Stunning photography raises this to the level of a near classic

Rating: 8/10 (8 April 2008)

Over the past few weeks I have viewed a number of films that contain some stunning sequences and photography, most notably 'No Country For Old Men' and 'There Will Be Blood' (the opening twenty minutes of which is film-making at its peak). Amongst these is this film, a eulogy to a past way of life and a lament for the passing of heroes.
Near the beginning of this film there is a night-time train robbery, and of all the sequences and photography throughout the rest of the film it is this that has lingered longest in my mind. The use of the lights from the lamps of the outlaws in the dark woods gives the sequence a sinister edge, an edge that is built upon as the train comes around the bend in the tracks, its headlights catching the hooded figures of the outlaws in its beam, making them look like ghosts. As the train approaches the tree trunks and other large wooden items laid on the tracks, upon which Jesse James himself stands, the camera is pointed right at the cattle-catch. This is not only a frightening sight, but also a direct reference to one of the earliest films of a train arriving at a station (Lumiere Brothers 1895). This fear is increased when the train than actually starts to push the camera along, giving the impression that the train is roaring into the cinema! Once this sequence is over the film settles down into its stride, very stately and, at times, painfully slow. This is not to detract from the film, these slow periods are needed, I believe, in order to emphasise the pasting of an age that was first coming to an end during the time in which the film is set. All the faces - and what faces they are! - show a world-weariness and ageing that comes from living a life of such hardness, and the constant hiding from both the law and Jesse himself - who is also on the run from his own past - all serve to reinforce the notion of a life without reward. The performances are universally excellent, Brad Pitt is superb as Jesse, and Casey Affleck is all slime and charm as Robert Ford.
The final sequences, in which Robert Ford plays upon his new found fame, coupled with his own earlier worshipping of Jesse James as a legendary figure, prove that even then the cult of celebrity was something to be weary off.
If the film has a fault it is that it is about 20 minutes too long, a little bit of trimming here and there could have easily been carried out without losing the force of its emotional or philosophical appeal.