I remember loving The Searchers but it’s so striking to see somebody point out all the little things that make the movie alive that I implicitly felt but didn’t explicitly notice. Now I really want to rewatch it
@@spanishprisoner I never saw that before so I had to google "liam neeson fence scene" to understand the comment. Holy shit. I had to watch multiple uploads of it to make sure it's real because at first I thought I'm looking at some ironic overedited video meme poking fun at this movie by hyperbolising it. What the hell lmao how did it even go through
I really like your channel because you really explain what the particular staging of cinema is. What many people don't see even though it's right in front of their eyes. Cinephilia is not primarily about seeing a lot of movies but about understanding what we see.
As a native Texican, I approve of "The Searchers" and agree it's a bona fide classic. So did Buddy Holly, who appropriated John Wayne's line "That'll be the day" and made it into a hit song. ❤
I've seen all of the classics, many of them (including this one) on the big screen in retrospective art-house movie theaters back in the 1970s through the 1990s. The Searchers was never one of my favorites but I could never quite parse out why. Watching your video has helped me figure out some of the things I missed. Yours, above all other attempts, makes the most persuasive and clear case for this film that I've ever seen.
@@Nicksonian The Blu-ray is simply stunning! The image is ultra sharp and the colours pop off the screen. It makes you feel like you are there, even though the story is from 150 years ago and it was filmed 70 years ago.
Great video, great series concept! 1. Scorsese said he was six years old when he began to notice that every time the name John Ford appeared on a movie, it was a good movie. 2. When asked his favorite director, Orson Welles said “I prefer the old masters… by which I mean John Ford, John Ford, and John Ford.” Love to see you do The Third Man!
I believe there was a Bogdonovich question for Ford: “What were you thinking when you came up with this shot of Monument Valley?” Ford chewed on his stogie and replied “I was thinking about all the money I was going to make whe this picture came out!”
"John Ford gives you people in a Time and Place." That's why the Searchers, Lonesome Dove and Unforgiven are my favorite westerns of all time -- because they transported me to that time and place with those people, and for me, that's what great movies are all about.
I love how every time I watch one of your videos I walk away with a new movie to watch or rewatch and appreciate. Westerns were always a favorite of mine, and I always knew John Ford was great, but it's great to see in detail how and why.
It is uncanny how Moviewise picks out the uncannily impressive moments in films. I was duly impressed when I first saw The Searchers on TCM. So many of Fords’ films are gorgeous and this is near or at the top of Ford’s art. Moviewise’s education in moviemaking provides a deeper understanding and heightened appreciation of cinema we already knew is great, but now we have a better idea why. And don’t ever say that John Wayne wasn’t a superb actor…along with his friend Ward Bond.
Once again I’m so happy to have found this channel! The Searchers is one movie my family really love and it’s so cool to show them film wise why like you say it’s in the details of classic directing and classic story. The how they just don’t beat.
This film was an acquired taste for me but it's grown to one of my favorites. I love the psychological themes and painterly compositions. For the series, I'd love to see a video about La Dolce Vita!
Great review. I love the focus on Ford's ability to compose and block shots. If he'd been born in 1500 he'd have been a painter, but instead he gave us movies where every shot is a painting.
I’d love to see you cover Billy Wilder’s The Apartment (1960). For my money, one of the all time great screenplays with a thousand details that add up to a perfect movie.
The scene with the coin and gun is one of my favorites, because John Wayne is doing two unrelated things, using both hands, at the same time. Few people would have the coordination to do that but he makes it look easy.
Jimmy Stewart’s brilliance. In the intro we see several seconds from Rear Window. One of my favorite films that I’ve seen many times. But I never noticed… As Jimmy Stewart slowly moves his eye from the camera’s viewfinder and gazes over the camera, his right eye ever so slightly flutters. This is both perfection in direction and acting. I am sure Stewart knew exactly what he was doing with that smallest of motions.
4:05 that beautifully lit scene in the snow - such a contrast for a western - and has always stuck in my head since childhood. The humour is the other thing - you jeed that in a long, intense movie - all the classics seem to have a sprinkling of it... Great Review.
Phenomenal video! Fantastic eloquently orated insight, profound examination of the seemingly insignificant but ultimately essential details. I’ll be honest it took several viewings for me to fully appreciate all the elements of this landmark and rightful classic piece of cinema, please keep up your incredible work!!
For many years, my favorite John Wayne movie was "True Grit." A few years ago, I realized that my favorite is "The Searchers." Thanks to your video, I like it even more. With my limited resources as an amateur (hobbyist) filmmaker, I know I can't apply more than a few of the lessons your video offers, but it's still great to know.
I found your channel laterally day before yesterday. And I am not exaggerating when I say that you made me think critically of even Christopher Nolan movies in which you talked about the bland conversation styles between characters. I've seen no one else question his movies besides Tenet, example Inception.
This video convinced me to finally watch it, and I just finished watching it. Thank you. I am so profoundly moved in admiration for this film. It has everything. I agree with the tonal variety adding value to the film. Everything you said about it enhances my appreciation. God damn.
I enjoyed the video, I love seeing the videos about blocking as it wasn't covered in my course very well at all. I'm a young director who's just made a Vampire short film as a throw back to the original Dracula, watching your videos has made me realize where I've gone wrong in many shots. I aim to block more and let scenes play out in my next project, as that's something that has been lacking from my work.
I love the influence on Taxi Driver among other films. The searchers looks amazing and has a really unique story. I thought it was just going to be a rescue story, but its a lot more complex. Finding humanity in all that brutality. The unbroken vision is achieved. Ethan is a person broken by the world, turned ugly, and eventually redeemed.
Thank you for your service. I love how you explain the fundamentals of visual storytelling with style. My vote for your next video "Night of the Hunter"
What a pleasure to end the week by one of these videos. Was looking forward to the next one ! Very interesting, thanks for sharing this. Didn't know this movie but I am amazed by the blocking of the scenes, the way props are used, the body language in the scenes, and the "every frame is a painting" kind of shooting. Now I have to watch it. Great series idea by the way !
Go find the now defunct channel, _Every frame a painting_ by Tony Zhou. 20+ videos on a level that foretold the arrival of the great channel, Moviewise.
Thanks! This was my Dad's favorite film. Do wish you would have paid a little more attention to the actors though. As an actor myself, I was a bit baffled when you are mentioned all of the amazing movement Ford fills the screen with, you checked to see how much was from Ford and how much from the screenplay. But you do not mention how much was from the actors. The last scene, the famous scene in the doorway could be an entire episode all on it's own. And that was largely due to Wayne and his incredible physicality- my god that walk! . He surprised Pappy by holding his elbow as Harry Carey Sr. did. Carey had passed away 10 years earlier and of course Harry Carey Jr. was in the film. It was a tender tribute from Wayne. This is why Ford and Wayne were the kind of paring that is legendary. Like Kurosawa and Mifune or Scorsese and DeNiro, no one else could have pulled that off. So appreciate your work. Thanks so much! My Dad would have loved this! For your series, I'd love to see a Kurosawa film. Your choice....there are too many to choose from. I am particularly fond of Yojimbo, and of course- the great 7 Samurai. His Macbeth is also an absolute masterpiece! So much to choose from and we haven't even gotten to his color films! It would also be great to see Once Upon a Time in America. OUATitWest gets soo much rightful attention. But aside from Leone's incredible direction and the stellar cast, I think it is Morricone's Masterpiece and the absolute best sound design in almost any movie I can think of. Appreciate the channel!
Thank you Moviewise, great analysis of great film. Looking forward to this series. " Rear Window," "Red River", "Treasure of the Sierra Madre" and "It's a Wonderful Life" if you please sir..
Ford was a master picture maker. He was a genius at editing a script the speed at which he could edit script dialogue is the proof of this incredible skill.
Another excellent video and analysis. For another classic, I would love to see one of my top three: The Third Man, Lawrence of Arabia, or 2001: A Space Odyssey.
You could have gone even further by discussing the importance of the landscape, and how beautifully and skillfully it was filmed and used to aid the story.
Always loved this movie; nice to see a brilliant and witty summary of why it is so great. PS There are some great scenes in "Zulu" awaiting your analysis, e.g. Chard leaving the makeshift hospital as Bromhead leads off a squad to join the fight etc...
OK. I watch this movie every year and it is a top-five Western along with Rio Bravo and Hondo. John Ford and John Wayne and most of his regular casts are favorites. Lately, I've watched five analysis of this movie so I watched again last night. Yours is the best analysis by far. Thank you. i'm going to check you other listings now.
great video as always :) we so much need critics like yourself to elevate cinema from the level it's been on for the last 20 years !! please don't stop
Great video, superb essay, better than any film school professor shoving psuedo-intellectual academia and boring his young students. To my mind, this belongs jointly with Ford's 'My Darling Clementine" as his greatest western (though I've yet to see to of his calverly trilogy). A couple of suggestions for future and neglected front rank classics. A Shop Around the Corner - Lubitsch All That Money Can But - Dieterle Our Town - Wood (so neglected that all that remains of this best picture nominee are public domain tatty copies) And then there were None - Clair Green for Danger - Gilliat (perhaps the greatest whodunit, only reviled by Clair's above) A Tree Grows in Brooklyn - Kazan/Shamroy (the latter did all the camera set-ups, which shows the genius of the studio system and why it is slightly disdained by the director and his autuerist cult groupies) Great Expectations - Lean The Picture of Dorian Gray - Lewin Dodsworth - Wyler The Set-Up - Wise
Love this video!!! I saw this film at the Regency in NYC with my husband when we were dating. I love John Ford, even though I'm not a big fan of Westerns.
Excellent analysis of a masterpiece. And I think you might have convinced me on the lighthearted segments. While I don't like them, I do concede that without them the movie would risk becoming too dour and one-note throughout the bulk of its runtime. If we think of the lighter subplot as an intermission that helps keep us refreshed for the main story, it becomes easier to appreciate as a filmmaking decision that improved the overall result.
You have a gift my friend, please keep reviewing film and consider these classics: Passage to Marseille, Wages of Fear, Its A Wonderful Life. It would actually help me to hear some of your breakdowns on these 3 films. Thx! Keep up the good work!
Another fantastic video, Moviewise! Since you so kindly asked for suggestions for your next video, here are several. Desk Set (1957) with Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. Directed by Walter Lang (who has numerous musicals to his credit) who also helmed The King and I (1956). Both of these coming at the tail end of a long career that started in the silent film era. Another would be The Thin Man (1934) with Myrna Loy and William Powell directed by W.S. Van Dyke. This is a pre-Hays code film. You could do a much longer video on the Hays code. Especially, comparing and contrasting pre- and post-Hays code films. Lady in the Lake (1947) with Robert Montgomery and (a personal favorite actress) Audrey Totter. The camera work using point-of-view cinematography, was a new idea. Even if it cost Robert Montgomery his job at MGM. Again, thank you so much for all your effort and time spent creating these videos. A new Moviewise video is another chance to learn about the craft of filmmaking. Keep up the good work!
Love the idea for this series! Would love to see some Japanese classics like Ikiru or Hara-kiri. From the preview it looks like you may be doing Seven Samurai so cool!
One again a wonderful Video. I'm just an ordenary novelist, but i still learn so much from you Videos. Never thought about letting the characters use props to underline a Message
Film commentary and criticism that is fun? Well done Sir! One thing about the comic characters in a John Ford film, they always felt like something out of Shakespeare for me. All of Shakespeare's plays have comic characters and beats. And John Ford, who renamed himself in honor of the playwright John Ford, was certainly aware of the trope and the reason for having comic relief in even the most serious of stories.
I wasn't a big fan of the searchers when I first saw it a long time ago and never understood why it was considered such a classic, but this video makes me want to watch it again with a new pair of eyes, which I guess is the point of this video series ! Excited to see more of these, and even though this is much more suited to your classic/academic cinema oriented channel, I would also love to see a series about underrated/unknown films, as I'm sure you know a lot of them and Ive grown to trust your taste to the point that I would watch anything you recommend out of curiosity !
Another brilliant video and a great idea for a new series. I love your channel, mate, it's one of my 3 top ones on movie analysis and critique. Keep it up!. When it comes to ideas for covering more movies in this series: I trust in your taste and knowledge. Actually curious which ones you will pick. ☺ So I will have the chance to learn new. So happy you did "The Big Country" already... Well, of course when thinking about real classics and masterpieces one name spontaneously comes across my mind in the first place: Alfred Hitchcock 😇. All masterpieces like "Vertigo, "The Birds" "Psycho" and "Rear Window" were covered quite a lot I guess, but it might be of interest to hear your input on these as well. But what about maybe "North by Northwest"? Beside that what about "Casablanca", "M", "12 Angry Men", "Rio Grande", "Niagara", "It happened one night", "High Sierra"... well there are so many great ones.
I think modern audiences don't have the patience nor aesthetic sensibility to appreciate classic directing. They need fast cuts and excessive closeups to pay attention. Just like pop music is compressed so that there is no dynamic range and everything is loud.
I dunno. The drama these characters create when character is revealed through tension, it still has potential. Maybe with more blocking as default, with tracking and closeups used more sparingly. Theyd have impact.
to be fair, the compression issues of modern music have more to do with structural issues of distribution, i.e., the replacement of high-bitrate media by streaming platforms that use mp3s, which are louder as a byproduct of compression. newer music is made for those platforms, and so just doesn't use dynamic range as much, partly because artists know the range won't be heard, and partly because more loudness has become a stylistic trait of modern music, kind of like the excessive closeups and singles of modern movies, which made sense in the days of low-res TV, but persist even though they're no longer necessary, having become the new normal of film language. and don't expect that to change anytime soon, because the screens we, as a species, watch things on are only getting smaller. the fault doesn't lie with the artists _or_ the audience: it's the market that is to blame.
@@akbarshahzad5780 Insightful comment! Watching modern films with my director Dad was always a hoot. At some point guaranteed he just couldn't stand it and would wind up shouting, "Go to medium shot! Go to medium shot!" Inevitably that's when the popcorn would be emphatically munched! But I have to disagree...the market is not to blame. It's the directors. This is why I am not a Nolan fan. It's all long shots or close ups cut to smithereens. Dizzying! I am fond of Wes Anderson. He understands blocking! I love watching his films!
I just watched your greatest movies list. I was expecting a Kurasowa film . Also when mentioned Billy Wilder, you said that he is the only one great screenwriter+ great director. But Kurosawa is also a great screenwriter. Do you agree? U are my fav RUclipsr right now.
Terrific analysis. Never got around to seeing this. Getting it now. EDIT:I've seen it now. John Wayne plays a full on asshole. It's a fascinating movie. There's never a relationship pay off. There are tiny character beats for characters you never see again. There's tons of world building beyond Wayne and Christopher Pike doggedly going after the girl. There's a subplot about a borderline insane guy who keeps popping up. I understand why this movie is a thing now. It's just so out of the norm for it's time. About the only character that wears is the Idiot Suitor. What a weird movie.
One of the best exegeses on this enduring classic. I've been watching it for decades and you pointed out plot points and grace notes I've missed. The great British director Lindsay Anderson (a friend and great admirer of Ford) likewise was turned off by the opera buffa comic relief. If, I think, it wasn't for Mose Harper, Charlie McCrory, Look, et al as steam releases, the film would collapse under the weight of its own intensity.
Hi Moviewise, like you said about which one to praise between the writer and director for props use and actions, how do we know if the camera movements/framing and blocking were not designed and chosen by the director of photography ?
Great video as always. This demonstrated to me a lot of stuff I didn’t realize about The Searchers, even though I have watched plenty of videos on it. I would love to see you cover A Woman under the Influence for this series. The Searchers has carefully crafted shots and blocking, while A Woman under the Influence is very naturalistic in its camerawork and acting, seemingly improvisational, but I think both are masterpieces.
I don’t know if it would be considered a classic, but Mr. Wilder’s “Ace in the Hole” is one I would love someone to do a deep dive on. It and “A Face in the Crowd” make a bleak double feature that I think should be required viewing for up and coming human beings.
This is the first video of yours I’ve seen. The screenplay analysis could use some work. For instance, the whole subplot of Martin and Laurie is used to reflect the implied history of Ethan and his sister-in-law, which is tragic in a paradoxical way. Ethan is the kind of man who could have protected the family, but because of the kind of man he is, he doesn’t have a family of his own to protect. In the end, Martin is allowed inside with Laurie to have the life Ethan missed out on, while Ethan stays outside until he is needed again... if ever. Excellent direction, but on a scripting level, this is also subtly brilliant. Your commentary on Ford’s direction, however, is quite good! I always love people pointing out how directors conduct their mise-en-scène. I can’t help but watch The Searchers and compare it to High and Low’s blocking; Ford was working with VistaVision’s larger image, while Kurosawa was working with the wider canvas of anamorphic widescreen.
Watched today on your recommendation and loved it. I still like the big country more though. This film looked great but some things about the plot and tone seemed a little off to me. It was definitely fun though.
Thank you for revealing great movies that would have otherwise have escaped my notice. Had you ever considered covering "Return Of The living Dead"? It's got some very smart writing at times and is one of my most watched horror movies ever of not the most watched movie I constantly Return to.
I remember loving The Searchers but it’s so striking to see somebody point out all the little things that make the movie alive that I implicitly felt but didn’t explicitly notice. Now I really want to rewatch it
Oh well. You said in one sentence what took me four or five. Well done.
@@Nicksonian thank you haha
With nothing but long shots, how do they climb fences in this movie?
I understood that reference, hahaa
@@spanishprisoner I never saw that before so I had to google "liam neeson fence scene" to understand the comment. Holy shit. I had to watch multiple uploads of it to make sure it's real because at first I thought I'm looking at some ironic overedited video meme poking fun at this movie by hyperbolising it. What the hell lmao how did it even go through
@@czwarty7878 same reaction the first time, like no way it's real, hahahaaaa
And a meme was born.
"DO I HAVE TO SPELL IT OUR FOR YA?" God that was a chilling line.
I really like your channel because you really explain what the particular staging of cinema is. What many people don't see even though it's right in front of their eyes. Cinephilia is not primarily about seeing a lot of movies but about understanding what we see.
As a native Texican, I approve of "The Searchers" and agree it's a bona fide classic. So did Buddy Holly, who appropriated John Wayne's line "That'll be the day" and made it into a hit song. ❤
I've seen all of the classics, many of them (including this one) on the big screen in retrospective art-house movie theaters back in the 1970s through the 1990s. The Searchers was never one of my favorites but I could never quite parse out why. Watching your video has helped me figure out some of the things I missed. Yours, above all other attempts, makes the most persuasive and clear case for this film that I've ever seen.
Glad to have done my part!
I’d love to see it on the big screen 😊
@@Nicksonian It's magnificent!
@@Nicksonian The Blu-ray is simply stunning! The image is ultra sharp and the colours pop off the screen. It makes you feel like you are there, even though the story is from 150 years ago and it was filmed 70 years ago.
Great video, great series concept!
1. Scorsese said he was six years old when he began to notice that every time the name John Ford appeared on a movie, it was a good movie.
2. When asked his favorite director, Orson Welles said “I prefer the old masters… by which I mean John Ford, John Ford, and John Ford.”
Love to see you do The Third Man!
I believe there was a Bogdonovich question for Ford: “What were you thinking when you came up with this shot of Monument Valley?” Ford chewed on his stogie and replied “I was thinking about all the money I was going to make whe this picture came out!”
"John Ford gives you people in a Time and Place." That's why the Searchers, Lonesome Dove and Unforgiven are my favorite westerns of all time -- because they transported me to that time and place with those people, and for me, that's what great movies are all about.
I love how every time I watch one of your videos I walk away with a new movie to watch or rewatch and appreciate. Westerns were always a favorite of mine, and I always knew John Ford was great, but it's great to see in detail how and why.
It is uncanny how Moviewise picks out the uncannily impressive moments in films. I was duly impressed when I first saw The Searchers on TCM. So many of Fords’ films are gorgeous and this is near or at the top of Ford’s art. Moviewise’s education in moviemaking provides a deeper understanding and heightened appreciation of cinema we already knew is great, but now we have a better idea why. And don’t ever say that John Wayne wasn’t a superb actor…along with his friend Ward Bond.
There can be no better - or wittier - introduction to any film than the analyses of Moviewise. It's pure gold.
Once again I’m so happy to have found this channel! The Searchers is one movie my family really love and it’s so cool to show them film wise why like you say it’s in the details of classic directing and classic story. The how they just don’t beat.
This film was an acquired taste for me but it's grown to one of my favorites. I love the psychological themes and painterly compositions.
For the series, I'd love to see a video about La Dolce Vita!
That’s an attractive one! Visually perfect and an overview of the complex narrative structure alone could fill up a whole video.
Great review. I love the focus on Ford's ability to compose and block shots. If he'd been born in 1500 he'd have been a painter, but instead he gave us movies where every shot is a painting.
What a respite to see images that breathe instead of the frenzy of 2 seconds per image
Amen!
Your videos are the first in a while that gets me actually excited about film!
Excellent analysis... I'm looking forward to the rest of the series!
I’d love to see you cover Billy Wilder’s The Apartment (1960). For my money, one of the all time great screenplays with a thousand details that add up to a perfect movie.
Indeed. Brilliant direction, writing, cinematography (I love B&W), and acting.
He spoke a bit about it in a video about dating or masculinity. Look them both up, they’re good
You're my favorite film professor.
One of the best films ever made, by the best director. You pointed out things I never noticed, and I've seen this many times.
The scene with the coin and gun is one of my favorites, because John Wayne is doing two unrelated things, using both hands, at the same time. Few people would have the coordination to do that but he makes it look easy.
New vid from you, just what I needed today! Thank you Moviewiseman with the funny accent. I love you.
Jimmy Stewart’s brilliance. In the intro we see several seconds from Rear Window. One of my favorite films that I’ve seen many times. But I never noticed… As Jimmy Stewart slowly moves his eye from the camera’s viewfinder and gazes over the camera, his right eye ever so slightly flutters. This is both perfection in direction and acting. I am sure Stewart knew exactly what he was doing with that smallest of motions.
4:05 that beautifully lit scene in the snow - such a contrast for a western - and has always stuck in my head since childhood. The humour is the other thing - you jeed that in a long, intense movie - all the classics seem to have a sprinkling of it... Great Review.
So glad you made this! My favorite movie, and my new favorite film critic:)
Amazing essay. Love your chay-nul.
Phenomenal video! Fantastic eloquently orated insight, profound examination of the seemingly insignificant but ultimately essential details. I’ll be honest it took several viewings for me to fully appreciate all the elements of this landmark and rightful classic piece of cinema, please keep up your incredible work!!
For many years, my favorite John Wayne movie was "True Grit." A few years ago, I realized that my favorite is "The Searchers." Thanks to your video, I like it even more. With my limited resources as an amateur (hobbyist) filmmaker, I know I can't apply more than a few of the lessons your video offers, but it's still great to know.
The remake of True Grit was great, one of the few remakes that measure up to the original. I think I actually liked it better.
amazing breakdown on one of he 25 greatest films ever shot or acted in
I found your channel laterally day before yesterday. And I am not exaggerating when I say that you made me think critically of even Christopher Nolan movies in which you talked about the bland conversation styles between characters. I've seen no one else question his movies besides Tenet, example Inception.
This is cinema. Wow.
Scorsese is right about Marvel movies NOT being cinema.
agreed Buford, what the hell is this world coming to?..
This video convinced me to finally watch it, and I just finished watching it. Thank you. I am so profoundly moved in admiration for this film. It has everything. I agree with the tonal variety adding value to the film. Everything you said about it enhances my appreciation. God damn.
I enjoyed the video, I love seeing the videos about blocking as it wasn't covered in my course very well at all.
I'm a young director who's just made a Vampire short film as a throw back to the original Dracula, watching your videos has made me realize where I've gone wrong in many shots. I aim to block more and let scenes play out in my next project, as that's something that has been lacking from my work.
Id love to see you cover The Graduate, 12 angry men, The Trial, Sullivans Travels, Casablanca, Kane, Battle of Algiers
I reckon one Moviewise video is equivalent to 1 year at film school. Thank you Mr Moviewise.
Your scripts and choices are so good!!
I love the influence on Taxi Driver among other films. The searchers looks amazing and has a really unique story. I thought it was just going to be a rescue story, but its a lot more complex. Finding humanity in all that brutality. The unbroken vision is achieved. Ethan is a person broken by the world, turned ugly, and eventually redeemed.
You’re really uping you humor game while using it to make a point, Great, have seldom learned so much in a channel!
Thank you for your service. I love how you explain the fundamentals of visual storytelling with style.
My vote for your next video "Night of the Hunter"
The Searchers has ALWAYS been my favorite movie.
Thank you for your fine video about its enduring and
endearing qualities.
What a pleasure to end the week by one of these videos. Was looking forward to the next one !
Very interesting, thanks for sharing this.
Didn't know this movie but I am amazed by the blocking of the scenes, the way props are used, the body language in the scenes, and the "every frame is a painting" kind of shooting.
Now I have to watch it.
Great series idea by the way !
Go find the now defunct channel, _Every frame a painting_ by Tony Zhou. 20+ videos on a level that foretold the arrival of the great channel, Moviewise.
@@josephm.benoit9202 thanks man!
Fantastic video on a fantastic classic!
Thanks! This was my Dad's favorite film. Do wish you would have paid a little more attention to the actors though. As an actor myself, I was a bit baffled when you are mentioned all of the amazing movement Ford fills the screen with, you checked to see how much was from Ford and how much from the screenplay. But you do not mention how much was from the actors. The last scene, the famous scene in the doorway could be an entire episode all on it's own. And that was largely due to Wayne and his incredible physicality- my god that walk! . He surprised Pappy by holding his elbow as Harry Carey Sr. did. Carey had passed away 10 years earlier and of course Harry Carey Jr. was in the film. It was a tender tribute from Wayne. This is why Ford and Wayne were the kind of paring that is legendary. Like Kurosawa and Mifune or Scorsese and DeNiro, no one else could have pulled that off. So appreciate your work. Thanks so much! My Dad would have loved this! For your series, I'd love to see a Kurosawa film. Your choice....there are too many to choose from. I am particularly fond of Yojimbo, and of course- the great 7 Samurai. His Macbeth is also an absolute masterpiece! So much to choose from and we haven't even gotten to his color films! It would also be great to see Once Upon a Time in America. OUATitWest gets soo much rightful attention. But aside from Leone's incredible direction and the stellar cast, I think it is Morricone's Masterpiece and the absolute best sound design in almost any movie I can think of. Appreciate the channel!
Beautiful, insightful analysis.
i'm learning so much because of you, and now you're making me watch old movies. thanks for that! this is the best channel on youtube.
Thank you Moviewise, great analysis of great film. Looking forward to this series. " Rear Window," "Red River", "Treasure of the Sierra Madre" and "It's a Wonderful Life" if you please sir..
Ford was a master picture maker. He was a genius at editing a script the speed at which he could edit script dialogue is the proof of this incredible skill.
Another excellent video and analysis. For another classic, I would love to see one of my top three: The Third Man, Lawrence of Arabia, or 2001: A Space Odyssey.
@rpg7287 I instantly thought of The Third Man too 👍 (The others are superb choices too of course!)
You could have gone even further by discussing the importance of the landscape, and how beautifully and skillfully it was filmed and used to aid the story.
I will always champion Seven Samurai, so that's my vote for a classic you should cover.
Always loved this movie; nice to see a brilliant and witty summary of why it is so great.
PS There are some great scenes in "Zulu" awaiting your analysis, e.g. Chard leaving the makeshift hospital as Bromhead leads off a squad to join the fight etc...
Your channel is criminally underrated.
OK. I watch this movie every year and it is a top-five Western along with Rio Bravo and Hondo. John Ford and John Wayne and most of his regular casts are favorites. Lately, I've watched five analysis of this movie so I watched again last night. Yours is the best analysis by far. Thank you. i'm going to check you other listings now.
great video as always :) we so much need critics like yourself to elevate cinema from the level it's been on for the last 20 years !! please don't stop
Great breakdown! I'd love to see you look at Casablanca or Night of the Hunter
Great video, superb essay, better than any film school professor shoving psuedo-intellectual academia and boring his young students.
To my mind, this belongs jointly with Ford's 'My Darling Clementine" as his greatest western (though I've yet to see to of his calverly trilogy).
A couple of suggestions for future and neglected front rank classics.
A Shop Around the Corner - Lubitsch
All That Money Can But - Dieterle
Our Town - Wood (so neglected that all that remains of this best picture nominee are public domain tatty copies)
And then there were None - Clair
Green for Danger - Gilliat (perhaps the greatest whodunit, only reviled by Clair's above)
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn - Kazan/Shamroy (the latter did all the camera set-ups, which shows the genius of the studio system and why it is slightly disdained by the director and his autuerist cult groupies)
Great Expectations - Lean
The Picture of Dorian Gray - Lewin
Dodsworth - Wyler
The Set-Up - Wise
Love this video!!! I saw this film at the Regency in NYC with my husband when we were dating. I love John Ford, even though I'm not a big fan of Westerns.
This video is excellent. Please make more of them.
My votes for classics to cover next:
- Seven Samurai
- 2001: A Space Odyssey
- The Guns of Navarone
Excellent analysis of a masterpiece.
And I think you might have convinced me on the lighthearted segments. While I don't like them, I do concede that without them the movie would risk becoming too dour and one-note throughout the bulk of its runtime. If we think of the lighter subplot as an intermission that helps keep us refreshed for the main story, it becomes easier to appreciate as a filmmaking decision that improved the overall result.
You have a gift my friend, please keep reviewing film and consider these classics: Passage to Marseille, Wages of Fear, Its A Wonderful Life. It would actually help me to hear some of your breakdowns on these 3 films. Thx! Keep up the good work!
You showed Ward Bond getting smacked on the ass twice but never once included that incredible sound he makes afterwards.
I seriously considered it but he sounds so much like a horse neighing I thought it would be confusing
Another fantastic video, Moviewise! Since you so kindly asked for suggestions for your next video, here are several. Desk Set (1957) with Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. Directed by Walter Lang (who has numerous musicals to his credit) who also helmed The King and I (1956). Both of these coming at the tail end of a long career that started in the silent film era. Another would be The Thin Man (1934) with Myrna Loy and William Powell directed by W.S. Van Dyke. This is a pre-Hays code film. You could do a much longer video on the Hays code. Especially, comparing and contrasting pre- and post-Hays code films. Lady in the Lake (1947) with Robert Montgomery and (a personal favorite actress) Audrey Totter. The camera work using point-of-view cinematography, was a new idea. Even if it cost Robert Montgomery his job at MGM. Again, thank you so much for all your effort and time spent creating these videos. A new Moviewise video is another chance to learn about the craft of filmmaking. Keep up the good work!
Frequently i sleep watching films. This video made me comprehend why i did not snore at this one.
Nothing to say, just commenting for the algorithm
Wonderful video! I hope you continue this series.
Love the idea for this series! Would love to see some Japanese classics like Ikiru or Hara-kiri. From the preview it looks like you may be doing Seven Samurai so cool!
Mr. Moviewise thank you very much for the upload
One again a wonderful Video.
I'm just an ordenary novelist, but i still learn so much from you Videos.
Never thought about letting the characters use props to underline a Message
Film commentary and criticism that is fun? Well done Sir! One thing about the comic characters in a John Ford film, they always felt like something out of Shakespeare for me. All of Shakespeare's plays have comic characters and beats. And John Ford, who renamed himself in honor of the playwright John Ford, was certainly aware of the trope and the reason for having comic relief in even the most serious of stories.
I wasn't a big fan of the searchers when I first saw it a long time ago and never understood why it was considered such a classic, but this video makes me want to watch it again with a new pair of eyes, which I guess is the point of this video series ! Excited to see more of these, and even though this is much more suited to your classic/academic cinema oriented channel, I would also love to see a series about underrated/unknown films, as I'm sure you know a lot of them and Ive grown to trust your taste to the point that I would watch anything you recommend out of curiosity !
So interesting! Looking forward to more in this series!
Id love to see Errol Flynns Adventure of Robin Hood in this series. Thats one of my favorite classics.
Another brilliant video and a great idea for a new series. I love your channel, mate, it's one of my 3 top ones on movie analysis and critique. Keep it up!. When it comes to ideas for covering more movies in this series: I trust in your taste and knowledge. Actually curious which ones you will pick. ☺ So I will have the chance to learn new. So happy you did "The Big Country" already... Well, of course when thinking about real classics and masterpieces one name spontaneously comes across my mind in the first place: Alfred Hitchcock 😇. All masterpieces like "Vertigo, "The Birds" "Psycho" and "Rear Window" were covered quite a lot I guess, but it might be of interest to hear your input on these as well. But what about maybe "North by Northwest"? Beside that what about "Casablanca", "M", "12 Angry Men", "Rio Grande", "Niagara", "It happened one night", "High Sierra"... well there are so many great ones.
Great picks!
@@totostamopo Thanks ☺
incredible poetic director. surely study a Hitchcock or Cassavetes next ; notorious or faces/woman under the influence would be neat.
The only true movie (besides Red River) in which John Wayne is the villain. A big, miean, intimidating man who even shoots the dead. Love it...
I think modern audiences don't have the patience nor aesthetic sensibility to appreciate classic directing. They need fast cuts and excessive closeups to pay attention. Just like pop music is compressed so that there is no dynamic range and everything is loud.
But classical music lives on and nobody can take that away!
I dunno. The drama these characters create when character is revealed through tension, it still has potential.
Maybe with more blocking as default, with tracking and closeups used more sparingly. Theyd have impact.
Lazybear, audiences take what's given. It's up to artists to change the zeitgeist.
to be fair, the compression issues of modern music have more to do with structural issues of distribution, i.e., the replacement of high-bitrate media by streaming platforms that use mp3s, which are louder as a byproduct of compression. newer music is made for those platforms, and so just doesn't use dynamic range as much, partly because artists know the range won't be heard, and partly because more loudness has become a stylistic trait of modern music, kind of like the excessive closeups and singles of modern movies, which made sense in the days of low-res TV, but persist even though they're no longer necessary, having become the new normal of film language. and don't expect that to change anytime soon, because the screens we, as a species, watch things on are only getting smaller. the fault doesn't lie with the artists _or_ the audience: it's the market that is to blame.
@@akbarshahzad5780 Insightful comment! Watching modern films with my director Dad was always a hoot. At some point guaranteed he just couldn't stand it and would wind up shouting, "Go to medium shot! Go to medium shot!" Inevitably that's when the popcorn would be emphatically munched! But I have to disagree...the market is not to blame. It's the directors. This is why I am not a Nolan fan. It's all long shots or close ups cut to smithereens. Dizzying! I am fond of Wes Anderson. He understands blocking! I love watching his films!
Yea, "The Searchers" that's one heck of a handsome movie.
I just watched your greatest movies list. I was expecting a Kurasowa film . Also when mentioned Billy Wilder, you said that he is the only one great screenwriter+ great director. But Kurosawa is also a great screenwriter. Do you agree? U are my fav RUclipsr right now.
Terrific analysis. Never got around to seeing this. Getting it now. EDIT:I've seen it now. John Wayne plays a full on asshole. It's a fascinating movie. There's never a relationship pay off. There are tiny character beats for characters you never see again. There's tons of world building beyond Wayne and Christopher Pike doggedly going after the girl. There's a subplot about a borderline insane guy who keeps popping up. I understand why this movie is a thing now. It's just so out of the norm for it's time. About the only character that wears is the Idiot Suitor. What a weird movie.
One of the best exegeses on this enduring classic. I've been watching it for decades and you pointed out plot points and grace notes I've missed. The great British director Lindsay Anderson (a friend and great admirer of Ford) likewise was turned off by the opera buffa comic relief. If, I think, it wasn't for Mose Harper, Charlie McCrory, Look, et al as steam releases, the film would collapse under the weight of its own intensity.
George Ford was Idol for Akira Kurosawa and Sergio Leone. He is, you can say, the Grandmasters of Film
I'll be grateful for your review of the "Touch of evil" or "Shadow of a doubt"
Damn, you do good film analyses. I love all your videos and I look forward to any future "WIaC" episode you choose to do.
Hi Moviewise, like you said about which one to praise between the writer and director for props use and actions, how do we know if the camera movements/framing and blocking were not designed and chosen by the director of photography ?
Great video as always. This demonstrated to me a lot of stuff I didn’t realize about The Searchers, even though I have watched plenty of videos on it. I would love to see you cover A Woman under the Influence for this series. The Searchers has carefully crafted shots and blocking, while A Woman under the Influence is very naturalistic in its camerawork and acting, seemingly improvisational, but I think both are masterpieces.
That is a great film! Great choice!
I'd love to hear your opinion/analysis of Ben-Hur.
I don’t know if it would be considered a classic, but Mr. Wilder’s “Ace in the Hole” is one I would love someone to do a deep dive on. It and “A Face in the Crowd” make a bleak double feature that I think should be required viewing for up and coming human beings.
I will also ignore the “classics ended after the 60’s” quip when you clearly forgot about Spider-Man 2. 🙃
Deconstructing story with all these intentional elements can feel like an engineering lesson seeing how they work to serve the whole.
This is the first video of yours I’ve seen. The screenplay analysis could use some work. For instance, the whole subplot of Martin and Laurie is used to reflect the implied history of Ethan and his sister-in-law, which is tragic in a paradoxical way. Ethan is the kind of man who could have protected the family, but because of the kind of man he is, he doesn’t have a family of his own to protect. In the end, Martin is allowed inside with Laurie to have the life Ethan missed out on, while Ethan stays outside until he is needed again... if ever. Excellent direction, but on a scripting level, this is also subtly brilliant.
Your commentary on Ford’s direction, however, is quite good! I always love people pointing out how directors conduct their mise-en-scène. I can’t help but watch The Searchers and compare it to High and Low’s blocking; Ford was working with VistaVision’s larger image, while Kurosawa was working with the wider canvas of anamorphic widescreen.
amazing analysis, thank you
I was about to see it now. But this is a good video to end the day. So see you in a few hours and thanks.
Watched today on your recommendation and loved it. I still like the big country more though. This film looked great but some things about the plot and tone seemed a little off to me. It was definitely fun though.
Not only the best Western ever made but one of the best movies ever made.
You asked for suggestions...Roman Holiday was always a favorite and it's clearly a classic, but I don't recall anyone giving it much analysis.
exceptional work sir
Thank you for revealing great movies that would have otherwise have escaped my notice.
Had you ever considered covering "Return Of The living Dead"? It's got some very smart writing at times and is one of my most watched horror movies ever of not the most watched movie I constantly Return to.
Could we get a review of Winchester '73?
Thanks
I don’t know who you are but I wish you could come to our film discussion group. You are a perfect fit!
For a non-native English speaker, you sure know how to verb a noun. Respect!
One of my favorite quirks of the English language!
I'm going to echo some of the other comments in here and recommend an episode like this on a Kurosowa film: Seven Samurai or High and Low.