Wild west, dry wood campfires. A comfortable warm breeze greeted me, watching the wisps of green smoke swirl in the air. Even if the civilization is prosperous, I would like to stay here.
This is the 2018 "Hisstes Brothers" adapted by French director Jacques Odia, based on the Canadian novel of the same name.
Canada's Toronto Star newspaper commented on Rotten Tomatoes:
"This adventure story simply refuses to be trapped like ropes in the same comedy, drama, love and horror story."
After the film's release, Jacques Odia won the Best Director Award at the Venice International Film Festival 2018 and the 44th César Film Awards in France in 2019
Back in time to the end of the 18th century, the United States began a vigorous westward movement, a large number of eastern residents migrated to the west, reaching the west coast of the United States today.
Soon, in 1848, the presence of gold was detected in California. Spurred by the gold rush, the nearby state of Oregon was swept away by the boom, with thousands of immigrants pouring into California and a large number of towns quickly rising.
The film is set in Oregon and California during the Gold Rush, at the height of the Gold Rush in 1851.
(Paintings about the Gold Rush)
The Heath brothers are a pair of famous bounty hunter brothers who take money and eliminate disasters for people.
(Younger brother Charlie Heath on the left, Eli Heathstone on the right)
The man who hired them was a man named "Commander", who was deeply hidden but well-informed.
The brothers, who had just completed a mission, were immediately sent to hunt down their next target. This time, in addition to the two brothers, there is also a scout named Morris (played by Jack Gyllenhaal).
In addition to keeping an eye on the target, his task is to send a message to the two brothers who are following behind for location and tracking.
The target was a weak-looking gold digger named Herman Worm. It is said that after stealing one of the Commander's treasures, he was rushing towards the gold rush.
In addition to killing him, the brothers had to take this thing back.
The two brothers tracked them down, but found that their investigators had actually worked in partnership with the gold diggers.
The two were speechless, and could only choose to continue to chase, and finally the four of them first fought a firefight, and then something even more bizarre happened.
The whole film is suppressed first and then raised, and the story makes people sigh endlessly, which can be regarded as an unpopular good film that was ignored by mainland film fans in 2018.
first. The gunfight scene is concise and clear
As a Western movie, the most important thing is naturally whether the gunfight scene is good or not.
In the first shootout, the director chose to let the gunfight scene take place in the middle of the night.
Although it did not show the demeanor of the two sides of the firefight, it undoubtedly added a sense of tension.
In the subsequent shootout, the director chose realistic and concise actions, with accurate camera scheduling. This makes the scene, although the gunfire is loud, does not look messy.
second. The emotional portrayal of the killer brothers is amazing
The older brother initially gave the impression of an old guy whose mother-in-law was not good, and the younger brother was a common lonely hero in Westerns.
The director gives the audience the image of the two opposites, which will pave the way for the future story.
By the 27th minute of the film, through our brothers' dreams, we see a vague black shadow of their father.
But unpleasantly, he was chopping some kind of body with an axe. Apparently, their father left them with only shadows.
It was not until the next four people converged that the brother told the gold digger about the brothers' past.
The reason why the brothers are willing to be hired killers is because they can't stand the madness of their biological father.
Ben was the eldest son who did this, but let the younger brother do it, because this matter left a great shadow in his brother's heart.
The older brother's heart is filled with guilt, which also explains why such a good old man as him always allows his brother to drink and fool around
And he can tolerate his brother's misdeeds again and again, and care for him again and again.
Because when it comes to his father, he has a strong sense of guilt for his brother.
After the younger brother became the weaker party due to injury, the younger brother became a wasted being, and the momentum of the two began to reverse.
The brother also showed a strong side at this time, facing the rain of bullets and bullets alone.
But even at this time, his brother continued to support him and never abandon him.
This brotherhood is undoubtedly firm and moving.
third. The idealism of scouts and gold prospectors expressed their reflections on the gold rush in the West at that time
The story of the scout and the gold digger is also undoubtedly emotional.
The scouts, who were supposed to obey the commander, chose to betray and join the gold diggers.
The reason is that the gold digger told him that he had developed a magic potion that was more precious than gold and silver jewelry, and was able to separate gold from the mud and sand.
(After pouring the chemical, the gold will glow in the water in a darker light)
The gold diggers intended to build a utopian society in which everyone was equal, ending this chaotic Western era.
He was not a simple idealist, daring to steal the formula of the chemical agent from the commander, but also showed his determination to realize his ambitions.
The scout was so impressed by him, not for money, but for the gold prospectors, that he finally realized for the first time the meaning of self-selection.
He wanted to make his own real choice and fight for that ideal.
These two idealistic men hit it off and stepped towards that beautiful ideal, but in the end they both walked into death.
There is a saying that goes, "Tragedy is the destruction of good things for you."
The tragedy of the two is undoubtedly overshadowed.
The film ends with the brothers reuniting with their mother, and the years are quiet.
Perhaps after witnessing the cruel survival law of the weak and the strong in the wild world, only at home can you appreciate the unique warmth and preciousness of the family.
Although it is the story of the killer and the gold panning in the wild world, with inevitable shooting and tearing, the whole film is full of warmth and romance, which is extremely comfortable under the director's packaging.
Stylistically speaking, it is an anti-Western Western, bringing a climax in all unexpected places; when the audience feels that the final climax, it stops abruptly, leaving the audience with a lot of blank space and thinking.
This is what a new-age Western should look like.
Fans who have not yet watched it, hurry up, it will make you harvest different touches, a unique old man to understand, the soft heart under the tough shell!