TrueGrit StageCoach Unforgiven

True Grit/ StageCoach

I would say that these two films are very different ends of the western spectrum. However, there are some old fashioned, classic western elements in the more avant garde True Grit. The characters are fairly basic in my opinion. There is the classic bad-ass, Rooster, the Villian( Josh Brolin) and the innocent girl(Maddie). Other classical elements in this movie are the broad, romantic scenery and the simple motives that keep the plot moving. Maddie wants revenge for her fathers death, so finding the killer is what keeps it going. Its simple. There is a lack of excessive emotional aspects of the film, which shows how the characters are basic, classic and easy to follow. The movie is less of a classic western because of the highly stylized way of the movie. It is too odd and strange to just go on as a classic western. These oddities, such as the interesting dialogue, and the peculiar relationships in the movie, like how Maddie dominates older men in the movie, make for an interesting a fresh type of western. Just because its straying away from classic doesn't necessarily mean its becoming more revisionist. I would say its going off on a whole different tangent altogether.

Unforgiven is a revisionist western because of the darker elements in the movie, such as the whore getting her face cut up, the brutal, graphic beating of English Bob, and the bloody shootouts, and the whipping. It doesn't portray the killings as anything less than what they are, or just try to make them look neat and clean like the shooting scene in StageCoach. True Grit like Unforgiven in that it focuses more on the individual characters, and not just the group as a whole or trying to get the plot rolling along. It plays more to emotions, something not really found in a classic western. The relationship between Maddie and Rooser really becomes strong, and the only other example in Stagecoach where this happens is Ringo and Dallas, but that is so generic and superficial that, as an audience member, its hard even to care about them. Because of the rich character development with Maddie and Rooser, them going through so much together, we care a lot more when she goes back to find him many years later and hes dead. An example of rich relationship development in revisionist westerns is Clint Eastwood's character and morgan Freeman's character.

In the end, it's hard were to classify True Grit. It certainly has elements of both revisionist and classical genres, and some that conflict with each other. After everything is said and done, though, I would call True Grit a classic western. The story line is just classic revenge, with beautiful scenery, and all the classic characters. There is the good v. evil aspect which is very classical, and although there may be an odd style to it, at heart it is true to the old fashioned ways of classic western.