This is not one of my personal favorites -- the camera is too wooden, with
only three working setups. But it is on my list of most important films, and
I believe it should be experienced by anyone serious about learning how to
watch films.
The film is abstract, adopting a German stance which in turn had Russian
(Eisensteinian) origins. (This deliberate abstraction as an enhancing
strategy was later revived by Malick and reborn as inherently American. He
even recruited Robert Wilke.). Here, the camera is German, but the story is
more deeply American than merely stepping into the western genre. The post
WWII American notion of personal sacrifice for Liberty is what is woven
here, a responsibility to press against evil, to benefit even people who
won't help themselves. Only this time, instead of saving Jews and Frenchmen
(and Brits and Aussies and Russians), the government turned against its own
patriots and almost imprisoned many involved in this project.
Hard to believe today, folks. But the nobility of the story was criticized
by John Wayne as `plain unAmerican.' Many people in power thought so too for
decades. It is my belief that this film, right here, had a subtle but
measureable influence in saving America from its own witchunts -- it is no
accident that Welles' character's name `Kane' was chosen. Another case where
film creates society -- actually two societies taking us through Vietnam as
Wayne went on for decades promoting his own exclusionary jingoism.
We may need another `High Noon' soon. Who will have the courage and talent
to make it happen? It can't be deliberate. My wild guess is that it will be
women this time around.
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