For Clint Eastwood, this western is one of the best movies of all time

After becoming one of its icons and creating one of the masterpieces of the genre, Clint Eastwood is legit to recommend westerns. He was invited 20 years ago American Film Institute to come and present a strange incident, one of his own Movies of the heart. And here’s what he had to say about it.

The action of the film takes place in a small western town, where farmer Kincaid was killed. In the absence of the sheriff, a “Posse” is formed, consisting of the villagers and Gil Carter and Art Croft, two drifters. The group quickly found the three men in Kincaid’s cattle and decided to hang them on the spot without bringing them before a judge. Except that the suspects claim their innocence. who is right

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What attracted the great Clint

“When I saw Henry Fonda and Dana Andrews in hats, I thought it was going to be a violent movie. It was the early 40s and (…) it was mostly a depressing story (laughs). It wasn’t really. A comedy, but it really spoke to me. , because at the time it dealt with certain moral values ​​about mob violence, but also a lot of other things like racism, pseudo-machismo, father-son relationships, and even boy, I really liked all of that.”

I’ve thought about it a lot, I’ve seen it two or three times since then, but I’d forgotten how effective it is and contains so many great characters that it’s hard not to watch it for a while.

What makes a movie unique?

“At a time when the genre was very popular” recalls Eastwood, “When you see a Western, you expect a certain level of action, entertainment, but there was something different about making it, the way Wellman sets up his story, where it all starts and ends in a cabin. , crossing the street with a dog… and the fight wasn’t the usual fight in Westerns, this was a fight.

You can say that this is a film without a big budget, with a lot of interiors, you can hear the echo of sound reverberation, there are plastic rocks in the background, but it draws you into its story in such a way that you don’t care.

Strange incident or great entertainment? Anyway, it says more in 1 hour and 15 minutes than a two-hour movie, and Clint Eastwood himself recommends it, so why not give it a shot? Absent platforms like most so-called legacy movies, you’ll have to find it on physical media.