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Printer-Friendly ModeJesse James film Pitt's finest hour
October 29, 2007 —
Few films transcend the art of filmmaking to something more. Often, when such films come along, general audiences don't know what to do with them, don't understand them, or are bored by them, a fact that thoroughly frustrates me. For the aesthetic beauty of a film like The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is something that should neither be missed, nor unappreciated.
Certainly the title is long and without a doubt gives away the film's climax, but director and writer Andrew Dominik is fully aware of this. I have a hard time simply calling Jesse James a film - as it is so much more. It is an epic ballad, a mythic tragedy, an experience.
Grounded in realism surrounding one of the greatest icons in American history, the experience feels anything but real as it progresses toward its inevitable end. The music of the film is often a trance-like ambience that echoes the hollowness of the landscapes and images of the screen (the best cinematography I've seen this year without a doubt). And there is the parallel nature of the music and the out-of-focus, translucent imagery throughout the film. All of this makes the film feel lyrical-like a poem or ballad.
The film takes place in the dying West of the late 19th Century, which is critical to the inevitable path the film treads. It is the realistic portrayal of the period that reinforces both the realism and the tragic nature of the tale. And then there is the dialogue. There are lines that suggest the film is aware of itself, its audience, its purpose. One character notes, "You can hide things in the dialogue," which clues the audience in to pay attention to every word.
If these things don't set the atmosphere clearly enough, then the acting certainly does. Brad Pitt is Jesse James in this film. While subtle nuances of his other performances may be present, it is their conglomeration with something perhaps Pitt himself wasn't aware of that makes this his finest performance in my opinion. His James is charismatic, malicious, heartwarming, terrifying and affecting all at once. He flows fluidly from a loving father to an ominous killer. I wanted to question the believability of such a character, but it was so natural that it was terrifying and astounding at the same time.
While an experience, it is a slow one - the run time is 160 minutes. It tediously builds to the climax, and though I knew what was going to happen, the "how" kept me entranced. Complaints like pacing or lack of surprise are unnecessary when discussing something as majestic as Jesse James, though I suspect that complaints like these will impede the film's success. I, however, love how the film itself addresses the issue of its own accessibility through one of its characters: "Poetry don't work on whores."