Post by Radrook Admin on Jun 20, 2022 14:15:51 GMT -5
Gunfight at Dry River
The title drew me in since it promises action. Something akin to the Gunfight at the OK Coral. Well, the introduction did catch my interest as well as it showed the protagonist in this desert on the verge of dying from thirst and finding a puddle of water that saves his life. Then suddenly, his thoughts are revealed as regretting his having killed the murderers of his father. We are then taken back in time to how this came to be.
The protagonist is shown riding a horse towards this small area of rubble that we are expected to accept as being a partially inhabited town dependent on one small well for water, .
Now, as viewers, of course, we are expected to allow some types of poetic license in the making of films. However, it is very difficult to imagine any human being deciding to live at such an extremely hostile location. After all, the horrendous scarcity of water would make agriculture impossible, and the keeping of livestock for food purposes untenable. So the nagging question of survivability proved very distracting. This crucial issue is left up in the air as if it were of absolutely no logical importance. I guess we are expected to assume that they were in some kind of a La La Land where the laws of nature no longer apply.
Despite these unusually abnormal circumstances, the protagonist, a young man who seems to be of Latino descent, goes about his business of repairing settling into this house he to which he has a deed, without absolutely any concern where his next meal is coming from.
The protagonist is shown riding a horse towards this small area of rubble that we are expected to accept as being a partially inhabited town dependent on one small well for water, .
Now, as viewers, of course, we are expected to allow some types of poetic license in the making of films. However, it is very difficult to imagine any human being deciding to live at such an extremely hostile location. After all, the horrendous scarcity of water would make agriculture impossible, and the keeping of livestock for food purposes untenable. So the nagging question of survivability proved very distracting. This crucial issue is left up in the air as if it were of absolutely no logical importance. I guess we are expected to assume that they were in some kind of a La La Land where the laws of nature no longer apply.
Despite these unusually abnormal circumstances, the protagonist, a young man who seems to be of Latino descent, goes about his business of repairing settling into this house he to which he has a deed, without absolutely any concern where his next meal is coming from.
The film then stagnates for a while showing us just how very unconcerned he is. Then suddenly conflict is reintroduced by the appearance of three brothers whose only purpose in living seems to be to torment everyone there whenever they attempt to use the only well available.
I was ready to finally see some action. Instead, the protagonist responds to their insults and deadly threats with the same unconcerned facial expression he has had since he arrived. Where are we as the audience expected to imagine that his mind is during those moments when his life is hanging in the balance by having a gun placed to his head, or when he witnesses the murder of an old man who knew his father, and yet seems to remain totally unmoved?
I was ready to finally see some action. Instead, the protagonist responds to their insults and deadly threats with the same unconcerned facial expression he has had since he arrived. Where are we as the audience expected to imagine that his mind is during those moments when his life is hanging in the balance by having a gun placed to his head, or when he witnesses the murder of an old man who knew his father, and yet seems to remain totally unmoved?
Of course, as a viewer, I kept waiting for the protagonist to display his frustration or righteous indignation. Well, it was a long wait since he annoyingly continued totally impervious to all the savagery being hurled his way. In fact, he remained in that semi- Nirvana-like condition almost the entire length of the film, until finally, perhaps during the last ten minutes? the gunfight finally took place. More like a standoff really since the Protagonist and this mysterious female got the drop on the villains and more talking than shooting took place.
In conclusion, the film seems to propose the unbelievable by depicting the protagonist as calmly allowing his brains to be blown away without a struggle because considers that desolate shit-hole of a town worth dying for.
In conclusion, the film seems to propose the unbelievable by depicting the protagonist as calmly allowing his brains to be blown away without a struggle because considers that desolate shit-hole of a town worth dying for.
Unfortunately, that is not the way in which normal humans reason. Instead, normal people value their lives and become extremely nervous when it is threatened. This motivates them to either fight or flee-a reaction that the protagonist seemed to be totally incapable of having.
So the suspension of disbelief necessary for the enjoyment of the film was destroyed in that manner at the very outset, and made identification difficult with the protagonist's extremely docile personality very difficult. .