Red River

Apparently there is a longer, pre-release version of this film on the Criterion Blu-ray with dissolves into pages from a book in place of Groot’s narrations. This is my first viewing of any version of Red River, so I can’t dictate whichever is preferred, but this version is outstanding nonetheless. The film tells the story of a rattle ranch owner Thomas Dunson and a band of personalities embarking on a cattle drive to Missouri seeking for money. The inciting reason for this crazy journey comments on the futility of the American dream: Dunson drew blood, abandoned his lover, and spent fourteen years cultivating his own Red River band, yet all of his dedications are proven worthless when there is a lack of capital needs; he then has to almost start anew and hope to carry on his years of hard work across the vast American plains.

Hawks’ very controlled sense of scale and setting impresses similarly to the previous two I’ve seen from him (His Girl Fridayand Only Angels Have Wings). This might be one of the most finely tuned epics I’ve ever seen. Most scenes are predicated on their potential to burst into action, whether it be the quick-drawn firing of guns or the ballad of horses and cattle, the size of the mission is matched by the magnitude of mobility and danger conveyed across each scene. A primal example is shown during a scene that initiates with the deadly silent night where the company embarks on their journey: a slowly panning shot moving across the group of men and eventually landing on Wayne, saying, “Take them to Missouri, Matt.” Matt pauses for a second before screaming out, “YeeHaw!” which is preceded by a montage of close-ups of excited members reciprocating the action accompanied by triumphant orchestral music. The swift transition from quiet, nervous tension to a burst of musicality and excitement is very fitting for a film that attempts to gesture a sense of grandiose and epicness to the egotistical mission of the obsessed, immovable men, all of which is cleverly subverted by a shot of Ford and Cliff awkwardly sharing a frame after Ms. Millay furiously told them off.