☆ ☆ ☆ ½
The Shooting (1966) – M. Hellman
Monte Hellman’s tectonic Western moves inexorably
to its final shot – and what a shot that is!
It blows the whole plot wide open, allowing multiple layers of
(psychedelic) interpretation, if you are so inclined. Or maybe that’s just me. But let’s just say that it is all about
Warren Oates’s Willett Gashade, the cowboy who accepts some money to help a
rather ruthless young woman (Millie Perkins) track down a man on the road up
ahead. Forget the fact that this film is
mostly known for an early appearance by Jack Nicholson (as a dandy hired gun) –
he’s fine but doesn’t own centre stage.
Oates, however, does become our point of identification, as the (failed)
protector for innocent and none-too-bright Coley (Will Hutchins) and the one
character whose motivation for action isn’t clear – until the end. (Which leaves me puzzling about, um, twins or
not twins?). Hellman (under the
supervision of low budget producer Roger Corman) keeps things minimalist out
there in the Utah desert but the result is mesmerising all the same. Of course, your mileage may vary.
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