Lucas, Spielberg, Scorsese in Love

What is The Searchers, and why is it so enamored by the critics of the post-modern era of film? Why do I love this film so? How many times has this shown up in modern cinema? First, I must say this film is probably not going to be liked by viewers the first time they see it. However, the film wasn't seen as great when it came out, like many of the classics of cinema, Citizen Kane, It's A Wonderful Life, Intolerance, and what I see happening for Fight Club, the critics are baffled by what they have seen. This was the first film to question the morals of the west, to show the harsh brutality of it. However many people thought The Searchers glamorized the ideals and was not a commentary on it. This is a very subversive film in its means, much like Saving Private Ryan. Both films have the top director of the era, not in talent but in fame, and the most beloved leading man, put them in a role that is truly not appealing and change their persona. In SPR, Spielberg used Hanks, in The Searchers, John Ford used John Wayne.

John Ford plays Ethan Edwards, a man who comes to his brother's house in the beginning of the movie to straighten things out in his life. He swears his allegiance to the old confederacy, and seems to play the persona that made him famous in Stagecoach and other films. Then there is Martin Pawley, the adopted son of Ethan's brother. He looks up to Ethan in the avuncular fashion, but Ethan doesn't care for him at all, because Martin is an eighth Indian. The story begins with Martin and Ethan going off to look for Indians rumored to be in the area, and Martin and Ethan leave the house with the Nieces of Ethan's brother and the rest of his family. Ethan and Martin go out with a group searching around the valley, which allows for a setup for the characters. This is where Wayne's character begins to show, both of his seemingly awful personality and the backwards morals of the Western. The group finds a dead Indian and Ethan sees the Indian and promptly shoots the eyes out. When asked what good the shooting did, he replies "nothing to you, but to him it means he can't go to heaven, but is now meant to roam the wasteland for eternity." Ethan does not care for Indians which sets up his obsession in the next plot point.

Ethan and Martin come home to find the house ransacked, the family dead and the two girls dead. Looking at the shot and the plot, it is almost identical to Star Wars: A New Hope when Luke comes home to see Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen dead. Ethan sets out to find the girls, Martin comes with and so does the oldest girl's, Lucy, boyfriend, Brad. The quest to find the girls is what takes up most of the movie. However this is not the normal rescue movie. The movie goes into a terribly dark segment, as Lucy is found dead, in the first part of the search.

Ethan: What you saw wasn't Lucy...What you saw was a buck wearin' Lucy's dress. I found Lucy back in the canyon. Wrapped her in my coat, buried her with my own hands, I thought it best to keep it from ya.
Brad: Did they...? Was she...?
Ethan: What do you want me to do? Draw you a picture? Spell it out? Don't ever ask me! Long as you live, don't ever ask me more.

This was one of the first movies to ever have this dark mood to it, a tragic act with such horrible consequences. Most of the audience didn't expect the people to die, nor did they expect John Wayne to be so cold about it.

The search goes on for years, and only Ethan and Martin are willing to keep searching. Ethan is obsessed with finding the second girl, Debbie, who is played by Natalie Wood when she is older in the movie, Martin is there to find his "sister," and come along on a trial of his manhood, or it seems to be a way for him to prove his worth to Ethan. However, the movie is not all about the search like a detective movie, and the events that come along during Martin and Ethan's search are both humorous and endearing. Not to ruin too much, there is romance and action, and some very comedic scenes, a fight between Martin and his girl's current suitor is one of the funnier brawls in movie history. But as more is found about Debbie, and her captor Scar, which is where the villain in Lion King comes from, it becomes evident about why Ethan is so obsessed with finding Debbie. It is not to save her, like Martins quest, but to kill her, to stop her from being the Indian she has become in Ethan's eyes. He would rather her die than live as an Indian. This is much like Travis Bickle's quest to save Iris in Taxi Driver; he wants to save Iris from the pimps. Though Travis is closer to Martin than Ethan in goals, his means are just like Ethan's. He is willing to use violence to obtain the means he needs. The death of a villain is nothing to Ethan. He seems to regard the life of the Native Americans as nothing.

The critics missed the intent of this when it was released. John Wayne was a commentary on the white segregator of the time, those who did not consider the black as equal. Ethan even admits to being a die-hard confederate, even though the war is over. Ford was remarking on the backwards morals of segregationists, making the story a fable of the time it's problems.

The ending is meant to be a surprise, but it is not today due to cultural osmosis and the movies that have borrowed and stolen form Ford. But there is much to be analyzed from the movie when it is done. It is a remarkably layered text, providing a very exciting story on the top, with much social critique beneath. One can look at the motives of Ethan, and how both Ford and Wayne do not attempt to make the character sympathetic, they knew this is the kind of man who existed in and defined the lifestyle of the west. They do not romanticize the character; only they make him smarter and more calculating than the normal hero. What Wayne's Ethan is in the film could be considered the original antihero of cinema. He is leading a commendable cause, but he is likeable and Wayne's acting and persona makes you want to follow him to the end of the earth, even if he may be a little morally wrong.

What makes this film so different is that it makes the antiheros quest interesting. Whereas Hitch and Joseph Cotton made Uncle Charlie the likeable villain of Shadow Of A Doubt, Ford and Wayne make Ethan a likeable faulted hero. His faults are obvious, and his character is flawed, but he is likable none-the-less. Few filmmakers can do this at all, I can think of only a few today, with Spielberg's and Hanks noble but flawed Capt. Miller, and Coppola's and Brando's evil but fatherly Vito Corleone. The movie is exciting to watch, it is entertaining for a rental, but it is also a very deep and profound film. It is so well made that it has influenced more film makers and writers than you could fathom. Scorsese, Lucas, Spielberg, and Coppola all have remnants of The Searchers in their films. The ending shot of Godfather part one is almost the same as The Searchers, Star Wars has more pastiche to Searchers than most people will ever believe, like mentioned before, Taxi Driver is modeled after the movie, and Spielberg watches this movie along with three others before he does every movie.The movie is also exceedingly well made. The cinematography by Winston Hoch is breathtaking, shot in monument valley with an amazing eye for composition, it also has superlative production design and editing, and helps to envelop the viewer in the world.

Was it a surprise that this film wasn't received well when it came out? Not really, it is a film whose intent is evident but hidden well enough to be integral but not evident in the plot. This is a film that can be enjoyed as not only an adventure, but also as a thinking mans or women's film. Rent it, buy it enjoy it, it gets richer and more enjoyable each time.