The 2010 version of True Grit may be the best new movie I've seen in the past twenty years. It's the first movie that I can remember watching twice in a week since I sat in a theater in 1965 and watched Help! two times in a row. Shortly after my first viewing of True Grit, I read an item posted on MereComments by James M. Kushiner about a review of the movie by Stanley Fish. One of the commenters, Nick Milne, suggested that The Night of the Hunter would be an excellent companion piece to the new movie, and he mentioned that it was one of the Coen Brothers favorite movies, so I immediately ordered Night of the Hunter from Netflix and found that, yes, they are very companionable--one almost might say made for each other.
The movies are filled with parallels and opposites. There's a murdered father; there's a murdered mother. There's a daughter that's hunting a murderer; there's a son who is running away from one. There are two boarding houses, one run by a woman who is so stingy that she charges Mattie for a flour sack to hold her gun, and another who lavishes her possessions and affections on any stray child that comes along. Both of the murders are marked: one has the words love and hate tattooed on his knuckles; one has a mark on his face. One child seeks vengeance; the other demands mercy.
And then there are the apples. The first time I watched True Grit I noticed a big, beautiful bowl of red apples sitting on a table in the boarding house where Mattie Ross is staying. The camera stayed on the bowl just long enough to convince me that they were supposed to be noticed. And, of course they are apples, which cannot help but convey a message of temptation. These are very tempting apples. When Mattie leaves the house, we see the bowl again. She takes some of the apples. She seems to be stealing them. Near the end of The Night of the Hunter (In some ways True Grit almost seems to be backward from Night of the Hunter.), we see a very similar bowl of apples, and the boy, John Harper, takes one, but he uses it in a very different way.
I don't want to spoil the movies for those of you who have yet to see them, so I won't say much more, except to note two other similarities that Nick Milne mentioned in his blog comment. He said that the song that the murderer, Harry Powell, sings all through The Night of the Hunter is the same hymn that provides the melody for almost the entire score of True Grit. Milne also wrote about, "...the ethereal silhouetted horse-and-rider-at-twilight sequence[s]" in both movies.
Separately, each of these films is worth watching. Together, they are really fascinating. Just sitting here writing about them makes me want to watch them both again, back to back, and I would encourage you to do just that.
AMDG
Separately, each of these films is worth watching. Together, they are really fascinating. Just sitting here writing about them makes me want to watch them both again, back to back, and I would encourage you to do just that.
AMDG
We watched them both in my 'Film and Theology' course a couple of years back. Grumpy
ReplyDeleteYou know, I was thinking they would be good for your course. Did you talk about them? I don't remember.
ReplyDeleteAMDG
That's interesting. I remember you and others saying True Grit was really good, but I didn't see it at the time and then forgot about it. Something reminded me of it a few days ago and I thought I ought to put it on my Netflix list. But as for Night of the Hunter: I've actually sort of avoided seeing it, because it sounds like the sort of psychological thriller that makes me squirm.
ReplyDeleteWhat really amazes me is that I saw these movies more than two years ago. I would have said a year at the most.
ReplyDeleteI can't say that Night of the Hunter wouldn't make you squirm, because I certainly did, but it does have that underlying theme of mercy, although it's not really there until near the end. I'm not sure how anyone who can endure Hour of the Wolf can balk at anything. When I was on my retreat, I woke up between midnight and dawn and it came to mind. The peace of the place dispelled the slight uneasiness though.
AMDG
Different kind of tension in Hour of the Wolf, I guess. Very different in its effects on me, anyway. There's something about that situation of innocent people being menaced at close range by a violent person that is almost unbearable to me. And Hour of the Wolf has all this fascinating philosophical stuff, plus the love story at the center of it.
ReplyDeleteI've also never seen Cape Fear, which I think would be worse than Night of the Hunter.
that situation of innocent people being menaced at close range by a violent person that is almost unbearable to me
ReplyDeleteThat pretty much says what I would have said if I'd had the words for it. I saw Night of the Hunter when I was in my twenties (I think) and found it terribly unsettlling. The Lillian Gish character, though, almost made watching it worth it. But not enough for me to do it again, I don't think.
Well, I don't think I would have sat through the first part if I hadn't been looking for these comparisons. I remember that my sister saw NotH on TV when we were young and she loved it and told me about it. It didn't appeal to me at all.
ReplyDeleteAMDG
And the Lillian Gish character really is wonderful.
ReplyDeleteAMDG
Yes, I love the Lilian Gish character. I think we discussed it on LONDW Grump
ReplyDeleteI don't think I'd ever heard of Night of the Hunter before this. I'm adding it to my list.
ReplyDeleteI'll be interested in hearing what you think.
ReplyDeleteAMDG