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The Hired Hand (Standard Edition) | Year: 1971 Classification: Western Directed: - Peter Fonda BETTER LATE THAN NOT AT ALL! THIS IS NICE. I MEAN,"THIS IS NICE!" DURING A TIME(NOW),WHEN THERE ARE WAY TOO MANY MOVIES(95% ARE NOT WORTH A ____). IT IS ALL FOR THE MONEY(AND ADOLESENCE). WE NOW ,THANKS TO SUNDANCE,REVEAL AND EDUCATE A NEW AUDIENCE FOR "THE HIRED HAND." A SLEEPER WHEN RELEASED IN 1971(I SAW IT AT A DRIVE-IN),THIS CLASSIC DOES SOMETHING VERY DIFFERENT. FOR ONE OF THE FIRST TIMES, WE VIEWED A FILM THAT WAS REALISTIC,TOLD A MARVELOUS STORY,INCLUDED EXCELLENT ACTING,VISUALS AND A SOUNDTRACK THAT ARE UNFORGETABLE. THAT MY FRIENDS PUTS "THE HIRED HAND IN THE CATEGORY OF A CLASSIC. PETER FONDA IS AN EXCELLANT DIRECTOR AS WELL AS ACTOR. THE LATE WARREN OATES IS SUPERB. VERNA BLOOM IS PROBABLY ONE OF THE BEST ALL TIME ACTRESS(JUST WATCH THIS FILM). I AM A BUFF OF THE WESTERN GENRE,ESPICIALLY THE SPAGHETTI AND LATE 1960'S FILMS)YES,I LOVED "THE WILD BUNCH","THE "DOLLAR" MOVIES,THE "STRANGER" MOVIES,THE BANG BANG,SHOOT 'EM UPS AS WELL. "THE HIRED HAND"IS NOTHING LIKE THESE-IT TOLD ME A STORY. IT TOLD THE STORY SO WELL-IT HYPNOTIZED ME. IT IS UNFORGETABLE,BEAUTIFUL,AND ONE OF A KIND.THIS SET IS OUTSTANDING AND HIGHLY RECOMENDED TO ANYONE(DO NOT EXPECT ANY SLO-MO DEATHS).THE NEW AUDIENCE SHOULD TAKE HEED AND THEY WILL TAKE TO HEART "THE HIRED HAND." Lend this movie a hand Hired Hand is foremost a visual masterpiece. Director of cinematography was Vilmos Zgimond, and it's a richly textured, roughhewn, wholewheat grain portrait of the American West. The uses of dissolves here are more beautifully impressionistic and evocative than in any other film I can remember. There are moments when the movie takes on the aspects of painting with images bleeding from watercolor brushstrokes. The opening scene has the camera panning a shimmering river for sun's gold rays. In other moments the landscapes and characters fade into one another as if to contemplate on the relationship of physical space and time. The movie raises a question about the meaning of home and freedom. The central character, after 7 yrs of drifting, decides to return home to his wife and child. But, the home in the movie is a psychological as well as a physical realm. When Peter Fonda goes to save his partner in another town, it's also an act of going home, where he belongs, in doing what he must do. There are other themes as well, developed thru intelligent writing and authentic performances, especially by the female lead. Best of all, themes never degnerate into social statements. Most brilliant of all is perhaps the movie's use of cinematic time. It's well-known how Peckinpah suspended action to accentuate psychological time as opposed to objective time. This film is more radical for slowing not movement--the effect of which is obvious--but stillness itself. It feels as though our perceptions are seeping thru the cracks within time itself. Also, brilliant is the use of sound, as though we're eavesdropping into the whispers of nature, murmurs of the heart. The spare, haunting musical score also accentuates the many hidden ambiguities in the film. Its casting is also noteworthy. Except for Peter Fonda it's devoid of anyone that could have been called a star; even Fonda himself was more a cult movie hero. Warren Oates delivers one of his finest, most thoughtful performaces. And, the woman, plainfaced yet pointedly distinctive is the sort of female lead you simply don't see anymore. Today we have pretty woman or broad types(fat chick, ugly girl, airhead bimbo, etc), but rarely anyone with this kind of unembellished truth to her being. Even the villians are more menacing and repugnant for their ordinary, real qualities. Because they are not villian archetypes we don't feel they could be defeated by the old formula. Finally, it's a film that defies the auteur theory. Peter Fonda, I'm sure, deserves alot of credit, but the film is really a triumph of writing, acting, and perhaps foremost, of cinematography all working together in harmonious chemistry. The uses of colors, techniques such as dissolves, slow motion, still photography are comparable to those in the great McCabe and Mrs Miller, another very differnt kind of Western. It would be wrong to dismiss this film as a post-hippie Easy Riderish western. It's much more; in fact, it defies all categories. The inevitable connection Peter Fonda here proves himself an immensely skilled director. Working with one of the best cinematographers in the business, Vilmos Szigmond, he's crafted a Western that eschews flashy gunfights and grandiose plot points, and instead focuses on a simple story that's all the more telling, just because of its simplicity. And because of the visual artistry on display. Fonda and Szigmond make a great team; the director knows the feeling he wants to convey and the cinematographer knows exactly how to convey it. Fonda goes for the visual montage/collage a number of times in the course of the film and while this may sound dated or gimmicky, the reason it works so well is because he has a keen understanding of how the visual connects to the emotional as closely as possible. The fade ins and outs that overlap one scene to the next make the film resonate with subtle power as the director meant it to. A woman's face superimposed on a vast stretch of land; a silhouetted man against a huge open twilight sky... The most memorable Westerns should easily connect the characters to the land they reside on, giving the viewer a strong sense of that inevitable connection. The Hired Hand does this so gracefully and naturally it's a wonder few if any other Westerns come close to it. Only Barbarosa has a feeling approaching The Hired Hand, but the latter is unique. And a good story, Western or not, must involve the reader, the viewer, the participant, in a conflict the main character deals with. It's here, but not in any overly dramatic way. Violence arises suddenly, as is almost always the case, and is dealt with just as suddenly. Fonda (Harry Collins) and Warren Oates (Arch Harris) have been riding buddies for a long time and while Oates wants to head west to the Pacific Ocean, Fonda realizes he needs to return to his home he abandoned long before, to once again see his wife and child. In spite of his initial desire to go west, Arch decides to accompany Harry. When they arrive, Hannah (Verna Bloom) agrees that Harry can stay on as a hired hand, compensating for his abandoning her previously. That's the story. Fonda is the right choice to play Harry, the titular character, and even better is Warren Oates as his sidekick. Oates made a career of playing characters who were good at what they did, but nevertheless somewhat mystified or partially beaten down by circumstances, following the path they felt was the only one they could follow because of what life had dealt them. That's true here as well, and Oates is the standout here, stealing the film, characterwise, from both Fonda and Bloom. But the real star of the show is the quiet visual artistry combined with the pared to the bone dialogue and (intentionally) minimal acting that provides an emotional resonance powerful enough to remember for a long time after shutting off the DVD player. Highly recommended. Buy The Hired Hand at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  Search with Walhello on the Internet on The Hired Hand Search with the Priority Search Engine on The Hired Hand This page in other languages: Suomeksi | Nederlands | Deutsch
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