The Searchers (1956)

It's always fun to see ones Professor geek out by revealing that the film you're about to see he'll be watching for the twenty-sixth time. I've never been big on westerns really, though I did watch loads of them when I was a kid with my dad. The sort of thing that would crop up with Eastwood or John Wayne to both our amusement. These last couple of years there has been a certain upsurge in Western films, after a not-so-curious decline, as it's been done before (the hateful eight, etc).

And we watched today John Ford's version of a western - a version that many directors such as Spielberg keep close to their hearts, watching it again and again.

Ethan Edwards (John Wayne) comes home after having been gone for a long time after the Civil War, visiting upon his brother and his family. But this happy visit is cut rather short for when he's assisting someone to search after stolen cattle, he discovers that it's all a distraction, which leads to his brother and his brother's wife to be killed, and their daughters to be missing. The latter whom he and several go searching for, though only his nephew part-Cherokee Martin (Jeffrey Hunter) joins him on his search to the very end.

It seems a simple enough plot, and the acting isn't necessarily the greatest, though John Wayne certainly comes out quite strong, then again, he's John Wayne. There's however layer upon layer of themes in this film, and unlike the majority of film these days, it doesn't try to shove them down your throat. This is probably due to the director John Ford, an enigmatic man who kept a tight lip on all his affairs. No wonder people admire him so much as well, but he knew the industry was hard, so he gave way to being hard himself.

I understand why this film is on many people's lists really; it's made lots of films what they are today and as my professor said - "All film inspires film." - - except Twilight.