‘I JUST LOVE NUTSO WESTERNS'
Contrary cowboy
Miles Fielder meets Andrew Dominik, the filmmaker behind The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford, which stars Brad Pitt
t's taken .\'e\\ /.ealand-born. :\ll\ll'illlil-Dl't‘tl
lilmmaker Andre“ Dominik tpieturetll se\en _\ears
to tnake the follow-up to his mueh-pi’aisetl tlehut. ('lio/i/n'r. Like that lilm. 'Iillt’ .vlsstissi'litili'oli offllesst' James by I/It’ ('oii‘ttrt/ Robert l'ort/ is a \tiltll} tineomentional portrait ol' an outlaw and. like (’litll’lter. it’s been well l'L‘L‘L‘DL‘Ll on the l'esti\al eii‘etiit. So. \shy has it taken this long l‘or Dominik to get his aet together-1’
‘I \H'UIL‘ a buneh of things alter ('lio/i/it'r.‘ Dominik s;t_\'s with i_\pieal :\llllPULlL‘illl l‘oi'thriglitness. ‘btit this \\ as the onl_\ one I eoultl get made. Basieall}. the reason this lilm happened is beeause Bratl \santetl to do it. Brad saxx (‘liopper \\ hen it eame out and \\e \xent baek and torth on a few things bel'oi‘e making this liliii.'
.-\.\ its (I‘lltllllt'aa Him/t Ht Rt‘t'ort/a-eompeling llllL‘ suggests. lllUJJb’lt'Rl’ is neither eomentional tilin nor traditional \xestern. It‘s a beguiling. tlelirious. ieonoelastie portrait of the l'amous outlau and his friend and killer. It‘s long. slim mming. alternatel} realistie and dream-like. and it tloesn'i boast man} shootottts antl robberies.
'l aetuall} don‘t like \\Clel‘ns mueh.’ sa_\s Dominik. ‘I like good \\L‘.\IL‘I'I].\. bill it isn't in} pi'el'ei'retl genre. There are all kintls ot' westerns: aeid \\C\IL'l'll\. 7(ls \Vestei’ns‘. Nicholas Ray's neurotie \sesterns. The ones I
tend to like are nuiso “esterns. But I low a lot oi
western literature ['II-lt)././I)"l‘(‘Rl-' is basetl on Ron Hansen‘s l083 noii-tietioii book] about that rieh periotl ot~ .-\meriean histor}. tonartls the end ot‘ the \testxiai‘tl expansion.‘
He adds. “There's been about 75 mmies about Jesse
40 THE LIST 3:3 him—‘5 See ’
James. and he seen about lotii oi them. lle’s iisiialh poi‘tra_\etl as this pltiek} rebel \sho‘s got no elioiee bill to turn to erime. beeatise the iail\\a_\‘s hassling his mother. But he \xasn‘t like iliat. lle \\.ts iiisi .i batl git} \\ith a i'eal|_\ gootl piess agent. and lhats the was \te'\e portrasetl him in the blot lle's \ei_\ liiiman. btii at the same time insihologieal.’
l'nsurpi'isingl). /.l()././/i’/(‘/\’/ ilitln’t go tloun \‘.t'll \\llll the slutlio. 'lt's a \teiitl lilinf Dominik atlmils 'B} lloll}\\ootl stantlartl's it's iiol a v. ell behaer moxie. .‘\ll\l ati)thiiig that tle\iates liom a loimtilaie sti'tietui‘e is pereei\etl to be a mistake. It's not a lilm that lesletl \\ ell. l’eople \sei‘e etilletl li'om malls aiitl toltl the} uere going to see a \sesiein \\llli llratl I’m in ll. 'l'lie} \xei‘en't e\peetiiig this ii’uil_\ long llltl\lt'. so it tlltllbl seoi'e \\ell. lltit it \\as pi'oleeletl b} l))l.ttl. ll probabl} \\tlllltl li'a\e gone through the meal grintlei \\itliout him.’
Dominik is a stiekei‘ tor punishment llis iie\l pi‘oieel is another tineonxenlional \\L‘\le'lll. (ll/t s or l’ittti. the third part ol' ('oi‘mae \le('aitli_\\ lion/ii lit/ox. \tliieli takes plaee on the l S \le\iean iionliei ill l‘t‘.‘ 'll's got a lot ol strikes against it] Dominik laughs. 'lhe least being its a sequel to .‘m /’n ll!’/\t\ [.\le('artli) atlaplation tlii‘eetetl b} ’iill} Hob llioinlon in Ztlllll antl notoriotisl} sa\agetl b). the nov. tleltmet sttitlio .\lii‘ama\]. Hut l'xe got a big thing loi' .\le(‘arth_\. and it's a beautiitil stoi_\.‘
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is on general release from Fri 30 Nov. See Also Released, page 44.
llit
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