Hostiles

Like a lot of Irish people my first introduction to Westerns was through a grandparent. In my case my Granny. We used to watch Bonanza, Rawhide, The Virginian and The High Chaparral religiously, usually after mass on a Sunday (see what I did there). They were great fun. Ben Cartwright and Big John Cannon taking care of business. Good guys as pure as the driven snow. They faced problems that were solved in under an hour, usually with a hefty right hook. And when people needed to get shot they fell down dead, bloodlessly, after one bullet. It was all good clean innocent fun. Then one night as a treat I was let stay up to watch a proper Western. I was giddy as hell. We broke out the turkish delight bars. The film started. The music was amazing. The multi-coloured credits shot across the screen. The man with the noose around his neck about to be hanged and then the bullet that sheared through the rope saving his life. My jaw dropped. "That fella with the gun is Clint Eastwood" my granny said. "He's Rowdy from Rawhide." That was it for me. That was the moment I fell in love with Westerns. Sitting there watching The Good, The Bad And The Ugly. I can't get enough of them. It's always a treat getting to see them on the big screen. It's a rare thing these days which brings me to Hostiles. A film quite unlike the films I grew up with.

In 1892 U.S. Army Captain Joseph Blocker is tasked with bringing a dying Cheyenne chief, Yellow Hawk and his family back to his land in Montana so he can die on his own soil. There's history between the two men though. The kind of history that involves a lot of bloodshed. On their journey they come across a woman who has suffered loss on a massive scale and together they must set out for their destination across a very dangerous land.

This is a cracking watch but my god it's a dark one. In the screening I saw, half a dozen people left after 5 minutes. The film opens with a stark and brutal scene of violence that will genuinely test the audience's mettle. Director Scott Cooper sets out his intent here. This is a film that does not shy away from the harsh realities of frontier life. In contrast to that it's also a beautiful film, filled with glorious unspoiled vistas of open plains and mountain ranges. Glorious scenery stained crimson.

The cast is excellent across the board but the film belongs to Christian Bale. Here he's as good as I've ever seen him. A brooding, intense presence with a simmering want for blood visible under the surface for the vast majority of the film but importantly his humanity has somehow survived. A tear here and there, an embrace, a much needed smile. It gives you a hook, a reason to want to see him make it to the closing credits. It's great to see a person coming back to life on screen. Wes Studi as Yellow Hawk is superb too. He gives a brilliantly dignified performance as man who knows he's a goner and he's a far nicer presence here than his other most well known western roles in Dances With Wolves and as the evil Magua in The Last Of The Mohicans. Rosamund Pike also excels as a grieving woman who turns out to be as strong, and emotionally stronger than any of the men in the film. One scene of her welding a shovel in grief will scar itself into your brain. The supporting cast is just as solid and shows that director Cooper is a western fan as faces from Tombstone, 3.10 To Yuma, The Revenant, Young Guns, Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee and All The Pretty Horses amongst others all make an appearance.

This is director Scott Cooper's third film in a row about the dark side of America and it's easily his best so far. It's also most definitely a revisionist western. There's no glorification of action here. Violence is a constant presence and the effect it has on the tarnished men who commit it is shown in detail. Like other modern takes on the genre, people don't just walk away after killing someone smiling and saying job well done. In shows and films like Deadwood, Unforgiven, Open Range we had Dan Dority, William Munny and Charlie Waite, men stained and ruined by previous deeds and in Hostiles we have Joe Blocker and Yellow Hawk. Men who will carry that burden on their shoulders for the rest of their lives. Men who these days would be diagnosed with PTSD but back then they were thrown back into action. It doesn't shy away from the effects White America had on Native Americans either. The time period is near the tail end of the Indian wars. Soldiers have relentlessly massacred and ran down the tribal peoples of the plains and the massacre at Wounded Knee was only two years previous. These same soldiers then acted surprised when they reacted in kind and started targeting civilians. Atrocities on both sides. Violence was just an accepted way of life. 126 years later.........well.......not much has changed in America. Violence just is. 

I'd highly recommend this film but only if you think you'd be able for it. It's tough going but if you are of a hardy disposition you'll see a fantastic tale of violent men, redemption and acceptance.