Three gunmen hired to protect the town taunt and threaten him; he kills all three with little effort. The Stranger finds Bridges and the Carlins, who have just finished off Morgan, and harasses them with dynamite and rifle fire, leading the outlaws to believe the townspeople are responsible. He then rides out of town without explanation, following the wounded Morgan. Over the years, a number of fans have asked where was High Plain Drifter filmed. Given that he was mentored by the likes of Don Siegel and my personal favourite director Sergio Leone its no wonder that Eastwood went on to make hits like The Outlaw Josey Wales and Unforgiven. The film was critically acclaimed at the time of its initial release and remains popular. Which brings us to 1973s High Plains Drifter, a movie thats so frequently overlooked and uncharacteristically strange and surreal that it sticks out like a sore, red-painted thumb in the long sweep of Eastwoods filmography. Just confirm how you got your ticket. Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is Copyright 2009-2022, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Bach, Cantata 6, at the Second Day of Easter Light and Darkness of Existence, The Ferryman's Obolus Mahler and Freud Meet in Leiden II:III, J.S. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "High Plains Drifter". A stranger (Clint Eastwood) rides out of the hot desert into a small town in the wild west. A gun-fighting stranger comes to the small settlement of Lago and is hired to bring the townsfolk together in an attempt to hold off three outlaws who are on their way. He then rides out of town without explanation, following the wounded Morgan. As a freshly minted red-hot commodity both at home and abroad, Eastwood quickly parlayed his new-found bankability into a handful of macho and muscular studio pictures like the fish-out-of-water cop thriller Coogans Bluff and the bloated WWII action-adventure Where Eagles Dare. The supporting cast is all of humanity. Link to Are You There God? "[20], The film was recognized by American Film Institute in 2008 on AFI's 10 Top 10 in the category "Nominated Western Film". Over the course of the movie, Eastwoods Stranger acts as if hes Lagos savior, but hes not interested in protecting them, he wants them to pay for Duncans murder. The Stranger replies, "Yes, you do." Is 'High Plains Drifter' based on a book. Book: Ruffles, Tom . Edit, American screenwriter Ernest Tidyman wrote the screenplay for High Plains Drifter and followed it up with a 1973 novelization of the film. After having sex with him in his room, Callie slips out as three men enter. Given that he was mentored by the likes of Don Siegel and my personal favourite director Sergio Leone it's no wonder that Eastwood went on to make hits like The Outlaw Josey Wales and Unforgiven. The film was shot on location on the shores of Mono Lake, California. High Plains Drifter: Directed by Clint Eastwood. [22], High Plains Drifter was first released on DVD by Universal Studios Home Video on February 24, 1998. The result is one of the best Westerns of the 1970s. These were a branch of American Western movies that coincided with the 'New Hollywood' era, acting as the swan song of the Western Old Myth where cars started to make odd appearances, marking the way technology and capitalism would put a deathblow on the frontier or pioneer spirit. High Plains Drifter is Western star Clint Eastwoods first attempt at directing one of his own westerns. Read critic reviews. It's Me, Margaret. Not the townspeople, not the villains, not even the "anti-hero" at the center. Universal released the R-rated High Plains Drifter in the United States in April 1973, and the film eventually grossed $15.7 million domestically,[2] ultimately making it the sixth-highest grossing Western in North America in the decade of the 1970s and the 20th highest-grossing film released in 1973. When the movies exploded like TNT overseas, no one was more surprised than Eastwood to learn that he had transformed into a global superstar overnight. The next morning, as the Stranger rides out of town, he passes Mordecai carving a fresh grave marker. This cantata, from 1725, begins, effectively, as musical reminiscence and narrative longing, a continuation of where the St. Fra Angelico : Resurrection of Christ and Women at the Tomb (1440-41), Fresco, Convento di San Marco, Florence. That night, in his hotel room, the Stranger dreams of Jim Duncan, a federal marshal, being whipped to death by outlaws Stacey Bridges and brothers Dan and Cole Carlin, as Lago's citizens watch in silence. New York . [] Eastwood, Clint: High Plains Drifter (1973.) It's also a pretty violent business that won't disappoint the millions who flocked to the Leone westerns. The Stranger replies, "Yes, you do." This script is a transcript that was painstakingly transcribed using the screenplay and/or viewings of High Plains Drifter. Did he want to be a stripped-down bareknuckle filmmaker like Siegel, or a baroque allegorist like Leone? 2023 METACRITIC, A FANDOM COMPANY. More straightforward when Morgan punches out Mordecai. Scan this QR code to download the app now. Clint Eastwood and Issues of American Masculinity . High Plains Drifter is a 1973 American Western film directed by Clint Eastwood, written by Ernest Tidyman, and produced by Robert Daley for The Malpaso Company and Universal Pictures. I was mostly satisfied by the story as the more it went on the more I got interested. Edit, After having the townfolk paint the entire town red, rename it "Hell", and set up a picnic and welcoming banner for the outlaws' return, the Stranger rides out of town, leaving them to fight their own battle against the three outlaws that brutally whipped Duncan to death while the townies stood and watched. Meanwhile, the best you can say for High Plains Drifter is that the title is a low pun. Still from the opening scene. The film was directed by Clint Eastwood and written by Ernest Tidyman and stars Clint Eastwood, Verna Bloom and Mariana Hill. The Stranger accepts the job and takes full advantage of the deal: He appoints a downtrodden dwarf named Mordecai as both sheriff and mayor, provides a Native American and his children with blankets and candy when the shopkeeper refuses to serve them, gets a new saddle and boots, and forces the saloon to serve everyone free drinks. As an actor, he is probably better than he allows himself to be. Clint asked John Wayne if he wanted to be in a Western together. [6] An uncredited rewrite of the script was provided by Dean Riesner, screenwriter of other Eastwood projects. Yes, there are subtle problems throughout the film, but there are also considerable strengths, and they stood a real chance of taking a small-scale narrative and molding it into a rewarding thriller, only to go overpowered by the cold spells which, when combined with those subtle missteps, ultimately secure the final product shy of its potential. The small supernatural elements made it more interesting in my opinion as it added a more unique feel as I was watching this. We never really are told who he is or where he comes from. 0786484217 . Callie and two men watching from inside their houses look shaken by Duncan's fate, while most other people seem unaffected or grimly pleased. It adds to the argument that High Plains Drifter is a deconstruction of the myths of the old west. High Plains Drifter 1973 | Maturity Rating: 16+ | 1h 45m | Westerns Unavailable on an ad-supported plan due to licensing restrictions. "You know," Mordecai says, "I never did know your name." Written by Ernest Tidyman, who was a bit of an uncategorizable genre schizophrenic himself having already written both the Blaxploitation classic Shaft and earned a Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar for The French Connection, High Plains Drifter is a haunting and haunted supernatural revenge story about a mysterious, cigarillo-chewing man with no name (guess who?) The film was well received by many critics, and rates 94% positive on Rotten Tomatoes based on 32 reviews. It wasnt a hell of a thing killing a man yet. It exalts and delights in a kind of pitiless Old Testament wrath. I suppose that would be cooler if this film was more exciting, because even though it is decent, it does indeed drift, more so than it ought to. Now this may not be as good as some of Clint Eastwood other western, especially Unforgiven, but it's still a nice alternative and a unique take on the western genre from the man who is the best in that genre. "[21], The film was recognized by American Film Institute in 2008 on AFI's 10 Top 10 in the category "Nominated Western Film". He favored a less explicit and more supernatural interpretation, and excised the reference. The Stranger accepts the job and takes full advantage of the deal: he appoints a downtrodden dwarf named Mordecai as both sheriff and mayor, provides a Native American and his children with blankets and candy when the shopkeeper refuses to serve them, gets a new saddle and boots, and forces the saloon to serve everyone free drinks. Coming Soon, Regal As a director, Eastwood is not as good as he seems to think he is. Universal Pictures, He. Payback! New York, NY . This uncertainty is kind of understandable, as Eastwood must work hard to transcend natural shortcomings to this minimalist narrative, which is still meaty, yet would have seemed meatier if style didn't also come with its own immediately questionable elements. How do the stores make any money if strangers keep getting driven out? He found out the mine was on government land and was going to report it, which would result in it being closed. The scene disturbs more than the death by gun fire, only momentarily earlier, of three men by the same stranger who rapes the woman. Of course, another possibility is that the Stranger is. Tap "Sign me up" below to receive our weekly newsletter And in 1971, he finally got his shot with the paranoia-drenched Fatal Attraction prototype Play Misty for Me. As the Stranger trains the townsfolk to take arms and the gunmen draw closer, the hidden secrets and corruptions of the town begin to unravel, and the truth behind Lago's feud with the outlaws and their culpability in the death of a federal marshal, with whom the Stranger has a connection soon comes to light A Deconstruction of the Western genre with supernatural overtones, High Plains Drifter is one of Eastwood's most popular and acclaimed films. [5], The 'ghost story' interpretation of the film favoured by Eastwood is hinted at strongly throughout the movie, suggesting that the Stranger may be the ghost of slain Federal Marshall Jim Duncan, returning for vengeance and justice; the beginning and end of the film sees the Stranger mysteriously emerge, apparition-like, as he rides into and out of Lago through a shimmering heat-haze. That, however, is small comfort as this cold, gory and overthought movie unfolds. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. The residents of Lago at first view the stranger with suspicion, but when news that some outlaws that are out for blood are on their way to town, they ask the stranger for his help. 2004 . Clint Eastwood, Producer: By what name was High Plains Drifter (1973) officially released in India in Hindi? Additional scenes were filmed at Reno, Nevada's Winnemucca Lake and California's Inyo National Forest. [4] In the final scene, the Stranger rides his horse out of town into the hot undulating waves of the desert and disappears. At least Sergios movies had the humour to counterbalance the depraved killings and the degenerate treatment of women. The direction was great, the cinematography was great, and cast fit well into there characters. Submissions should be for the purpose of informing or initiating a discussion, not just to entertain readers. That, however, is small comfort as this cold, gory and overthought movie unfolds. The CulturalRites article on his most interesting film is available here. High Plains Drifter. The next morning, Sarah tells the Stranger that Duncan cannot rest in peace because the town buried him in an unmarked grave. The next morning, the Stranger rides past Mordecai in the cemetery. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. Check box if your review contains spoilers, High Plains Drifter: Maybe You Think You're Fast Enough, Now Playing: High Plains Drifter: Maybe You Think You're Fast Enough. Book: Green, Philip . Clint Eastwood brought the movie in on time and under budget, so he must have concentrated on the town's businessmen and a few choice townspeople to tell the story efficiently.If it helps from the viewpoint of telling the story, keep in mind that most of the scenes were shot in daylight. Your Ticket Confirmation # is located under the header in your email that reads "Your Ticket Reservation Details". The Stranger accepts seemingly reluctantly, to be put in charge of order and mounting a defense, recruiting the factotum dwarf as his Deputy. Rob Ager, in a detailed and wordyinterpretationof the film, and also argues that the avenging angel is the ghost of the murdered marshall. who rides into the small mining town of Lago and immediately begins to toy with the locals, playing judge, jury, and executioner for their sins. Sep 7, 2010, Runtime: But the three worst the town ever saw, which they were hired to check, are being released from jail. Before he was known as a conservative filmmaker (both stylistically and politically), he made this strange and surreal Western. The text is Martin Luthers. Meanwhile, after spending a night in a hotel bed together, Sarah Belding tells the Stranger of her belief that Jim Duncan cannot rest in peace nor depart the physical realm because he was buried in an unmarked grave. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. The film stars Eastwood as a mysterious stranger who metes out justice in a corrupt frontier mining town. This is the film of a magnificent intellect. With Eastwood, the cigar seemed to work as a brake on a temper that was quick to favor violence. Clint Eastwood is the ultimate thinking mans cinematic killing machine. High Plains Drifter is his spooky, dark, and vicious version of the Sergio Leone Man With No Name Spaghetti Westerns he once starred in, and a moody existential meditation on gunplay, revenge and karma. It was Eastwood's second film as director, and the first Western he directed. He looks like the tight-lipped, cigar-chewing sharpshooter of Hang 'Em High or Sergio Leone's Dollars Trilogy, and on paper High Plains Drifter certainly reads like your typical Clint Eastwood western. 'High Plains Drifter' Is Clint Eastwood's Mysterious, Overlooked Masterpiece, Scan this QR code to download the app now. The libretto is, This work, with its firm and certain compound of optimism, tenderness, melancholy, and assertion, was a favourite of mine, Dante, Beatrice, and the Zodiac (15th c.) The stated theme of Paradiso is the coevality of unity and multiplicity. He's nearer now, a bearded man in a dark cowboy hat and long dusty overcoat--the Stranger (. The film stars Eastwood as a mysterious stranger who metes out justice in a corrupt frontier mining town. But once he shows his skills with a pistol, the locals realize he may be able to help them fend off a band of criminals who have been terrorizing the town. The Stranger assembles a group of citizens to defend the town, but soon realizes that none have the necessary "shooting" skills. But he took a what-the-hell gamble and flew to Spain to shoot the first installment in what would become Leones stylish, international sensation Man With No Name trilogy (which would also include 1965s For a Few Dollars More and 1966s The Good, The Bad and The Ugly). 2013 . Clint Eastwood's orchestration of subtle stylization begets subtle color that rarely allows entertainment value to slip too far, and when slow spells do enter, upon being met with a genuine sense of thoughtfulness, rather than the dryness which plagues this drama as much as anything, they bite, with high tension. You know, the rhythm of this title really makes me think of "Catch Scratch Fever", and you know, I'll run with it, because it's better than getting the Beastie Boys song stuck in my head. Instead of doing their dirty work, he abuses his "blank pay check" not just for free goods, but also to commandeer everyone in a militia and transform the whole town. A dwarf, named Mordecai, becomes, through the stranger, the titular mayor and sheriff of the town. Machoism is also a meaty theme of most westerns but that is given a slap to the face also in the film. The movie concerns awell, drifter who wonders into a small town from the high plains. After a federal marshal discovered that Lago's mine was on government land (which would have forced the closing of the mine), the town hired three gunfighters to murder him. [3] The film was influenced by the work of Eastwood's two major collaborators, film directors Sergio Leone and Don Siegel. Clint: The Life and Legend . Here its different though, and we see the cruel behaviour for what it is, even if some of the victims deserve retribution. The film was critically acclaimed at the time of its initial release and remains popular. Stay up-to-date on all the latest Rotten Tomatoes news! It seems the residents are the only ones in town. And two decades before Eastwood would win Best Picture and Best Director Oscars for his return to the genre with the twilight apologia Unforgiven, he still hadnt begun to grapple with the regrets and ramifications of shoot-first-ask-questions-later Old West violence. Before the film is finished fire is raging throughout the town and everyone who was involved in the Marshall whipping gets some kind of upcommance for their actions. The next day, Lago officials offer the Stranger "anything you want" to protect the town from Bridges and the Carlins, who will soon be released from prison. Eastwood could finally say goodbye to the small screen once and for all. A nameless stranger rides into a small town and immediately kills three gunmen. Supported by Eastwood casting his own stunt double as the dead marshal. It's never revealed who the drifter is, but it's implied that he's the Devil, or the Angel of Death, or the ghost of Marshal Duncan - either way, it's at least a little supernatural, and very. During the flashback the Marshall whos getting whipped damns the townsfolk to hell whilst he dies, and my personal take on the film is that the Stranger is a kind of curse or angel of death sent to punish the town. High Plains Drifter is a 1973 American Western film directed by Clint Eastwood, written by Ernest Tidyman, and produced by Robert Daley for The Malpaso Compa. A Stranger (Clint Eastwood) rides into in the dusty mining town of Lago, where the townspeople are living in the shadow of a dark secret. He accepts only after he is given free rein to do as he pleases around the town, an offer which he does not waste at all, forcibly taking any woman he wants and throwing families out of their hotel rooms so he can have the entire building to himself.

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