I was so shaken after watching it I couldn't stop thinking about it for 10 minutes straight. It's very dark and honest. It's about how little it takes to bring the worst out of us men. It is so superbly made, the music has such perfect timing, it gives me shivers, also, the camera always points in the right direction, often the faces of the characters to show how they feel, but it gives many pretty wide shots of horizons and environments too.
The performances are so incredible, I don't think Clint Eastwood and Gene Hackman ever reached such frightening performances ever again. The film is actually horrifying, I could even call this horror. The contents of it are very disturbing and the film isn't even gory or very much violent. The violence is pretty rare and far in between, the film takes murder very seriously and condemns it. It's the thought that counts.
The dialogues can sometimes feel very preachy, but that is present in many of Clint Eastwood's films, but here once you get used to it fits perfectly well, I think the character is supposed to be very preachy. The film constantly tries to look for the better qualities in men, but ultimately reveals how much full of sin, temptation and evil are within us. Hell, sometimes the characters look directly at the camera and they're not talking only to the other characters of the film but in a way directly to us viewers as well. Just like Winter Light (1963) it clearly is like a personal attack on the viewer forcing us to reflect on our own misdeeds, lack of self-control and will to become better, but unlike that film it isn't about religious faith and mannerisms, it's about general values and behaviour.
Can the characters in the film be forgiven for what they have done? But even more importantly, can we be forgiven ourselves? The world is a dark place and this film sure does an amazing job of reminding us of that and it is we who make it dark. Masterpiece.
The performances are so incredible, I don't think Clint Eastwood and Gene Hackman ever reached such frightening performances ever again. The film is actually horrifying, I could even call this horror. The contents of it are very disturbing and the film isn't even gory or very much violent. The violence is pretty rare and far in between, the film takes murder very seriously and condemns it. It's the thought that counts.
The dialogues can sometimes feel very preachy, but that is present in many of Clint Eastwood's films, but here once you get used to it fits perfectly well, I think the character is supposed to be very preachy. The film constantly tries to look for the better qualities in men, but ultimately reveals how much full of sin, temptation and evil are within us. Hell, sometimes the characters look directly at the camera and they're not talking only to the other characters of the film but in a way directly to us viewers as well. Just like Winter Light (1963) it clearly is like a personal attack on the viewer forcing us to reflect on our own misdeeds, lack of self-control and will to become better, but unlike that film it isn't about religious faith and mannerisms, it's about general values and behaviour.
Can the characters in the film be forgiven for what they have done? But even more importantly, can we be forgiven ourselves? The world is a dark place and this film sure does an amazing job of reminding us of that and it is we who make it dark. Masterpiece.