Initially there was a soundtrack. Superb work by the composer Bruce Langhorne, as I discovered in the virtual pages of Aquarius Records. I did a search on the composer Scott Tuma and I came across the above. The eloquence of the extracts was given enough to make me buy this disc. When I received it, I was a little reluctant to listen to soundtracks and compilations always have that effect on me there. Especially since I had never heard of the movie. But once I put in my CD player, I could not more to remove it. I have listened to the album 6 times in line that night ... Luckily it is relatively short. I was totally enthralled.
I immediately wanted to speak to publicize this hypnotic and haunting music to the greatest number. But I thought it would not do justice to do so without watching the movie first. But you are done.
For "The Hired Hand " it wants a relatively legendary film. First film produced by Peter Fonda just smoking on the trail of "Easy Rider". Fonda sought still mark the American film with a hot iron. However this scenario does not unfold as planned. According to the story, the film spent two weeks in theater to its release, was subsequently withdrawn, dropped once on American TV in 1973 and has been forgotten. That would be the insistence of Martin Scorsese, the film has been reissued on DVD in 2001 Sundance Film .. And it's not an easy film to find ... I did some video stores called directory ( Black Box, The Cinoche , Torréficition ...) and none knew of what I'm talking about. It's on Ebay that I finally found.
I can not say it's the best movie I saw, far away. But this is probably one of the most beautiful. Music by Bruce Langhorne makes sense in the context of the film and acquired a depth that eludes lorsqu'écoutée for itself. Nits rides solo scenes, where the images overlap and where the blues and oranges are saturated, bringing a tinge of melancholy anguish so difficult to define the music ... These moments of abstract film overlays of photos and images that become entangled into each other are enhanced by music equally surreal but oh so entrenched in folklore rooted American folk. Use of the Appalachian dulcimer, banjo, Farfisa, Echoplex of rudimentary form of all musical vaporous a frame through which emerges a few fragments of signifiers, a film which at first is a bit long and flat .
The scenario seems simple but in him a wealth of interpretations dormant waiting to be extracted. This is what has been called an anti-western, the inverse of what western movie should be. The film begins with three cowboy on the edge of a watercourse, including a bathe in the river to slow the images, the light saturated and the music ... the music ... the introduction is breathtaking. This indifference of the early fly rapidly with the discovery of the body of a girl floating in the River. Passenger film character, whose genesis is unknown and has no connection with the main plot. The macabre discovery was the beginning of a questioning of a lifestyle. Our three stooges are on their way to California to start a new life, they dream of the ocean, they heard it was the largest body of water ever seen. Along the way they arrive in a strange city, where there no blacksmith and where there are few women. City that the main character Harry Collings (Peter Fonda) recognizes there coming a few years ago. Because it is now 7 years since our hero left his wife and daughter, woman he does not remember very well, 10 years her senior. In this strange city, his companion was younger, is killed by a man who allegedly raped his wife surprised (we doubt), probably the only village.
It is my opinion that the three male characters are all specific dimensions of the main character. The youngest, Dan Griffen (Robert Pratt), is a little crazy, ardently dream of California and is somewhat naive. Shortly before the death of one, Harry announces that he wishes to return home, he is tired of this life of wandering and following the death of Dan, the decision is made: Harry and Arch Harris (Warren Oates) will return to Hannah (Verna Bloom), the wife of Henry. But before their departure, they must avenge the death of their friend back from his horse at the bandits. They leave with the horse, and strangely, Fonda leaves a funny memory to the man who killed Dan shooting her in each leg while he sleeps, into a kind of scene "stigmata", recalling the crucifixion of Christ ...
course the return of the husband fugitive is not well received by his wife. But it still accepts to host the two men as "Hired Hands" or the handyman. They begin to work quickly and while Henry kept his distance against his wife and daughter, who is believed dead, her closest Arch Harris a little more. Several scenes shown on the evening talking with Hannah, smoking, and a particular scene where he is full of attention to the daughter of his friend when he does he ever speaks. Peter Fonda's character is a man of few words, he speaks sparingly and does not show very little emotion, those are two others who speak in his place. While they are in town the two men learn to type at the saloon that Hannah regularly engaged "Hired Hands" and had the habit of sharing his bed. When Henry confronts her about it, it does not deny the contrary, appears as a liberated woman, the mistress of his house, his body and his land. Subsequently, Mr.Harris decides to leave, heading back to California. When he decides to leave, we have a wonderful dialogue between Hannah and Henry on the symbolic role of Mr. Harris in the life of Henry. It exposes the proponents of a homosexual relationship (not sexual) that binds to Henry this man who stands between her and him and always reminds his past cowboy wandering. After the departure of Mr. Harris, Henry approaches his wife and gradually resumed the role he had abandoned a few years ago, the father and husband.
But then we thought our hero back to a rural family life, one of the early gangster brings him a finger of Mr. Harris, saying that his friend called and had to see it. Each week he would not run, Arch Harris would lose another finger. "The Hired Hand" ...
'm leaving Henry to the rescue his companion to the dismay of his wife who realizes that her husband will not return. As a result, Arch Harris is returning to Hannah's farm and moved into the barn as "Hired Hand", one finger less.
was here perhaps a nice metaphor of psychoanalysis, illustrating the second Freudian topography of the id, ego and superego. Where three generations of men come together at the start and die during the film leaving only one winner, the oldest, who has the most experience, which is able to cast a critical eye on his situation and impose prohibitions (the superego). The best example of this is not the final where, without a word, Arch Harris passes Hannah dragging the horse between Henry and the barn, not Hannah's house ... The loss of the finger is also the entry in the body of metaphor, the transition to a psychic agency which imposes limits and prohibitions is not without paying the price. The ego could be played by Peter Fonda's character, silent body, which is constantly threatened by repetition and which ultimately do leave, prey to the death instinct. That's the character appears only briefly, but this drive is still pervasive in the film and is brought back to reality by the questioning of the woman. One quickly understands that Dan Griffen embodies this impulse of discovery and freedom. Telling examples When he bathes at the beginning, when he walks through the city in combination careless and can not suppress his sex drive. Sexual drive which leads to death.
altogether interesting film, with superb cinematography and a wonderful soundtrack. The bathing scene at the beginning is also considered by many fans as one of the best introduction film ever made.
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