Slow West

Slow west, young man. If most westerns depict the establishment of civilisational order in the wilderness, Slow West does not go against this formula, though it does problematise it, just as a number of other classic westerns do. MacLean depicts the Wild West in an unvarnished way without idealisation and with respect for the rules laid down by the classic representatives of the genre, from Ford and Hawks to Peckinpah (as in Ford’s films, for example, a woman is the centrepiece of the narrative here). ___ Jay learns from Silas how to drink, shoot and survive in the wilderness, for which he may be prepared in theory thanks to a travel guide, but definitely not in practical terms. In order to stay alive, he has to lose his innocence and stop being a naïve romantic. Thanks to the young man's selfless consideration (unlike all of the other characters, he is not concerned with his own benefit, but with Rose’s life), Silas conversely reassesses his nihilistic attitude toward the world. Perhaps civilisation is not yet doomed to extinction. The development of both characters confirms the words of one of Silas’s former partners about a falling angel and the ascendant devil. ___ The narrative is driven forward more reliably by the contrast between the two men, between wilderness and civilisation, between dynamic compositions and static camerawork, between naturalism and magical realism (strange coincidences, bizarre encounters, striking biblical references) and between raw violence and farcical humour than by gunfights and physical action. Most of the story takes place in a strange suspended time before there is any action, before anything essential occurs. When the Indians finally attack and the rain finally comes, it is surprising in its suddenness and greatly helps the rhythm of the film, which is episodic to a significant extent without much in the way of plot, and though it is slow, it is also very lively. ___ The unexpected encounters and the alternation between incongruent moods (fear, humour, pathos) also correspond to Jay’s experience of the (literally) New World. He is confused and unprepared, and because he doesn’t behave like an experienced cowboy, he repeatedly finds himself in very unusual situations, to which he reacts differently than we would expect in a western (for example, he courteously introduces himself to the Indian hunters who are pointing guns at him; he accidentally wanders into a stranger’s camp, where he stays long enough to hear a story that sounds like something out of Jarmusch’s Dead Man). ___ The encounters that accelerate the transformations of the two central characters are – like the rest of the film – shot with the same economy with which Jay and Silas communicate with each other. They speak only the absolutely necessary words to each other and everything they say is important for the narrative. The film’s austere style enables not only its dry (and sometimes cruel) humour to stand out, but also the director’s artistic sensibility. He knows where to expressively place the characters, how to skilfully work with colour, when to brighten a shot with unnaturally radiant light and when to plunge it into darkness. Thanks to the compositions that are reminiscent of paintings by American landscape artists, the film is a joy to watch even when it depicts nothing more stimulating than two men slowly riding horses through the countryside. ___ As a whole, Slow West comes across as a refined painting without colour or brushstrokes, but with many layers that are in harmony with each other, which is not a common feature of debuts. Appendix: Poetry lovers may find it interesting that Silas recites the poem The Haunted House by English author Thomas Hood in the film. 80% (10.07.2015) (minder) (meer)