What a beautiful movie.
I admit I was hesitant when AFI's Top 100 list brought me to this entry. Pre-1960s Westerns are often too quaint, especially in their depictions of Native Americans. They also more often than not look like they were filmed on a set.
Color me surprised when this movie proved to be both morally ambiguous and sprawlingly shot. This is the best role I've seen John Wayne in (love The Quiet Man, but his Rooster in True Grit is a little silly): his Ethan is incredibly cynical, fatalistic, and racist, and the movie never apologizes for that. Martin is along for the ride as the obvious counter-point to Ethan's obsessive quest, but is often portrayed as naive and ignorant.
I'm glad the movie ended how it did, with Ethan accepting Debbie after five years of wanting to shoot her down for her having been indoctrinated, but I admit to feeling uneasy about the depiction of the Comanches. I suppose Martin is a positive depiction of Native Americans, being 1/8 Cherokee and still being allowed to be romantically involved with Laurie (or is it the white in him that makes it okay?), but the Comanches are straight up evil. Chief Scar is never humanized, and in fact revels in his corruption as he flaunts scalps and his white captive Debbie. I suppose it's a product of its time.
Having read Men, Women, and Chainsaws last year (and watched the horrible Wrong Turn recently), I do find it fascinating how the modern horror film depicting hillbilly cannibals has taken the place of the fear of Native Americans. We still fear the woods (much like young Goodman Brown), but now it's okay because they're just deformed white people.
The influence here on later cinema is astounding. I felt a definite sense of Star Wars deja vu when Ethan and Martin arrive home to discover the house burnt down and family dead, but having read Roger Ebert's review he points out the influence on Taxi Driver and beyond.
The last shot is perfect. Everyone else walks inside, but Ethan stands framed in the doorway, always apart. The door closing as he walks away feels like the door closing on the classic western, as the '60s would bring the likes of The Wild Bunch and A Fistful of Dollars.
