Open Range (2003)
Open Range (2003), produced and directed by Kevin Costner.
I check every few years but unless I am going blind, I cannot see that there has ever been a North American Blu-ray of Open Range. Imports: yes. It is inexplicable. Getting late in the game now, particularly with Disney's recent elimination of their Home Entertainment department.
Westerns go through fashions. When I was young the noble cowboy was displaced in revisionist Westerns which were Vietnam War allegories and hippie back-to-the-land dreams. We don't called it revisionist if nobility returns. I don't suppose we call this sort of Western anything at all, there are so few of them.
Kevin Costner has created a beautiful, heartfelt adventure romance. It is perilous to be the star, producer and director: actors want to be loved and sometimes mess up their performances when they have too much control. Costner avoids this, saying he is content to be silent in some scenes and let other actors lead. But to be honest: he knows he is "smoking hot" as I've heard some ladies say when watching this.
Robert Duvall always played colorful characters but had no need to exaggerate. His Boss Spearman seems to have stepped out of believable history.
We also have:
Annette Bening is the love interest, showing considerable grit and common sense.
Michael Gambon, thick Irish accent, is the cattle baron villain,
Diego Luna is the kid, later known as Andor in Rogue One (2016) and his own TV series.
Michael Jeter is the colorful old timer running the stable. I best remember him from The Green Mile (1999) where he tamed the mouse and died horribly in the electric chair. This was his last film.
Notes on the return of nobility:
These are men who value respect and honesty.
Normally Boss runs the show, but when it's time for violence he defers to Charlie, who has a past that gives him skills in gunfighting.
Out of respect for Sue, Charlie removes his gun belt in her house. You see the same thing in Ford's 3 Godfathers (1948).
How much bloodshed is appropriate in this sort of film? We have a big realistic looking shootout but little gore. Costner did not think the film deserved it's R rating. At one time there was no blood at all in Westerns (or in Japanese samurai films). Would we rather not have too much reality?
Score by the great Michael Kamen, his last.
Beautifully shot by J. Michael Muro, particularly those Alberta landscapes. His first job as cinematographer, he had been camera operator for:
Terminator 2 (1991)
True Lies (1994)
Titanic (1997)
Dances With Wolves (1990)
My thumbnails are from a German Blu-ray. In a commentary track Costner says:
The movie came out as 95% of what he envisioned.
He loves the details of the camp and town and doctor's house.
They planted a biggish tree at the camp site, just to give the audience a sense of place, a way to anchor the geography.
They built the town, which was expensive. Made the street flood, also expensive.
He found locations by riding around the town site.
Lost his voice and had to ADR a couple of lines.
Does not like flashbacks: they indicate weaknesses in the script.
