La ballade de Little Jo

This is a great western that is hardly even known. It's directed by Maggie Greenwald and stars Suzy Amis as a woman in a rich family who is kicked out after she has a kid out of wedlock and she decides to go west. Amis knows she isn't going to survive as a woman because on the first night she is almost raped by two soldiers and barely escapes. So Amis decides to dress as a man and then makes a big cut on her face so it will leave a scar. Amis winds up staying in a mining town and the people believe she's man. Ian McKellen is a man who takes Amis in and shows her the ropes but he can get pretty violent when he's drunk. Amis doesn't stay with him long and winds up buying a place away from town so she can have her privacy. It's a great movie and i can't see why it isn't more well known.

I remember watching Suzy Amis in The Usual Suspects and several other films. She is perfectly casted in the main part of the picture. An outcast by her Eastern family she tries to live out West. Facing hardships going West, she buy men's clothes and live in a mining town as a man. One of the best portrayal in a movie with a woman standing her ground.

I've been waiting to see this film ever since it premiered in 1993, but only a couple of days ago I finally got a chance to see it on TV. It was well worth the wait, although I would have loved to have seen it on big screen instead. First of all, Suzy Amis who I think has repeatedly been miscast and generally far too unappreciated as an actress does a brilliant, intuitive job in the lead role. Her transformation from Josephine to Jo is touching and believable, and her performance all through the film maintains the very same characteristics. She avoids the trap of being a mere male imitation and instead builds her own tough concept of what constitutes a true man of honor living in the middle of the rough wilderness. Director Greenwald lets her story flow beautifully in its own calm pace; she makes Jo's expressive face the very core of this remarkable film - that's where all starts and, finally, ends. Film's gorgeous landscapes and panorama may take your breath away as well, but it's really the director's ability to understand Jo Monaghan's incredible life story that makes The Ballad of Little Jo such a magnificent experience.

This is an incredible movie. It is one of the most visually beautiful films I have ever seen. The landscape is so gorgeous -- snowy mountains, vast plains, rolling hills -- just incredible. The story is very interesting. It is based on the true tale of a woman who went out west in the 1800s, and dressed and passed as a man. This film explores issues of sexism, racism, belonging, individuality, and isolation. I recommend it highly.

Highly recommended. If you're looking for an inspiring film about an inspiring woman, check it out.