The Searchers
John Ford’s brilliant Western marks the high point of his ideological and formalistic maturity, that balances out the glorification of the Western mythology.
Ethan (John Wayne) returns to his brother’s secluded family farm after the Civil War. But the homecoming of this bitter hero, is like Ulysses returning to an Ithaca he just can’t adapt to. When his niece is abducted by Indians, Ethan will make it his life’s work to get her back, turning this mission into a personal obsession.
John Ford’s brilliant Western marks the high point of his ideological and formalistic maturity, that balances out the glorification of the Western mythology. Fully conscious of white man’s responsibility towards the Indians, the clash between the good and the bad is constructive.
For the first time, the hero isn’t thoroughly negative, coming face to face with his own demons and his racist tendencies that stir up extreme emotions: an obsession with death, a thirst for vengeance, but it also unearths a well of tenderness.
Ethan is Ford’s most bitter and tragic hero in the most monumental, beautiful and at the same time terrible Western of a man who spent most of his life among tumbleweed. Υ.B.
the searchers / η αιχμάλωτη της ερήμου - trailer από NyxtesPremieras
Πρωτότυπος τίτλος / Original title: The Searchers
Σκηνοθεσία / Director: John Ford
Σενάριο / Screenwriter: Frank S. Nugent, Alan LeMay
Φωτογραφία / DoP: Winton C. Hoch
Μουσική / Music: Max Steiner
Μοντάζ / Editor: Jack Murray
Ηθοποιοί / Principal Cast: John Wayne, Jeffrey Hunter Vera Miles, Ward Bond Natalie Wood, John Qualen
ΗΠΑ / USA
1956
Εγχρωμο / Color
119'
Αγγλικά, Ναβάχο, Ισπανικά / English, Navajo, Spanish
* Screens on 22nd September
