Directed by Ang Lee
Ang Lee's unjustly obscure "Ride with the Devil" is a wonderful and unfortunately misunderstood film from one of the uncontested masters of world cinema.
Toby Maguire stars as Jake Rodell, a young Missouri boy who joins the Confederate "Buschwhackers" with his friend Jack Bull after his parents are killed in a raid by the Unionist "Jayhawkers". They boys participate in a number of skirmishes before retreating to the wilderness to wait out the winter where Jack Bull falls in love with the beautiful Sue Lee.
In what is no doubt the biggest irony of Ang Lee's venerable career, the very american "Ride with the Devil" was made before Lee came to the attention of American audiences with the very chinese "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon". Indeed, despite its all star cast, wonderful direction, and the fact that it was inspired by american history, "Ride with the Devil" was an epic flop at american box offices. Interestingly, "Brokeback Mountain", a commercial and critical success without precedent for Lee in the US is similar in many ways to "Ride with the Devil" except that the latter film benefited from better marketing and, most importantly, a far more controversial subject matter that succeeded in getting moviegoers into theatres. It's a shame though, because "Ride with the Devil" is a very good movie. The acting is truly fantastic, the visuals are sumptuous, and the subject matter, although given a predictable and somewhat disappointing cut-down-the-middle treatment, is still relatively well handled.
One of the reasons The Criterion Collection is so widely respected is that it takes an independent minded view of what films deserve to be seen by a wider audience. Sure, they've refurbished several classics that are touchstones of cinema and beloved by all, but "Ride with the Devil" is a movie that received mixed reviews from critics and didn't even register on the radar of moviegoers when it was released. Nevertheless, the good people at Criterion decided, rightfully so I might add, that more people needed to watch this movie and it therefore got the Criterion treatment. A wonderful decision and a credit to Criterion's continuing importance to cinema.
4 comments:
What I'm wondering is what "Ride with the Devil" says about human nature. Sure it has good acting and visual, but what does it say about humanity? I read somewhere that the first question one should ask about a movie is, "Are men fundamentally good or fundamentally bad?" I ask because I don't know and haven't seen the movie.
By the way, do you know any good books about analyzing cinema?
That's a good question. I think "Ride with the Devil" assumes that human nature is fundamentally good though easily corrupted, especially in times of crisis. In it, there a host of characters, some who start off good and slowly turn bad, some who start off good and remain so because of personal integrity (Rodell) and some that are rotten to the core from beginning to end and use armed conflict as an excuse to exercise their cruelty. Like most good war movies, I think it makes a valid point that war only exacerbates human's true nature, to some extent--the good remain good, often in the face of crippling obstacles, and the bad just become worse. I still thing the best handling of that particular theme are classic Westerns, especially those of John Ford.
I can't recommend any books on film theory or analysis because I don't really read them. I find most to be really overwrought and it takes away from the experience, so I usually don't bother.
Your dad gave me a fascinating article by someone who traced the development in western movies from John Ford to someone I can't remember. It was an EXCELLENT analysis. Fascinating.
Yeah, I read that two. Nathan originally had to read it for a law class and he mentioned it to us. It has really changed the way I watch westerns.
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