Hey folks, Harry here... I'm curious to see Peter Fonda's THE HIRED HAND... sounds intriguing to me. Hopefully we'll be hearing about Robert Altman's latest as soon as it screens in London! Here ya go....
Hi Harry,
Vertigo here - I said I'd send in any reviews/scoops from this years LFF. No
scoops at the moment, but for what it's worth, here's what I thought of
Novocaine and the newly mastered, restored and generally-spruced-up Peter
Fonda western The Hired Hand...
Novocaine
...or the film that doesn't quite know what it is. There's been pretty mixed
views of this Steve Martin comedy/noir film, and I can see why.
Martin plays well to do dentist Frank Sangster, as far removed from his
sadistic tooth puller in Little Shop Of Horrors as you can imagine. He has a
wealthy practice, a simpering fiance (Laura Dern) and everything's going
well for him. But he's still a mite bored. Which is why he falls for bad
girl Susan (Helena Bonham Carter, trying to consolidate her "I don't just
wear posh frocks, okay?" image she started in Fight Club) when she turns up
at his surgery after some Demerol for a bad tooth. He realises from the off
she's an addict but is strangely drawn to her - which could have something
to do with her fulfilling his fantasy about making out in the chair. From
this initial act of infidelity, he's drawn into a web of lies and deceit
which sees him framed for murder and drug dealing.
It wants to be a twisty-turny noir thriller, with all the cyphers and icons
you expect from the genre. Oh, wait, hang on, no it doesn't, it wants to be
a blacker than black comedy. Oh hell, it can't decide what it wants to be.
The main problem with the film is its crisis of identity. It isn't
physically dark enough for noir (that perfect razor slash between light and
dark that we know and love, where what's important is what lurks in the
shadows rather than who stands in the light), and it's not quite cynical
enough to be a black comedy - which brings me back to the whole Fight Club
thing. Now that was a black comedy. None more black.
However, it's still worth seeing. Martin makes a good crack at playing an
average Joe flung into a world of double (and triple) dealing. The recurring
X-Ray motif is really unsettling (the opening credits are fantastic), and
the pay off will have you cringing in your seat - if you hate the dentist,
stay well away. Also, Kevin Bacon has a hilarious (if slightly superfluous)
cameo as an actor shadowing a cop a la The Hard Way.
In all, worth it, but you may want to wait till video.
The Hired Hand
A revisionist Western, decades before Unforgiven, is put through the
restoration mill, and for that we have to thank editor Frank Mazzola and UK
indy film distributor Hamish McAlpine, of Metro Tartan Films. For McAlpine,
who first saw it in 1971, it was on his list of 10 all time great westerns,
and he felt is was massively underrated and undervalued. Having worked with
Mazzola on the restoration of Donald Cammell's Wild Side, they decided that
The Hired Hand warranted the same treatment - and they were right.
It's a simple story - Harry (Peter Fonda), Arch (Warren Oates) and Dan
(Robert Pratt) are drifting through the old West and get on the wrong side
of some bad guys. Dan ends up dead and in return, Harry and Arch get revenge
by shooting one of them in both feet. Feeling vindicated, they leave, to
pursue Harry's dream of going back to his wife and child. She however views
her prodigal husband with suspicion and only lets him back on the condition
he work the farmstead as a hired hand. He does, and their relationship
starts to blossom again. But bad things tend to follow you around, and
eventually Harry must make a choice between home and friendship when Arch is
taken hostage by his now crippled enemy.
Directed by Fonda, this is a languid tale, told beautifully and shot
impeccably by Vilmos Szigmond - the opening scene alone is enough to make it
worth your while. There's a Terence Malick feel to the movie, all hazy
golden sunlight, lush yellows and greens, and the courage to hold a shot for
as long as possible rather than go for the quick cut. It's slow moving, but
each frame is worth the investment of watching it. Fonda's direction is
measured, and most importantly, this is a film with real 3D characters.
Harry's longing for his estranged wife and wish to rekindle his
relationships with her and his daughter is heartbreakingly realistic and
allowed to develop at its own pace, making the final choice even more
difficult for him and poignant for us. And the violence is portrayed as
swift and brutal - in other words, realistically. Gunfights are over in a
split second, not extended with gratuitous slow-mo or rapid cuts.
And speaking of cuts, lets go back to Frank Mazzola. As I've said, there's
no desire to go for the quick edit, but also his montages between scenes
smooth and poetic, and simply serve to compliment the story and camerawork.
All the elements are working together here to make a brilliant film.
And the restoration? Picture-wise, it's crisp and bright (lord knows what
those colours must have seemed like pre-restoration. Muddy and faded I'd
guess) and looks like it came out of the can yesterday. The sound is less
good (unless it was just the theatre I was in) - it still has that 'tinny'
quality you associate with old movies. Maybe another soak on the DTS/THX
bath is called for, just to give it some depth and resonance.
But that's a minor quibble. This is a top notch restoration and one hopes
it'll be seen by enough people to take its place in the canon of classic
westerns.
I'll be back later with more reviews for you. The Regus London Film Festival
runs from 7th November thru to the 22nd - if you're in London, get on down
to it!
Vertigo
|
