“I can’t see him.
All I can see is the flags.” – Mrs. Emily Collingwood
John Ford
is without a doubt, one of the most well-respected American film directors of
all time. Most would agree with such lofty praise; but I often find myself in
discussions with fellow film lovers, having to defend Mr. Ford against
allegations of casual racism, xenophobia, damaging classicism and a general
worship of Manifest Destiny. With a number of his films, it is quite a feat to
put down all of the charges. Luckily Ford made many a film to give us
ammunition; films with much to say about all the aforementioned topics, what
they mean and how to approach them whilst still making a rip-roaring Western
very often set in Monument Valley.
Possibly
Ford’s most subversive extravaganza, Fort
Apache, begins with one of
my favorite bait and switch tricks in cinema history. The opening credits give
us a triumphant horn-driven score any time our heroes (U.S. Cavalry) are on
screen, and then quickly segues into an odd, vaguely “native” sounding battle
march any time the Native Americans show up. Ford is being exceptionally
misleading here, for what’s to come is perhaps his least simple representation
of the white man as hero and the red man as villain.
Many
directors (occasionally including Ford) working in the Western genre were
guilty of painting the world in blacks and whites. Fort Apache for the most part offers up a world of gray, where the
Lt. Col. Thursday, played oh so complicated-ly by Henry Fonda, is anything but
a simple good guy. Playing against Fonda’s usual nice guy character, Ford gives
us a messy, confused individual whose penchant for never changing causes
potentially avoidable problems many times. John Wayne (in one of his few
inarguably fantastic performances) is great here, playing the knowledgeable but
lower ranking soldier who knows better, but cannot get through Fonda’s thick
skull.
Ford,
through Wayne’s character, puts us on the side of the Natives. We meet the
completely useless man who sells cheap goods and booze on the reservations to
keep the Natives under his control. When we meet the Native American chief
Cochise, he is shown as regal, respectable, absolutely right and full of pride
(mind you, not to the damning extent of Lt. Thursday).
Perhaps I’m
not making this film sound all that appealing, given that there’s a complex
relationship here that’s often dumbed down in Westerns to make them easier to
digest. But I promise, if you enjoy Westerns in any way, shape or form, you
will absolutely love Fort Apache.
Although Ford certainly has subversion on the mind this time around, he never
skimps on the classical ideals that make the Western genre worth enjoying in
the first place.
“Undemanding
viewers can simply enjoy it for its depiction of a Wild West where the cavalry
fought the Indians, supposedly to the glory of the United States. Those who
take the time to really peer beneath the surface will find a completely
different film, one which exposes and even undermines the mythology of the hero
and which questions the whole notion that history is written by the victors.” -
Jeffrey Kauffman
- Will
Morris, House Manager, Sie Film Center
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