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  | High Plains Drifter
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 Clint - The Avenging Angel with No Name | |
| This is one of Clint Eastwood's best efforts. The subject of the film was later reprised in "Pale Rider", which is good in its own right, but "pales" beside the mythic resonance of "Drifter".
Clearly, Eastwood is using everything he learned at the feet of the master Sergio Leone, but goes the master one better. "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" had a strong anti-war message on a grand scale. "Drifter" is a more interior kind of study of group corruption, and the place of the a-moral avanger within the panoply of human foibles. I'm surprised that no reviewer has taken up the Christological overtones of the film. The Sheriff of Lago is whipped to death in the street in front of all of the townspeople - just like Jesus on the stations of the cross. "The Stranger", as the returning (resurrected?) ghost of the Sheriff (who is only reckognized as such by the town dwarf), is also handy with a whip, as was Jesus when he "cleansed" the Temple of the corruption of the money-lenders (which is the exact hidden sin of the town). The role of the dwarf, whom The Stranger appoints first as Mayor and then as Sherrif of the town, simply to grind the faces of the towspeople in their own corruption, is a brilliant bit of Sergio Leone parody put on steroids! The entire movie is paced excellently and has a very satisfying balance. Geoffry Lewis as the head of the bad guys later became a staple player in Eastwood's Malpaso productions, including an excellent turn in "Thunderbolt and Lightfoot". All in all, this is a quintessential Eastwood film, and is probably the capstone of the Sergio Leone style Western. One can imagine the master grinning and nodding in approval during his first viewing of the pupils fledgling production! | |
 Overrated Clint vehicle not deserving of its reputation... | |
| I'd read for years about how good this western is, but still put off seeing it. I'm glad I did though. I've seen it twice in the last 3 years, and it just gets duller and dumber. The supernatural angle? Painting the town red? Shades of Sergio Leone? None of this impressed me. Don't get me wrong, I love Clint. But, certain movies of his are just plain overrated. 'Unforgiven' is the same way. I agree with the reviewer who said to stick with the spaghetti westerns. They're much more entertaining and original, not to mention deserving of their reputation(s). | |
| Gave us the giggles | |
| Maybe when it was first released, back when I was in college, I would have been more impressed with the creepy aspects of the film. It is a fun movie, tho. When the Stranger comes into town and asks for a shave and a bath, the shaking of the barber's hand holding the straight razor was hysterical. Then the Stranger rapes a obnoxious horny woman whose makeup was right out of the 1970s. It was obvious the man had been in the desert, alone, for a long time. The dream sequences were confusing, was the Stranger a reincarnated ghost type guy who had come back for revenge because of what had happened to him? Or was it his brother that had been whipped to death? Who knows? Who cares? We laughed and then lost interest. Of course, it's Clint Eastwood and that makes anything worth watching. We kept comparing his performance as the Stranger to his performance in Paint Your Wagon where he sings. | |
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