A New Western Classic

Rating: 9/10 (21 January 2019)

21 October 2007. What LOST IN TRANSLATION did for Japanese culture, THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY COWARD ROBERT FORD does for the Western. In one of the best visceral presentations of the West, its feel, its depiction of bare, spartan rooms, the ambiance sounds of rustling wind and creaky floors, this movie reels with authenticity, a rawness, grittiness even to how shooting scenes are played out. People die harshly. Men talk trash, like real men talk about women sometimes. There are amazing scenes of silent acting that communicate brilliant the mood, the feelings, the senses of the scene. Both Brad Pitt and Casey Afflect easily award nominations bring to the screen a real subtle and intimate, disquieting, and complex characters, . This perhaps overly long, sometimes difficult to follow where even eventually even Sam Sheppard's character just seems to disappear, remains nevertheless an intimate epic movie brings both a fantastic cinematography to the audience with the color, lighting, the shots of both bright sunshine and complete darkness of the nights of the old West. The narrative-voice over is riveting in its also documentary style presentation that adds authenticity to the acting on the screen, a richness and depth of really experiencing each scene. One of the most mesmerizing, layered, and rich film of the year.