The Searchers

Title: The Searchers
Genre: Epic Western
Rating: 4.5/5
Starring: John Wayne

This film is about the story of "Ethan Edwards" (Wayne), an "American" civil war veteran, who spends years searching for his abducted niece after her family was slaughtered by "Comanche Indians". We are taken through an obsessed quest to find "Debbie" (Natalie Wood) that lets us see how revenge can drive people, and by this revenge, the theme of racism and whether it can be justified or not is examined.

To begin with, I must point out one the key factors that made this one a great one is the stunning way of how to shoot a landscape. The director (John Ford) along with the cinematographer (Winton C. Hoch) were able to show us the immensity of the lands traveled through by stressing the magnitude and vastness, creating some of the most spectacular screen shots I have ever seen! The opening shot when "Ethan" came home, the horse chases, "Ethan" standing on the door step at the end of the film, etc. Ford, with his vision, created a legacy the influenced greatly many of the famous directors after him. His influence can be easily seen in "David Lean's Lawrence of Arabia", "Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven", and "Kevin Costner's Dances with Wolves". This technique allowed the film to truly be epic.

"John Wayne" gave a role to remember as "Ethan Edwards". Though it might seem to us it's easy to understand him, it takes some analysis. For instance, it could be that the diabolical quest is actually for vengeance, vengeance for his brother's wife, "Martha". There seems to be a bond, yet no word is spoken. He stops at nothing to get what he wants, and by that, we are introduced to the film's main theme. Can open out racism be justified, even to the point of genocide? "Ethan" spares no grudge. We are even introduced to racism from the "Indian's" point of view as chief "Scar" said:
"Two sons killed by white men. For each son, I take many scalps."
Not to forget this, it is arguable that "Ethan" was almost driven mad by his hate, which introduced us to another theme, miscegenation. I chose not to speak more of these details lest I ruin the film for those who haven't seen it yet.

The script was adapted by a novel with the same name by "Alan Le May". We clearly see and comprehend each character's point of view. Though this movie is great, I found that the script by itself isn't. If it wasn't for "Ford" and "Wayne", I am sure this film wouldn't have been the same and wouldn't have reached the status it now has. I haven't read the novel, but of what I heard, there isn't much difference. It had its light point and it had its heavy points. All in all it's good, but I found the script in movies such as "Dances with Wolves" and "Unforgiven" to be superior.

The score was composed by "Max Steiner" who is known for his compositions in films like "Gone with The Wind" and "Casablanca". It was taken full use of, especially in scenes that involved horse chases, and in the ending. This is one of the best scores for a "Western".

The only reason I didn't give this film a perfect score is the vicious portrayal of the native "Indians", mostly as if they are unethical marauders. I thought their attack on the "Edwards", killing the parents and son, the kidnapping the two girls to be misleading. It is suggested that similar events to this have actually happened, but I don't think that's a good enough reason. Probably this is because that was actually the common and acceptable view of the native people in cinema that time. But as time went by, the mentality changed and now we have movies such as "Dances with Wolves".

Although this is not my first western that I have seen, this was my first "John Wayne" movie to watch, and I wasn't disappointed. Highly recommend for those who didn't watch it this cornerstone. When hearing how this movie is great, this is no exaggeration.