A masterpiece of the genre. Unbelievable cinematography, great performances. It emulates the Coen Brothers, but remains its own thing.
Somehow I had managed to avoid seeing this for nearly a decade, even though it is extremely my sort of thing. But I’ve heard all the criticisms, particularly those of the “extreme violence” and the “simple plot.” I am not sure what to make of all that.
I didn’t think it was anywhere near as gory as Seven, for example, but somehow this has been lauded to me as one of the most gruesome films ever made.
Multiple people have told me this is one of the films they loved, but would never watch again. To that, I say you’re no longer friends, and I would happily watch this multiple times. It’s been described to me as brutality porn, misery porn, and frontier porn. I don’t understand what any of those three critiques mean in the context of this film. Hereditary is misery porn; this is merely survival in the face of unspeakable odds.
I am not sure what to say about critiques that the story is straightforward. It is linearly straightforward, but there is depth to its portrayal of revenge as a fantasy and its portrayal of native Americans.
I think this is the rare art film that crossed the line into blockbuster territory. The sort of people who watch blockbusters for the sake of transportive (and shallow) entertainment are caught off guard. The sort of people who want their art to challenge them and enlighten them may find this neither challenging or enlightening.
But it’s a crossover film with a massive budget and incredible spectacle. If anything, it’s underrated by all parties. I’m happily adding this to my rotation of “quality films to watch during never-ending winter.”