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It has been said and written everything about John Ford, one of the fathers of American cinema. Fifty years of career, dozens and dozens of films made, some of which are cornerstones of American seventh art. A coherent discourse mainly expressed through the western, "American foundational genre" according to André Bazin's definition. The fundamental historical transitions of the west's conquest by the pioneers, the pursuit of freedom, the battles against the natives, the "law" that confronts and clashes with outlaws. A long and complex discourse, in which Ford combined an austere and innovative style in classic American cinema, blending seventh art with authorship and insights into American history. "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance," a 1962 film and John Ford's penultimate western, is a work that fits perfectly into Fordian poetics, in a twilight and nostalgic reinterpretation of the old myth of the west.
Liberty Valance (Lee Marvin) is one of the many criminals populating the west. The town of Shinbone is continuously at the mercy of his madness. The arrival in town of lawyer Ransom Stoddard (James Stewart) marks the clash between two opposite poles: the criminal who uses a whip, guns, and violence to impose his law and the cultured man who follows the rationality of his studies, one who does not need weapons to express his worldview. He is a child of the new America, who believes in the value of education and who improvises as a teacher. It is the age-old clash between two antithetical worlds, but also a narrative about the end of the "frontier" dream: the politics coming from the east is seen as a principle of corruption, and all the typical elements of the western genre are completely absent. The setting shifts from Ford's beloved Monument Valley to focus on the interiors of a restaurant or a newspaper office. There is limited space for gunfights, restricted to the sequence of Valance's killing. A film that ruminates on the genre itself, in a process that in some ways anticipates what will be implemented in a few years, albeit with different formulas and choices, by Sam Peckinpah.
"The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" is a film through which Ford remodulates his genre. He does so by questioning the value system upon which his country’s history is based, not neglecting to aim barbs at the political class. It’s no coincidence that all those elements that characterized his previous westerns are completely missing here: absent is the conflict with the Indians, the theme of encounter/clash, train robberies, and coach heists. It's a work that rethinks the western by focusing on the theme of moral duty, the human necessity to attempt to build a nation once and for all leaving behind the "law" of violence. But to restore order (another basic theme of the western), to lay the foundations of the new rule of law, one must move from violence through violence. Only this can eliminate the "enemy".
Elegy of an era of transition from "wilderness" to "civilization" that perhaps has never been completely surpassed. The nostalgic and bitter gaze of one of the very few who can pride themselves on the title of master of classic American cinema. Above this refounding narrative of the western in the new Fordian formulation, a monumental cast composed of names like James Stewart, John Wayne, Vera Miles, Lee Marvin, John Carradine.
A fundamental film in John Ford's cinematic evolutionary process, as well as one of the highest expressions of the western genre during the '60s. A true cult, which should be widely rediscovered.
"This is the West, sir. When the legend becomes fact, print the legend."
Liberty Valance (Lee Marvin) is one of the many criminals populating the west. The town of Shinbone is continuously at the mercy of his madness. The arrival in town of lawyer Ransom Stoddard (James Stewart) marks the clash between two opposite poles: the criminal who uses a whip, guns, and violence to impose his law and the cultured man who follows the rationality of his studies, one who does not need weapons to express his worldview. He is a child of the new America, who believes in the value of education and who improvises as a teacher. It is the age-old clash between two antithetical worlds, but also a narrative about the end of the "frontier" dream: the politics coming from the east is seen as a principle of corruption, and all the typical elements of the western genre are completely absent. The setting shifts from Ford's beloved Monument Valley to focus on the interiors of a restaurant or a newspaper office. There is limited space for gunfights, restricted to the sequence of Valance's killing. A film that ruminates on the genre itself, in a process that in some ways anticipates what will be implemented in a few years, albeit with different formulas and choices, by Sam Peckinpah.
"The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" is a film through which Ford remodulates his genre. He does so by questioning the value system upon which his country’s history is based, not neglecting to aim barbs at the political class. It’s no coincidence that all those elements that characterized his previous westerns are completely missing here: absent is the conflict with the Indians, the theme of encounter/clash, train robberies, and coach heists. It's a work that rethinks the western by focusing on the theme of moral duty, the human necessity to attempt to build a nation once and for all leaving behind the "law" of violence. But to restore order (another basic theme of the western), to lay the foundations of the new rule of law, one must move from violence through violence. Only this can eliminate the "enemy".
Elegy of an era of transition from "wilderness" to "civilization" that perhaps has never been completely surpassed. The nostalgic and bitter gaze of one of the very few who can pride themselves on the title of master of classic American cinema. Above this refounding narrative of the western in the new Fordian formulation, a monumental cast composed of names like James Stewart, John Wayne, Vera Miles, Lee Marvin, John Carradine.
A fundamental film in John Ford's cinematic evolutionary process, as well as one of the highest expressions of the western genre during the '60s. A true cult, which should be widely rediscovered.
"This is the West, sir. When the legend becomes fact, print the legend."
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