High Plains Drifter
1973 Directed by Clint Eastwood
Synopsis
Welcome to Hell
A gunfighting stranger comes to the small settlement of Lago. After gunning down three gunmen who tried to kill him, the townsfolk decide to hire the Stranger to hold off three outlaws who are on their way.
Cast
Popular reviews
More-
With High Plains Drifter, Clint Eastwood created arguably the most debatable and ambiguous film of his entire career - both as an actor and as a director. There is so much about this eerie western that doesn't get answered. So many details missing. So many presumptions to be made.
Most revisionist westerns of its time were busying themselves rewriting the West as it had been told by Hollywood, mostly wrongly, for over 40 years. Eastwood decided to take the traditional mainstream western, slap it around a while and show that something could still be done with it - just as long as it was willing to change.
It's well known by now that Eastwood's mysterious stranger rides into a town…
-
Eastwood as a director has gained most of his acclaim through his post-2000 efforts and although some of them are interesting, such as the terrifyingly bleak Letters from Iwo Jima, I find myself drawn more towards his earlier work. High Plains Drifter isn't one of his more popular works and yet it's one of his most fascinating, especially considering that it's only his second feature film. It starts off, like many westerns, with a wide shot of desert landscape and a lone rider in the middle of it. However, rather than music that is typically used in the genre, the score is eerie, mechanical and has an otherworldly quality to it. It ominously lingers in the air and sets up…
-
I really don't know what to think of this movie. It's rapey. It's illogical. It's super goddamn violent. I mean it's enjoyable. I just feel like I missed something, but apparently not.
-
Clint Eastwood has reflected on the film's meaning, saying "it's just an allegory...a speculation on what happens when they (the townspeople of Lago) go ahead and kill the sheriff and somebody comes back and calls the town's conscience to bear. There's always retribution for your deeds."
The movie is full of retribution. Eastwood, again adopting the role of the man with no name (although this time we find out his surname) rides into the dusty town of Lago, and unbeknownst to its inhabitants has revenge on his mind. Using muscle and intimidation after gunning down three hired guns supposedly there to protect the town from outlaws Stacey Bridges (Eastwood regular Geoffrey Lewis) and the Carlin Brothers, he systematically begins to…
-
One of Eastwood's most visually striking films. An amoral drifter ushers in existential doubt and violence. An early, shocking scene between Eastwood's nameless drifter (shocker, I know), and a woman is both terrible and analogous to his relationship with the entire town. One flashback/nightmare sequence stands out for it's genuine creepiness, and memorable use of light and shadow. A very good western/horror hybrid.
-
No one could successfully inhabit the the role of the nameless drifter like Eastwood in his prime. His first directed western is like poking an open wound of bleakness and desolation. This is the perfect summation of the lone gunman's perspective. Eastwood would only build on his character's mythos (without Leone, of course) in subsequent westerns, but this is "the stranger" at his most compressed and mysterious with the man himself behind the camera.
Recent reviews
More-
One of Eastwood's most visually striking films. An amoral drifter ushers in existential doubt and violence. An early, shocking scene between Eastwood's nameless drifter (shocker, I know), and a woman is both terrible and analogous to his relationship with the entire town. One flashback/nightmare sequence stands out for it's genuine creepiness, and memorable use of light and shadow. A very good western/horror hybrid.
-
Even when his character is evil, Clint Eastwood is infectiously cool. The question 'who is the Stranger?' Is never answered. We have to arrive at our own conclusions, and mine is that the Stranger is the Devil personified. The character is potentially as evil as Anton Chigurh from No Country For Old Men and I don't make that comparison lightly. It is easy to see that Eastwood took inspiration from Sergio Leone when he made High Plains Drifter. The opening scene in which he rides into town and the penultimate scene are both reminiscent of scenes in the Dollars trilogy. A lot of questions are left unanswered in this film, but that adds to the mystery surrounding 'the Stranger'.
-
35mm
-
Possibly my favorite Eastwood were it not for Unforgiven. A moody, tense film that's one of the man's best westerns. Personally, I think Eastwood's character is The Devil himself, though that's not a widely held opinion. What do you think?
-
I really don't know what to think of this movie. It's rapey. It's illogical. It's super goddamn violent. I mean it's enjoyable. I just feel like I missed something, but apparently not.
-
Eastwood as a director has gained most of his acclaim through his post-2000 efforts and although some of them are interesting, such as the terrifyingly bleak Letters from Iwo Jima, I find myself drawn more towards his earlier work. High Plains Drifter isn't one of his more popular works and yet it's one of his most fascinating, especially considering that it's only his second feature film. It starts off, like many westerns, with a wide shot of desert landscape and a lone rider in the middle of it. However, rather than music that is typically used in the genre, the score is eerie, mechanical and has an otherworldly quality to it. It ominously lingers in the air and sets up…
-
This western directed by Clint Eastwood turned out to be incredibly eerie and creepy, the ending almost seemed 'paranormal', its fantastically directed and performed and breaks far away from the traditional western. Eastwood does a fantastic job performing the Stranger and as mentioned leaves a very eerie and foreboding feeling surrounding his character. He walks in and takes control of the town with very little resistance and its thanks to his domineering performance as a man not to be messed with. The editing was quite good as well especially in the final scenes involving the attack, it reminded me very much of the opening to Leon: The Professional. It was an incredibly interesting western, I have experienced none like it, its feeling and eerie tone led me to wanting a few more answers. Overall, a fantastically directed and performed western with some very foreboding and eerie undertones leading this is to be one of the most unique and interesting.
-
Very good indeed - like High Noon on acid and also reminiscent of the gloriously bonkers El Topo.
-
Western, Clint Eastwood
A stranger comes to the smal town of Lago not looking for trouble ends up gunning down three guys who tried to kill him, the town is highly impressed so they decide to hire the Stranger to fight off three outlaws that promised to return.
I went into this not knowing anything about the story, a little into the film I was a bit disappointed untill I stuck with it and saw what the story actually was. I was surprised to see this end up being a deep story and or lesson. Don't just watch the movie see the allegory behind it all.