The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007, Andrew Dominik)

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is about form not content yet the sheer brilliance of its images, the overwhelmingly moody tone, and the assured use of sound, discourage any real criticism. Following in the footsteps of Stanley Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon and Terrence Malick’s The New World, Andrew Dominik’s western legitimizes cinema as a single-minded sensory experience. It is leisured paced to a fault – the same story could have been told in less than 90 minutes – but so stubbornly cemented on a series of epiphanies that one has no choice but admit that the overly-lyrical visual style makes the film as deeply enigmatic as it is deeply insightful.

The narrative deals with the last years of bandit Jesse James. It takes forever to get to the assassination but this is a tale about a journey not about a destination. Most of the story is told through the eyes of Bob ford, who famously shot and killed the legendary outlaw. Brad Pitt is wonderfully James Deanian, but the film belongs to Casey Affleck as the so-called coward Bob Ford. Affleck’s warmth and tenderness, anxiety and regret, are vividly portrayed by the actor. He received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor – one could argue that Affleck’s Ford is the main character in the film, though. Needless to say, it is one of the most beautiful films in recent memory. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is an extraordinary achievement.

~ by gelpi2008 on Thursday, September 18, 2008.