Now this is a movie

Just saw The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.

Absolutely brilliant.

Although quite brutal at points, this is a truly remarkable movie. The characterisation is deep and engaging, the story is wonderfully told, the scenery and cinematography is nothing short of breathtaking, and the director felt no compulsion to jam it full of stuff it didn’t need.

It’s not often you hear silence in movies at the cinema. At points I felt I was watching a foreign film (whose directors are not afraid of silence, but can at points let things drag far too much). The scope of the landscape was simply fantastic.

As I said, there are a couple of violent parts which are not really for the faint-hearted. As modern movies go they aren’t all that terrible, but the shock of something like that happening amongst these characters that you really care about, in a world where such a thing is both everyday and alien, is really part of the craft of the film. You will care when the title-scene happens.

You should see this film.

The official movie site will give you a taste of the feel of the movie, but don’t stop there. Watch this movie. It’s the best I’ve seen in a long time.