small section showing the quick draw, it still leaves an impact. (After all it is Clint Eastwood!) This is where Russel Crowe doesn’t score (I think). He is cool and calm and sometimes frightening, but he is still MILES away from making a mark in this genre. Anyway, the movie is worth watch just to see what westerns have become! Ah! those good old westerns. How I long for one!!!!!!!!
Tags: English - Other
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
I think this is better than High Noon, and in fact the original, my first western, and based on Elmore Leonard’s short story is better than High Noon.
And this film, is a great film. I’ve been a huge fan of the genre all my life, and this here is the best western I have seen in ages.
Kindly find my review of the film at
http://movie-place.blogspot.com/2008/01/310-to-yuma-movie-review.html
@Satish
I looked at your review. A good effort! Its always nice to know another point of view. Let me tell a few points that I think made it a bad experience for me:
Ben Wade:
His character isn’t defined well. It is always good to have some loose ends for the viewers to stoke their imagination but, too many loose threads are not good too. He isn’t showm as the ‘bad’ guy but he isn’t shown as ‘bad’ anyway. There isn’t any ‘outlaw’ trait in that guy! Seems like he is completely lost on why he is doing it in the first place. His pick-up lines are used at each and every woman he sees but you still do not feel the essence of the character. Also, which outlaw says and I tranlisterate ‘mere paas bhi maa ka sentiment hai, bura hoon to kya hua!’. Or ‘Main agar buraa nahin hotaa to in kameenon ka badmaash boss nahin hota!’ Come on!
You can see how Russell Crowe sleep walks through the role……….
3:10 has some seriously underdeveloped characters and a climax which borders on the ludicrous. What i like about the film is how a relative newcomer like Ben Foster has stolen the thunder from great actors like Crowe and Bale.
I hope more westerns get made as they are one of my fav genres. Sadly though the only truly magnificent western I have seen since “Unforgiven” is
“The Proposition” which is an Australian variant.
Oh for the days of Ford, Peckinpah and Leone.
I would see Ben Wade as a William Munny without ever having met Ms. Feathers, or worse still having met but never got around to marry her, because of that dreaded male hubris.
He couldn’t be the good guy, because that is not him. But he’s not the placard bad guy either. he was never suppsoed to be the bad guy, in the first place, in my opinion. He just happened to be an outlaw, if that could indeed be put like that.
And what makes Dan Evan any noble? Just because he wouldn’t bend no rules. I think he is just as guilty as anyone else, and just as bad. Like those folks in High Noon.
Both these characters exist in twilight zone, and aren’t what they ’should’ be, if that is one way to put it.
By the way, I didn’t happen to mention, I loved your article.
Yeah Mithun, The Proposition is a fantastic film, gritty as any western there is.
By the way, have you guys seen High Plains Drifter. An incredibly brilliant western, and one of my favorites. In my book, a better film than either High Noon or Rio Bravo. It is the stuff legends are made of, and The Man with No Name was never cooler.
I apologize, my bad. You did mention you’ve seen High Plains Drifter. if films could serve to eb auras, then this would be one for Clint Eastwood’s Man with No Name. I love the way, it starts, and ends, and the score.
By the way, what do you guys think of Brokeback Mountain. I think it is a western, obviously like there has never been, and a wonderfully poignant picture.
As a western it’s nowhere on the radar whatsoever but as a dramatic piece as well I found it to be a bit overrated.
But coming back to Westerns anybody seen those old gems like “Jubal”, “Ride the High Country” and “Duel in the Sun” ?
Oh and “Dead Man” is pretty good to as is “Assasination of Jesse James”
@Satish
Valid points you have raised. But, it is left to your imagination and mine to make what Ben Wade is and is not. That is exactly my problem. I would have expected a little more clarity from the director.
@Mithun,
I have seen Ride the High Country and Duel in the sun.
What about Death Rides a Horse? Anyone seen this? (The background score is used in Kill Bill Vol:1)
Dead Man is a painfully slow film, in that it has no reason to be slow other than to be slow. The background score by Neil Young is sorry, in that it seems to go on for no particular reason. I never thought too much of that film. It felt like one of those films that we deliberately make sense out of than it actually has.
Death Rides a Horse is a good western, and I absolutely love Lee Van Cleef. But it somehow felt like a tired imitation, I mean the themes and all, of you know who. I don’t know, never thought much about it.
Did you guys catch these films on the big screen? I mean, westerns are supposed to be seen there. I have seen most of my share on DVD and PC, and I can hardly vouch for most of my views. I guess you can understand that.
By the way, The Wild Bunch is cool. There’re few sequences out there like the opening gunfight.