The Searchers

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A classic I hadn’t seen.

Thought-provoking and ambitious, and a powerful experience. In retrospect, however, its main character seems a little too much like a one-dimensional bully-sadist, even if he does experience some understanding and redemption at the end. And the young man who’s part Indian seems a little too much like a contemporary sensitive-kind-of-guy. It’s about racism, but not in a very complex or nuanced way. It reads to me more as a kind of Moby-Dick, with the John Wayne character as Ahab. Racism is a thought-provoking strain, but its all about mania for revenge. And Ethan, Wayne’s character, doesn’t have the mystery and philosophical depth of Ahab. However, I read that it’s a candidate in the minds of some for best movie of all time. I’m not saying it’s not a good and important movie. The haunting, stark visuals involving landscapes were my favorite part.