It's All a Western
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I love a good Western. I spent a large part of my youth in the West, literally herded cattle in the Rockies as my high school job, and I’ve got a pretty good sense of what to do when confronted by a bear. Ask me, and I’ll tell you about it sometime. But things are starting to feel a little too close to home.
We walked the dog this morning and the streets were empty (well, as empty as I’ve ever seen them in New York). Arriving at an intersection, I slowly became aware of a rhythmic squeaking noise. The street sign was literally blowing back and forth in the wind, creaking with each gust. Then a tumbleweed blew past, and a man in a black hat burst through the door of the bodega across the street.
His hand twitched as it hovered over the revolver at his waist. We stepped into the middle of the road and scrutinized each other suspiciously.
“We don’t cotton to strangers in these parts,” I may have said, to which he spat tobacco juice and stomped forward, spurs jingling.
“And I don’t like your hat,” he said and pulled down his face mask to reveal a bushy mustache and a toothy grin.
“This town’s only big enough for one of us,” I said.
TODAY’S RECOMMENDATION: “BACURAU” (2020)
The Western is typically thought of as a quintessentially American film genre, though of course, the Italian contribution can’t be ignored. Neither can Brazil. “Bacurau,” a crazed futuristic Western from Brazilian directors Juliano Dornelles and Kleber Mendonça Filho, had its theatrical premier here in the US just two weeks ago, and it was set to be a critical darling before movie theaters started shuttering as a result of the coronavirus lockdown. Thankfully, the movie’s distributor Kino Lorber struck a deal with Film at Lincoln Center, which is making it available for streaming right now. The $12 fee to see “Bacurau” in your home goes to support Film at Lincoln Center, so it’s money well spent right now.
Now I called “Bacurau” both a Western and crazed, and I stand by both of those terms. It follows one of the standard plots of a Western—a rural town on the plains is besieged by hoodlums from elsewhere and an outlaw must rally the villagers to defend themselves—yet it is set in a near future where hallucinogens are plentiful and there is at least one flying saucer, though it’s not what it seems. The film is pure pulp, very bloody, and embraces camp. It also refuses to let up on the weirdness and treats all of its characters with pure love or pure hate, whichever they deserve.
“Bacurau” leans into stark visuals and provides little help to the audience in interpreting its mysteries. In the first sequence a woman—possibly a doctor—rides shotgun in a water delivery tanker down a dusty road in the Brazilian hinterland. Then the truck runs over an empty coffin, and the story never lets up. The filmmakers owe debts to a lot of Westerns, John Carpenter, and a scene chewing performance from Udo Kier. Don’t miss this chance to watch it.
“Bacurau” is available to stream from Kino Lorber and Film at Lincoln Center ($12).
READING LIST:
I’ve only got one article for you today, an account of the closing of an Irish pub as a result of coronavirus. It’s a bummer, but I urge everyone to read it. There are a lot of people struggling right now. The slump in business has been particularly hard on people in the restaurant and bar industry, arts, film and entertainment, and also small and local media as ad dollars have dried up. Remember to check-in on your friends and do what you can. If you can afford to order takeout or to-go drinks from establishments that are open: DO IT.