Fassbender shines in beautiful and surprising western


The western is largely a lost genre. In recent years some directors have gone back to it with films such as Django Unchained, True Grit and The Assasination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. But, overall, the genre is very underutilized. The prevailing theory is that space adventures — with the 1977 release of Star Wars often called the turning point — have filled the void that westerns used to occupy in our culture’s imagination. Basically, the argument goes, the wild west is no longer as exciting when the whole universe opens up in front of you.

It is sad to think, however, that this long and often quite excellent genre has been all but abandoned by the industry. Slow West, which will be screened at USC on April 28 and will be released in theaters on May 15, is the latest film to show just how ripe the genre still is in the hands of the right team.

Kodi Smit-McPhee, the actor who will play everyone’s favorite blue teleporting mutant in next year’s X-Men: Apocalypse, stars as Jay Cavendish, Slow West’s 16-year-old protagonist who ventures across the pond in a search of his lost love. His clueless attempts to cross the unforgiving frontier are quickly spotted by Michael Fassbender’s Silas, a grizzled drifter, who offers to serve as his guide through the wilderness.

The cast is a delight and both leads play their roles perfectly. Smit-McPhee is infuriating as the entitled and clueless Cavendish. Often you want to reach into the screen and shake some sense into the character for some of the things he says and does. But, do not let this be read as a criticism of Smit-McPhee. Cavendish is supposed to be annoying. As the film eventually makes abundantly clear, his soliloquies about love and being civilized are supposed to be grating.

Fassbender is, of course, perfect in the role as the road-weary cowboy. This is no surprise, as Fassbender is very good at providing a subtle undercurrent of wildness to his characters, a trait that serves him in this role, as well as in his most famous roles including his turns as a scarred master of magnetism, a hollowed-out sex addict and a sadistic slaveowner. Fassbender is stoic, as a proper western hero should be. His quiet demeanor would not be out of place beside Eastwood’s or Wayne’s, but he also is able to evoke the constant danger of a character like Silas. As Eastwood explored in his excellent Oscar-winning film Unforgiven, it takes a certain sort of man to be a successful western outlaw. Silas is that sort of man, thanks to Fassbender.

The rest of the cast is also excellent. Ben Mendelsohn, perhaps best known for his role as the slimy businessman Daggett who Tom Hardy’s Bane predictably betrays and kills halfway through The Dark Knight Rises, is a scene stealer as an old associate of Fassbender’s who ends up as the primary antagonist in the film. He makes for a delicious, determined, villain in an unforgettable fur coat who plays extremely well against Fassbender. In one scene, the two former associates sit down over a bottle of absinthe and make pleasant conversation, but the undercurrent of aggression and alertness between the two jumps off the screen. Performances like these from Mendelsohn make the prospect of his rumored casting in Star Wars: Rogue One all the sweeter. Finally, though she has precious little screen time, Caren Pistorius is quite good as the object of Jay Cavendish’s affections, Rose Ross. Her performance in the climactic scene makes one hope she gets larger roles in the future.

Director John Maclean makes his feature film debut in style. His shots are often daring and showcases the vastness and beauty of the “American” plains — the film was shot largely in New Zealand — while turning around and making the urgency of the action pop. It is an impressive debut.

Finally, perhaps the very best part of the film, no small feat in a film with excellent acting and directing, has to be the script. Written by the director Maclean, Slow West manages to do something that very few films manage to do anymore. That is to be truly unpredictable. The ending is, simply put, shocking. It is, however, shocking in the best way. None of the twists feel manufactured. They feel like they arose organically from the story. This is quite the balancing act, and it is a testament to Maclean that he was able to make it work. Beyond the plot, however, the writing still shines. There are moments of comedy peppered throughout the story which bring the otherwise dull trek across the plains plenty of life. A scene where the two travelers happen upon the body of a foolish lumberjack who crushed himself under the tree he was cutting comes to mind. The scene before them is objectively horrifying, it is a dead body, but in the context of the story it is nothing short of hilarious. The film manages to hit notes of despair and comedy in quick succession. It is really quite impressive.

It would be foolish to think — nor would it be a good thing — that a movie like Slow West could hope to turn the tide and have westerns push aside space adventures to take their place in the film landscape. It would be delightful, however, if a great movie such as this would encourage other directors to revisit this once proud canvas for silver screen treats.