Hostis

With a high appreciation of the Western genre, the involvement of a talented cast, the generally positive (so far) critical reception and one of 2017's best trailers (to me at least), 'Hostiles' had me completely sold from the get go.

Getting back from seeing 'Hostiles' a couple of hours ago (although a 2017 film it was only released in my country today), it on the most part did not disappoint at all. Some may be turned off by the slow pace and the brutality of some scenes. Neither bothered me actually, having gone in to the cinema knowing exactly what to expect from watching the trailer and reading a few reviews that made it clear from the outset that 'Hostiles' was a deliberate and uncompromising sort of film.

Yes 'Hostiles' is a slow burner, but deliberately so for atmosphere and mood reasons most likely. That being said, it reminded me very much of the elegiac quality of the classic Westerns that 'Hostiles' actually made me feel nostalgic for while watching it. 'Hostiles' is indeed uncompromising, with the violence being the kind that takes no prisoners and isn't afraid to hold back, while not going over-the-top that it feels gratuitous.

This can be seen in as early on as the opening scene that is as powerfully gut-wrenching an opening scene of any film from 2017 Just as disturbing are the second appearance of the Comanche and the powerful climax. 'Hostiles' is not non-stop brutality though. There is real sincerity and poetry too.

What could have been a major distraction from the main mission, which in itself is very heartfelt and is never lost even with everything else potentially threatening to, is actually what provides the film's heart and vulnerability. Rosalie's plight and back story really resonated with and moved me, as did the very heartfelt coda and a persuasive message, delivered just about right, that has as much relevance now as it did then.

'Hostiles' looks stunning visually. The scenery is majestic in the most spectacular of ways, ranging between stark and lush. The period detail is evocative, with the right amount of grit and understated sumptuousness. The cinematography sweeps just as much in a way that is beautiful in a non-flashy but very natural and richly atmospheric fashion.

Similarly the music has atmosphere and grace without being intrusive. Sometimes 'Hostiles' has scenes with just dialogue and shots of actor's expressions which speaks volumes with no music or sound featured and all the better for it. It's beautifully directed by Cooper too and much of the dialogue is thoughtful and sincere and the action thrillingly authentic without being over-the-top.

Christian Bale gives a performance that is among his all-time best, and he always has been a commanding and powerful screen presence. He has a smouldering, intense authority throughout in a stoic, subtle sense, whether in his stubbornness, his compassion or in action, commanding the screen effortlessly and often in a nuanced way, a knockout in the final 30 minutes. And don't worry, his character-of-its-own moustache is nowhere near as distracting or unintentionally funny as one would think.

Making even more of an impression is Rosamund Pike in perhaps her second best performance to date after her exceptional once-in-a-lifetime performance in 'Gone Girl'. She has never been more heart-wrenching or poignant in especially in the first half, when we see how such an every-family-member's-worst-nightmare tragedy has affected and broken Rosalie, something that Pike demonstrates with expressive nuance, pathos and a far wider emotional and expressive range than she has been given credit for in the past. Despite always liking her, it is performances like this, 'Gone Girl' and 'A United Kingdom' that have particularly stretched Pike and played to her strengths and it is this direction that she could keep pursuing.

Sadly, it is perhaps too late for either Bale or Pike to be considered for awards attention, if the film had been released earlier either or preferably both could and should have been in serious contention for all the major ones. This may seem like extreme hyperbole, but this is my genuine stance on this. They are very well served by the supporting cast, with especially dignified turns from Q'orianka Kilcher and Wes Studi (who could have been had more screen time but dominates every time he appears, often without saying a huge amount). Ben Foster is also strong. Nobody is bad here.

Not that 'Hostiles' is perfect. The villain roles here are rather sketchy, they could have had more to them than one-dimensional (though the Comanche are quite chilling still) ciphers there mainly to provide the conflict, only for them to be dispatched pretty quickly (especially the trio of abductors).

Although sincere and thought-provoking on the whole the dialogue rambles at times, meaning a few scenes are bogged down by too much talk that slows things down a little. The middle act is particularly true to this, when the pace doesn't feel as tight and the storytelling not quite as focused (though still gripping).

For my liking too many of the secondary cast members have very little to do other than 10 minutes tops of screen time and some lines admittedly delivered well. Perhaps the film is slightly too long as well, but that wasn't as big an issue for me.

Overall, a very good film and almost great, with a lot of outstanding elements (especially the visuals, the two leads, the atmosphere and emotional power). Not a film to be hostile towards. 8/10 Bethany Cox

"Sometimes I envy the finality of death. The certainty. And I have to drive those thoughts away when I wake." Rosalie Quaid (Rosamund Pike)

Although Quaid's words might well be the anthem of this brutal, quiet, moving 1892 western, they harbinger the death of the Wild West and the birth of justice and equality as whites and Native Americans abandon slowly the death that brought little peace to either side. Appropriately the tone in unremittingly grave, and rightly so, for the film illustrates the wages of racism as well as any contemporary screed could try to do.

Writer/director Scott Cooper, who knows a thing or two about the passing of time and custom with his poignant Crazy Heart, drives home the loss of the Indian's world, the cost to the US troops, and the bereft families on each side. Captain Joe Blocker (Christian Bale), a legendary anti-Native American fighter, is charged with escorting Cheyenne war chief Yellow Hawk (Wes Studi), also a killer, and his family from New Mexico to his home in Montana, where the government determined he should be allowed to die.

Cooper is at his best filming landscapes occasionally punctuated with John-Ford-like door framed shots and themes of abduction and reconciliation. The threats along the way are external and internal, often soldiers just as culpable as the "savages" they hunt. Joe is a man on a mission to bring justice against the Indians, but like the times he's in, it is time to change to benevolence as the end of the century approaches and a kinder world of connection and cooperation begins, slowly and surely, like the film. The appreciation for a person regardless of race, is Cooper's ultimate aim. In ways, this Western is reminiscent of the revisionist Dances with Wolves, both of whose slow pace, almost at time painful, is reflective change's pace.

Cooper's shots are generous to the beautiful faces, from Mrs. Quaid's lovely and the stoically-contemplative Joe's to the chief's landscaped leather. The ensemble is first rate, especially the feisty Ben Foster as Sgt. Charles Wills. The landscapes? well, look at Ford's and feel his tradition.

Forget the talk of the film being slow, this isn't an action film or an old school shoot 'em up western, anyone looking for that should search elsewhere. Whilst there some great action scenes, where hostiles excels is in setting the tone for an early American world where law and order rest of gun power. The cinematography is exceptional, meanwhile Christian Bale is superb playing a army captain who is seemingly tough and unflinching but shows an undertone of melancholy, Rosamunde Pike pulls of a great performance as a woman thrust into the ugly world of war and anarchy by a brutal attack on her family home, a scene is exceptional and unapologetically shocking. Overall the film is about the futility of trying to civilise a wild land built on violence, and about the tragedy and the sheer pointlessness of conflict against fellow man.

Many reviewing Hostiles have chosen to seize upon avenues to criticize the film. Most common is the unfortunate chronological error where the Presidential order directing the mission was signed by Benjamin Harrison. This places the story in the period of 1889 to 1893, years too late to make sense.

Such a mistake is lamentable. The time period of the story would have ideally taken place from 1879 to 1880, when Rutherford Hayes was President, and the United States had largely defeated hostile tribes in the southwest and northern plains, but would be before the establishment of the railroad lines in New Mexico. This would have necessitated the pack mule excursion to Montana. It also would have allowed sufficient time to pass, given the references to Wounded Knee (1873) and Little Big Horn (1876), for the bitter memories to start to recede and allow the reflections shown in the movie to take place.

However, a fair review of this movie must avoid getting bogged down in historical minutia and instead focus on the story, because it is very poignant.

In many ways, this movie is to be congratulated for avoiding the modern day political traps that permeate so much of entertainment today.

The opening scene is brutal and forms the core of the story. A band of renegades attack a settlement home and leave a gash of misery in their wake. But, that is the coda of what the protagonists deal with, past chapters of great violence in a collision of hostile cultures.

The isolated acts of violence that happen later are as much a cleaning up of past deeds and a completion of the catharsis of reconciliation.

This movie is an immersion into the psyche of those who carry out acts of wartime violence, in a fight for survival, and how they try to retain their sanity and civility. As the story shows, some handle it better than others. None escape without deep scars.

There is a second theme that runs throughout the movie, ignorant people at the beginning and the end, attempting to lodge their persuasion onto the protagonists. None of these men suffered the wartime violence, but instead try to insert an empty moralizing, or attempt to enact their selfish will despite the clear Presidential mandate to allow the mission to proceed.

The reporter at the start of the film is silenced through humiliation. The second group at the end of the film meets a more lasting end. And at the end, we are left with shared misery among the few survivors, who try to bravely go on with what is left good to cling to.

Christian Bale is masterful in this movie. It is sad that his performance was not properly recognized.

Ultimately, this is a story of redemption, and in that regard it mirrors what took place over generations in America. A clash of survival ending with one side defeated, while both sides had to reconcile the shared experience of brutality. It avoids political finger-pointing, and in that regard strikes the proper degree of respect for both sides in this American struggle. It is a welcome addition to Hollywood's collection of period movies.

Christian Bale is absolutely tremendous, delivering a quietly intense performance in this brutal revisionist Western that carefully (yet incisively) examines the consequences of a merciless cycle of hatred that only dehumanizes people and turns them into beasts and monsters.