Short Review of The Film Hostiles by Scott Cooper
Scott Cooper Miami has specialized in thoughtful movies, that are actor-driven, and for-adults Hollywood genre.
Since his low-expectations and low-key and debut film, the Jeff Bridges comedy Crazy Heart made in 2009, and a Deer Hunter lite Rust Belt saga of brothers and blood in Out of the Furnace in 2013 and a vicious tale of Boston gangsterdom Black Mass in 2015 fared well.
This is an area that is underserved. The sensibility of Scott Cooper of Miami, Florida on the other hand, has yet to progress beyond a strangled, self-inhibited intensity.
The present film “Hostiles” is based on the incident of 1892, where a legendary captain in the army, Joseph Blocker (Christian Bale) who reluctantly escort a Native American Cheyenne, who is a dying war chief called Yellow Hawk (Wes Studi) along with his family to Montana, their native land.
On the way, they suddenly met Rosalie Quaid (Rosamund Pike) who was in her burned-out home. Her husband along children was killed in that home by the ruthless tribe of Comanche.
Besides the dangers from fur traders, also they have to search for the Comanche, who will not discriminate between any whites and any other native tribes while killing them.
In the actual film “Hostiles” directed by Scott Cooper Miami the scene opens with the same incident of 1892. Here it has shown in New Mexico, a homesteader’s family consisting of dad, mom, and 3 kids, who were just going about with their business.
When suddenly Comanche warriors appear and try to attack their ranch. The dad wants to defend his family and tries to grab his rifle but he was cut down and killed first. Thereafter, the attackers put fire on the ranch. Then they killed all the kids one by one. Only the mom somehow escaped from them and hid in the woods.
However, the reference to the movie “The Searchers” is a little confusing. Unlike other neo-western of this month, Jared Moshe’s excellent “The Ballad of Lefty Brown,” pays homage to classic westerns by a few directors such as Ford and Hawks, Cooper’s film belongs to a lineage, which includes “revisionist” westerns like Robert Aldrich’s “Ulzana’s Raid.”
It is, without a doubt, one of the vivid and riveting depictions of the fierce and murderous hatred that once existed between Native Americans and the settlers and troops who invaded their lands.
There is a lot to like about this flick. Scott Cooper Miami is supported by a stellar cast that includes:
- Christian Bale
- Rosamund Pike
- Wes Studi
- Ben Foster
- Scott Wilson
- Q’orianka Kilcher
- Timothee Chalamet
In addition to cinematographer Masanobu Takayanagi’s magnificent, burnished aesthetic. Its primary flaw is in the story department, which is where so many ambitious, well-produced films fall short.
The story of film hostiles begins in earnest as it changes from the initial massacre to a certain cavalry fort, where Joseph Blocker (Bale) handed the last mission, he would ever want, written by Cooper “from a book by Donald E. Stewart.” The fort has been used as a prison for ailing, aging Cheyenne chief called Yellow Hawk (Studi) for the past seven years, but now that Native resistance to white dominance has all but died out.
Critique
While “Hostiles” excels in its visual and performance aspects, it falters in storytelling. The narrative, adapted by Cooper from a manuscript by Donald E. Stewart, sometimes struggles to maintain momentum and depth.
Conclusion
“Hostiles” is a compelling yet flawed film that offers a brutal and honest depiction of historical conflicts. Its strong performances and beautiful cinematography make it worth watching, despite its narrative shortcomings.
