The University News

Issue date: 10/22/07 Section: Culture

Media Credit: Google Images Brad Pitt plays the historic Jesse James.

Twice in the film "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford," we see men moments before their deaths, and each of them know it.

But they do not scream or beg for their lives. They do not run away, hide or exhibit other such displays of cowardice, though one of them is known for it.

Nor do they fight back or act heroic, for neither one is a hero. Instead, they seem to face the reaper with indifference.

Death, depending on your point of view, is the most poetic part of life, the most horrific undertaking a human being can undergo or something in between.

Somehow, the death scenes of this film seem to convey both extremes. Director Andrew Dominik imbues the entire film with a layered approach to create remarkably sustained, intense, visual poetry.

Some of these layers are the multiple perceptions of each character, evident throughout the film. One of the title characters, the famed outlaw Jesse James (played expertly by Brad Pitt) is a celebrity to most of the American public.

He is a romantic figure of the west, mysterious and larger than life. Yet, to some, he is a menace to society who must be brought down at all costs.

Robert Ford (played by Casey Affleck) idolizes James as the film begins.

"Do you wanna be like me, or do you wanna be me?" James asks him.

Yet, as Ford is slighted by James and ridiculed by others, he becomes embittered and decides to commit the heinous act referenced in the film's title.

After that moment, he likes to think himself a hero, but has to face the reality of the situation when the public vehemently disagrees.

The film also spends a surprising amount of time on supporting characters, showing how they interact with each other and with James.

All this seems to be working toward a grand hypothesis of honor in the West, but like James' character, it remains enigmatic to the end.

Some of the subplots are not present because they are vital to the plot, but rather because they fit nicely within the flow of the picture, providing more moments of poignancy and varied stanzas within the longer poem of the film.

Indeed, the bulk of the film is not so much the story of the last year of James' life, but rather meditations on what he was to America and to the people close to him. Such a narrative method requires a strong visual approach, and Dominik does not disappoint.

Fast-moving clouds, slow-moving people, busy city streets, and lonely, snowy meadows make each scene flow like music, provoking nostalgia and anticipation.

Figures loom and lurk in shadows and fog, silhouetted in sunlight and headlights, stalking like the heroes and villains of tall tales. This is not the past you may be aware of, but rather it is the Western of our collective American unconscious.

In case I haven't been clear up to now, let me say this film is a masterpiece. It's a film that is so singular an experience it is hard to pinpoint the reasons you enjoyed it. Rather than staying in front of you on the screen, it flows around you, immersing you. I could spend more time trying to explain the merits of the film, but it is truly something you need to experience for yourself.

dcoley@unews.com

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