The Searchers Film Themes Essay Example for Free

The Searchers Film Themes EssayThe Searchers (1956, John Ford) explores themes of family, community, and morality on the shore of the uncivilized Western frontier. The story takes place several years after the end of the Civil warfare in a remote region of Texas, where the Comanche are a constant and mortal threat to the a couple of(prenominal) settlers on the thinly populated frontier.The carry uses the conventions of the Western genre, hardly employs notable exceptions to the traditional components of the genre to mold the audiences perception of reality. The film begins with a masterpiece sequence of auteur filmmaking, using fixing, cinematography, evocative music, and nuanced acting to shape the audiences perception of the storys universe. The audience observes Ethan Edwards, a nomadic, renegade ex-warrior with a clouded past, returning to the comparative safety and comfort of his family home. His brother is emotionally reserved at Ethans return, but there clearly are unspoken and muted emotions between his brothers wife, Martha, and Ethan, hinting at a hidden past. In one revealing scene of auteur style that confirms Martha and Ethans past, Martha takes Ethans greatcoat and in private and lovingly folds it and places it in a chest.The three Edwards children are excited by Ethans return, but clearly do not remember much about him. Ethan is generous to them, giving gifts, including giving his knight saber to his nephew, some sort of military medal (as jewelry) to his niece, and giving his brother a small event in gold, avoiding his brothers questions about how he got it.When his brothers adopted son arrives, Ethans demeanor changes and the theme of racism is first introduced in the story. Teenaged Marty is half-white and half-Indian and his very presence evokes a breaker point of hatred and resentment in Ethan. This is complicated when the audience is told that it was Ethan who found Marty as an infant abandoned on the frontier and rescued him .When Ethans brother and his wife and two of his children are murdered and the youngest daughter kidnapped by raiding Comanche, the plot kicks into high gear. Ethan swears to find his niece and goes on a five-year chase, with young Marty, to find her. Their subsequent hunt club and companionship explores the theme of Ethans hatred towards all things Indian.Traditional Westerns juxtapose opposites, usually featuring a bang-up guy protagonist and a villainous nemesis, a good community or group preyed upon by social or cultural outlaws. There are horse chases, violent gunplay, and a happy terminus with the villains receiving justice and the heroes triumphant.The Searchers deviates from some of these conventions in ways that transform the genre and elevate the film. While it is something of a traditional morality story, the protagonist is a dark, brooding fiber, full of hate, who has been estranged from his family and community. The wildness of the Monument Valley location is juxtapo sed by the comfort and affection Ethan finds in his brother and Marthas home. Ethans racial bias towards the native Ameri tolerates is juxtaposed with his growing trust of Marty. Eventually, Ethan even makes Marty the beneficiary of his will. The drama of the penalise plot is juxtaposed with the humor of the wedding subplot.Perhaps the greatest shock to the audiences expectations of the film as a genre Western comes when they realize that Ethan doesnt mean to rescue Debbie from the Comanche, he way to kill her. Later, when he changes his mind, it is a relief when the audience sees that he has grown and has changed his mind about cleanup Debbie. The opening scene of Ethan being welcomed by his family in the opening scene is juxtaposed with his exclusion in the final scene. All of these simple and clear polarities are hallmarks of the traditional Western that have been transformed by an auteur director to create a unique work of film art.One of The Searchers threatening deviations from the simplicity of the traditional genre Western is in the complexity of its cast of characters. Among these is a character that represents civilizations let on elements of law and order, and religion. Hes both a Texas Ranger headmaster and a Reverend named Sam Clayton (Ward Bond), and he has very complicated mixed feelings towards Ethan, suspicious that he may be a fugitive criminal, but respectful of his abilities as a fighter and frontiersman.Another key supporting character, partially comic relief, is Mose Harper (Hank Worden), who had been kidnapped by the Comanche and feigned being crazy to escape. He is obviously actually crazy, but is embraced and cared for by the frontier families. He does, however, ride with the Rangers, Ethan, and Marty, to rescue Debbie and seems to be a full capable member of the posse. These two characters are examples of the artistic auteur touch of John Ford that elevates this movie preceding(prenominal) the standard genre.The Searchers rea lity mode is very different from a fantasy mode such as in The Wizard of Oz. For instance, it uses character differently from Oz. While both films rely on characterization to contribute and advance theme, The Searchers is populated by recognizable, realistic genre characters, where as Oz is populated by expressionistic characters, not meant to be perceived as realistic. Oz uses black and white film and color, sound, an exotic cast (oh, the little deal) and a fantasy journey, while The Searchers uses a realistic, if stylized, environment, authentic characters, and other realistic and courtly genre elements to severalize its story.Were asked to define and describe modes of screen reality, which I would define as the cinematic purpose of screen time, the framing of scenes, the direction of character behavior, and the purposeful craft of camera and sound to create the misrepresentation of reality in which a story unfolds. All genres and many non-traditional film types utilize fami liar depictive realities, each of which is a sort of short-hand means of clueing in the audience to which movie formula (in the broadest sense) to expect.Movie modes can be reality based i.e. plausable, such as Saving Private Ryan, expressionistic i.e. manipulative of conventional film elements such as Psycho, fantasy i.e. metaphoric, or fantastic i.e. metaphoric and implausable such as Edward Scissorhands, or cinematic self-reflexive a creation by internal logic only, such as Animal Crackers.