Jun 9: The Searchers (1957) dir. John Ford
It ends with an iconic scene, with John Wayne silhouetted against the door of the family homestead.
It's about family. There is an excellent BFI book all about the imagery in the film and several blogposts about the relationship between Uncle Ethan and the other characters. It's a film which demands repeat viewings and I'm not sure that one blog post will be enough to do it justice.
As with all Westerns, it is problematic in its representation of the indigenous people, although this was one of the first to offer a more sympathetic portrayal and also show that the white Americans also had their negative character traits and were guilty of commiting terrible acts.
It was also set in the iconic area of Monument Valley - somewhere I just have to get to at some point to see the wonderful landscape which has appeared in so many films.
The valley sits on the border between Montana and Utah, and is famous for its eroded rock outcrops called mesas and buttes - the most famous of which are called the Mittens.
The first movie to bring Monument Valley to the attention of the American public was John Ford's Stagecoach (1939).
It also needs to recognise the tribal lands on which the filming took place.
An interesting review here on the way that characters are portrayed.
The original trailer is here:
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