MovieChat Forums > The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018) Discussion > Very Few understand the Movie (SPOILER)

Very Few understand the Movie (SPOILER)

posted 5 years ago by AngelThMan (124)
7 replies | jump to latest

Only one critic of the several I read seem to understand the overall theme of this movie. Even critics I respect didn't get it.

These quotes from one critic capture it perfectly.

"The fatalism and mortality that pervade The Ballad of Buster Scruggs."

"The specter of death haunts this movie."

The theme is clearly defined in the first vignette.

In every vignette, at least one person dies. That's the theme. In the last one, the dead one is the body they've been carrying on the stagecoach.

[–] whynotwriteme (7119) 5 years ago

Sounds like the theme is so obvious, tired and over-done that everyone just overlooked it in Buster Scruggs. Having people die in Western stories is not exactly a novelty. It just goes without saying that the West was a pretty grim place of violent, unexpected death. If you're new to the genre, then maybe it seems like a profound revelation, though.

Rather than link them with a slender and well-worn thread about mortality I prefer to just enjoy the stories for what they are. Entertaining and disturbing frontier yarns.

[–] AngelThMan (124) 5 years ago

I'm not sure it needs to be a novelty in order to be a theme. It's a perfectly fine subject matter if that's what they chose.

Here are other clues that death/mortality are the theme:

In the first story, Buster Scruggs, the title character, dies, and we see his soul depart. This was an immediate clue for me that the theme of the movie would be death, and that one or more people would die in each story.

The title of the last piece: The Mortal Remains, and the last person who died being a corpse wrapped in cloth. It's symbolically the sum of all the deaths in the movie: how everyone ended up.

[–] zeesha (1753) 5 years ago

From my understanding, each vignette has it's own theme, related to how that person die or survive. Themes are: fair, unfair, unfortunate, fortunate, unexpected, expected.

[–] AngelThMan (124) 5 years ago

Yes, each is different and have their own purpose specific to their story. However, dying, and I guess surviving, are a common theme.

[–] Moonglum9 (10702) 5 years ago

Poppycock! The theme is clearly that if you don't believe in aliens, they will conquer Erf!

[–] optiplex (1) 5 years ago

Death is certainly a theme, but I think the overall theme of the movie is more narrowly focused on the brutal reality of the Wild West. It's a reminder of what life comes down to in a lawless land, a land riddled by death.

The reason I think the theme needs to be more specific is because of the old prospector's story. Yes, the robber dies in it, but this story has more a focus on process and how easily someone's hard work can go down the drain.

[–] ronatola (312) 9 months ago

SPOILER - They're ALL dead in the final story.