Joel and Ethan Coen and True Grit

Today I went out to see True Grit (at the Spectrum 8 theater on Delaware Ave. in Albany, the closest art cinema in 100 miles.)

You can see the (slightly misleading) trailer for the film here:


From the Johnny Cash song to the trailer's focus on Jeff Bridges' Rooster Cogburn the trailer misdirects the viewer, but that's what trailers do. True Grit is not a wall to wall action movie and Bridges performance is not the central character of the story. But more on that in a moment.

True Grit, based on the 1968 novel by Charles Portis and the 1969 film directed by Henry Hathaway staring John Wayne. I first saw the movie when it aired on network tv in the late seventies and read the book shortly thereafter. The 1969 movie, a product of it's time is part of the Hollywood western movie tradition that dates back to the silent era (which was by coincidence the end of the era depicted in such films.) The Coen brother's film, while not sui generis exists somewhat outside of the tradition as well as outside of the confines of the Spaghetti Western (which exists to some extent as a hip comment on the Hollywood version.) Instead it works off of our more modern western mythology of supposed historical accuracy. All dialog is given as if it is from the voice overs reading letter from Ken Burns Civil War (which is the chief work informing our modern western mythology), this includes the music composed/arranged by Carter Burwell (the Academy has already condemned his use of actual hymns in the score with a resounding 'no nomination for you!') which often reminded me of Ashoken Farewell.

All three works, the novel and both movies, tell the story of fourteen year old Mattie Ross (actual 14 year old actress Hailee Steinfeld) of Arkansas who has traveled to see to the recovery of her father's remains and to seek justice for his murder. To do this she hires a drunken U.S. Marshal (Jeff Bridges) and insists on accompanying him as he goes into indian country, present day Oklahoma, in search of the killer (Josh Brolin). They are joined by a Texas Ranger (Matt Damon) who is also searching for the same man for another crime.

The casting of an actual fourteen year old in Hailee Steinfeld adds to part an authenticity that the 1969 version cannot claim. This greatly adds to the illusion of believability so necessary to pull off a film like this. Mattie is the central character of the film, as well as being it's point of view and narrator, it is her story being told. As much as both Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon give great performances in their roles (and to the credit of both these actors and their directors here they do not in any way play Jeff Bridges or Matt Damon but instead portray their characters) they never overshadow Mattie in the way John Wayne becomes the focus of the first film version.

Language plays an important role in the Coen Brothers' vision of the material. Part of the aforementioned 19th century epistolary dialog style they have adopted is the eschewing of contractions. In part this is because, following the novel, the story is told as it has been written down by Mattie decades later. The effect is to both anchor the movie in the supposed realism of it's time and to give it a mythical and more accurately a Biblical tone.

Most reviewers, such as Roger Ebert, have gone on about the film being more in the classic Hollywood mold, mistaking the simple lack of irony for any great change in the Coen brother's film making style. Though a great many of their films are ironic, True Grit shares with them an unflinching view of violence and what it means in America. Which is the true trademark of their body of work.

Further confusing matters is the very filmic cinematography by Roger Deakins, which is unlike something like the awful digital drek of last year's Robin Hood does not represent a modern intrusion on the body of the film.

One thing I should mention, John Goodman is not in this film, although actor Paul Rae seems to be doing an uncanny impression of him in his small part. I can't help but wonder if Goodman had not originally been intended for the part.

To finish this up here's the trailer for the John Wayne film. Just to be clear this is not a bad movie but it does suffer from the somewhat stilted look that calls to mind the TV westerns of the era such as Gunsmoke. Only less studio bound. For all his vitality in the role John Wayne was way past his prime and due to the removal of most of one of his lungs incapable of too much actual exertion.



Addendum: One thing I forgot to mention above is what many may find to be the most shocking aspect of the Coen Brother's film, and that is it's unflinching off hand treatment of the racism of the time period. Whether it is Mattie's dismissive treatment of the older black man sent with her to retrieve her father's body or Rooster Cogburn's physical abuse of Native American children the Coen brother's make no apologies for the characters nor do they minimize it's abhorrent nature by providing modern viewpoints for the characters involved. By reserving commentary on these actions they are skirting very close to edge where the film and therefore the audience become swept up in the character's period POV and therefore accepting of such racism with them. It's a close call. And I admit I am unsure whether it should be commended or condemned. Is it enough for the audience to be unsettled in and among themselves or does the film truly have to show it's hand in scenes like this?