A classic

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this movie but since it was included in the ‘1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die’, I was quite eager to check it out. To be honest, I’m usually not a huge fan of such vintage Westerns but this one actually really grabbed me. In fact, it might seem to be a short and simple Western without much action and lots of dialogues instead. It’s too bad I saw it on YouTube without subtitles and I did struggle to follow the dialogues so I will probably re-watch it at some point. Anyway, it turned out to be some kind of Western version of ‘12 Angry Men’ and even though it probably didn’t go so deep, it was still really effective and often quite fascinating to watch. Back then, it was actually quite a controversial movie, it was even a flop when it was released but I was amazed by how relevant it still is nowadays. Indeed, our digital world is dominated by fake news which did result, in the US, with the storming of the Capitol back in 2021. Sure, we don’t lynch people anymore (at least, I hope so) but, deep inside, we are apparently still the same. At least, in this movie, at the end, they all seemed to deeply regret their actions but I think, in reality, most people always find some excuse or some way to rationalize what they do or did. Concerning Henry Fonda, I should definitely watch more of his old movies because the guy was back then so charismatic and fascinating to behold. Unsurprisingly, it was one of his favorite movies. Anyway, to conclude, even though it might seem to be a rather simple Western, the content is actually quite fascinating and it the damned thing is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

7/10