MovieChat Forums > Slow West (2015) Discussion > Pretentious Hipster Western made by peop...

Pretentious Hipster Western made by people whose only exposure to the...


genre was watching Jarmsuch's "Dead Man" a few times while stoned during college.

I did laugh at the "salt in the wound" scene but for the most part I found this forced and self-consciously artsy and obscure, and for the most part pointless and random with no real link to anything remotely accurate about the American West.

The New Zealander filmmakers know little at all about the American West and have absolutely no feel for the mood and themes of the Western genre of film. At least when the Italians re-invented the western they did so in a raw, honest and enthusiastic manner.

This is just another twist on the recent "Bleeding Cowboys" subgenre of unrealistic yet gritty gothic westerns. Absinthe drinking bounty hunters, a Congolese singing trio miles from nowhere in the wilderness, one of whom is in a wheelchair, a ruthless bounty hunter who adopts a naive lovestruck boy, a father and daughter on the run in the wild west for a manslaughter committed in Scotland, Australian Aborigine-like forest dwelling mud-smeared Indians in "Colorado". Everyone owning 1873 Colt Peacemakers in 1870...

Sure, whatever. If I made this film I would be embarrassed by it.

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[deleted]

I'd go as far as saying the vast majority of westerns aren't even striving for anything resembling realism.

This is not a flaw of the genre.

"[Cinema] is a labyrinth with a treacherous resemblance to reality." - Andrew Sarris

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For those times a person like you comes along.
The question is Alex, what's an ignore list for?

I don't give a *beep* about your opinion on anything. The fact you don't have the common courtesy to declare spoilers in your title is hardly surprising given your attitude <- Pretentious douche comes to mind.


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Scientologists love Narnia, there's plenty of closet space.

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It was quite funny that the salt container had the word "salt" written across it: ok, we get it, salt in the wound! They should have had a big caption appear on screen in case anyone missed it.

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Your "review" lost all credibility when you used the term "hipster".

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I agree with this, the characters are poorly constructed. It reminded me of Meek's Cutoff, another poorly constructed boring western. Why does realism always equal boring to most of these filmmakers? and this coming from a guy who actually likes "Dead Man" But I am also familiar with many other westerns, that are better.

The ending was the only highlight to this film, and it would of packed more punch if the rising action was better.



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