Edward Norton plays Harlan, a would-be cowboy in this art-house film from 2004 where he has a passionate encounter with the underage girl Tobe (short for October!). There are a lot of different strands woven together through what is a relatively simple story. I glimpsed a few reviews suggesting it is about the passing of the wild west or the western film genre and particularly the heroes of those times. Sure enough when Harlan is on the run, he stumbles across filming of a wild west town scene with the cameras out of view - he can't believe his luck at finding a place where he instantly feels welcome and at home in.
Set in concrete urban Los Angeles, repeatedly the commercial jungle sprawl is given the full cinematography treatment which is painful to watch. It reminds me of Bono in live concert footage from the album Rattle and Hum campaigning against apartheid in South Africa when he drives home his point in an all too direct and uncomfortable way to a gloating and captive audience 'I'm not bugging you am I? I don't mean to bug ya'. Freeways that lace the landscape, lane after lane constantly moving like blood in some mechanical artery are given the full panoramic treatment past the point of being a necessary evil to set the scene. Perhaps the director wants us to feel the way that Harlan is feeling.
If it is a lament to the golden age of the wild west it is also an even greater lament to the legacy of that age still present in modern day America, the gun and its proliferation. And it is a lament as minor innocuous conflicts are intermingled with various armaments and even the purest relationship is insanely destroyed by a bullet.
It's also a film about alienation, principally Harlans. Despite having been given a good foster family when in his early teens (?) he seems somehow stuck in his past or previous life, probably in a more rural setting. We are sure he has a good heart but like every good cowboy he is obstinate in following it. In his wild west romanticism it was normal for girls to marry older men but sparks inevitably fly as he is blind to the modern day boundaries - he becomes completely possessive of his new love and her younger brother as things turn sour.
Harlan dislikes cars and loves horses. Contrasts between the two are liberally highlighted. My favourite being a beautiful horse trapped in a garage kicking with its rear legs in a sound remeniscient of gunshots.
Its a well thought out film and watchable a second time. Recommended!
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