it was only after seeing High Noon, a 1952 movie by Fred Zinnemann, that I became aware how it was a reaction against the blacklisting in Hollywood in MacArthur's time. But even so, I was able to identify there some aspects that sustained how a community and its inhabitants can be coward and lazy.
The movie has a duration of 85 min., related to a time a little over that. During our one and a half hour in Hedleyville, we accompany the struggle of a man trying to do what he thinks is right, despite all the odds against him, including the people that only a few minutes before had praised him as a great marshal. But that's people, and it is not a surprise that Cary Cooper's Kane has to deal with a community problem alone. His anguish and deception become our own, and we go along in his quest for help.
The secondary characters are also great. katy Jurado's Helen and Grace Kelly's Amy, each in their own way, are strong women in a men's world. In a considerable short amount of time, we are able to understand not only the dynamics of this small western village and its inhabitants, but our own time. How relevant this movie still is turns out to be astonishing, and we go through the black and white narrative with many current references in mind.
The trivia on imdb.com is full of interesting facts and relations, besides some juicy gossip :)
At the end, I was very impressed with this movie, even if I was already expecting a good one. But it is in fact great cinematography, with a good story being told in many subtle details and thoughtful performances. Besides being a Western movie, which is cool for its own.
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| High Noon. Directed by Fred Zinnemann. With: Gary Cooper, Grace Kelly, Katy Jurado. Writers: Carl Foreman from the story The Tin Starby John W. Cunningham. US, 1952, 85 min., Mono, Black and White (DVD). |
"Western is cool for its own." I guess Edivaldo would really agree.
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