Clint Eastwood directs and stars in High Plains Drifter, a no-nonsense Western about an anti-hero.
The film is focused on a small town in the American Frontier with all the usual personnel; a priest, a barber, a sheriff. The protagonist, an unnamed drifter (Eastwood), rolls into town one day for a drink at the bar and a “nice, hot bath”. Things don’t go too smoothly and events lead to Mr Eastwood clashing with the townsfolk, although this soon leads to him taking a new role as tyrannical leader and protector against some returning outlaws.
This tyrant-king persona is the driving force of the narrative. Eastwood’s natural performance as the self-assured, scowling and hyper-masculine figure of power is perfect for the fearsome, unlikeable but respected and revered figurehead. His actions on the town and its people are clearly in opposition with the normal order of society, leading his character to effectively be sociopathic. His goals are purely selfish; he acts only in his own interests and brings the law of the jungle back to the forefront of the social order.
The film also employs some strange supernatural elements; a recurring nightmare/flashback sequence permeates the film, and there are some unusual noisy and grating sound choices. These bold stylistic choices revise the basic playbook of the western, whilst at the same time being a very typical one. It therefore works as both a classic and an alternative take on the genre.
1973, Clint Eastwood
7.0
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