The Shooting ou La Mort Tragique de Leland Drum

Most casual film viewers will find Monte Hellman's "The Shooting" to be slow, boring, and pretentious. But serious fans of cinema will be amazed at how terrific this existential morality play really is. Hellman's version of the old West is at once depressing and beautiful, and the rickety production values on display actually enhance the atmosphere. And of course, who can forget that inscrutable ending with echoes to the Zapruder film? This is fascinating stuff for the patient, thoughtful film student.

Willet Gashade (Warren Oates), a former bounty hunter, returns to his small mining camp after a lengthy absence and finds his slow-witted friend Coley (Will Hutchins) in a state of fear. Coley explains to Gashade that their partner, Leland Drum (B. J. Merholz), had been shot to death two days before by an unseen assassin. Also starring a young Jack Nicholson.

In 1964, Monte Hellman and Jack Nicholson had made two films together, "Back Door to Hell" and "Flight to Fury", which were produced by Roger Corman and filmed back-to-back in the Philippines. This film was very much in the same vein, this time shot back-to-back with "Ride in the Whirlwind". Nicholson's history with Corman is well-known, but Hellman's career also came from Corman. His first directing gig was "Beast from Haunted Cave" (1959), a Corman film, which was followed up with an uncredited stint on "The Terror" (with Nicholson). In fact, Hellman did not really blossom outside Corman's domain until "Two-Lane Blacktop" (1971).

The film was written by first-time screenwriter Carole Eastman, who would soon write "Five Easy Pieces", another Jack Nicholson vehicle (and much later the Nicholson film "Man Trouble"). As with many involved, she was a Corman veteran, having been responsible for the music in Corman's "Creature from the Haunted Sea" (1961).

It was not until 1968 that the U.S. distribution rights were purchased by the Walter Reade Organization, the same company that distributed "Night of the Living Dead" (1968). No other domestic distributor had expressed any interest in the films. Walter Reade decided to bypass a theatrical release, and the two titles were sold directly to television. In retrospect, it seems bizarre that this film fell into obscurity, but who could have predicted Nicholson's rise to stardom?

Monte Hellman has my vote for the most underrated and overlooked American director of all time. Like so many excellent film makers he got his first big break from legendary b-grade producer/director Roger Corman, and he co-directed (uncredited) Corman's 'The Terror' and edited his biker classic 'The Wild Angels'. Jack Nicholson starred in 'The Terror' and he an Hellman soon bonded together personally and professionally. Their greatest collaborations were the two 1960s westerns 'Ride In The Whirlwind' and 'The Shooting', filmed simultaneously, but released separately. Both are great movies but 'The Shooting' is the more interesting of the two, and along with Hellman's classic road movie 'Two-Lane Blacktop' his finest achievement. Both movies are close to being masterpieces, but rarely get mentioned except by other film makers, like Quentin Tarantino, who is a major fan, and enlisted Hellman's help in getting his debut 'Reservoir Dogs' to the big screen. 'The Shooting' is difficult viewing for most people. It requires you to pay close attention and fill in the blanks yourself. It isn't exactly a puzzle movie, but not everything is blatantly spelled out. The viewer has to work a little, but it's really worth it! The four main actors are all excellent. Not just Nicholson, and the legendary Warren Oates, but also Will Hutchins (of 50s TV western 'Sugarfoot'), and the beautiful Millie Perkins, who also appeared with Nicholson in 'Ride In The Whirlwind', though her role here is much more substantial and impressive. 'The Shooting' is one of the most original westerns I've ever seen, and easily one of the most underrated movies of the 1960s. I highly recommend it!

Across a desert, two men and a mysterious woman make a mysterious journey. I'm not sure why. Explanations in this film are hard to come by. And the dialogue doesn't help. In one sequence one of the men inquires about a man whom the travelers come across just sitting on the ground in the desert: "Who is he?" Response: "Ask her". "You know him?" No response. "What does she mean to you?" Response: "She likes me". "You know anything about her?" Response: "Ask her".

I don't recall a film wherein the dialogue was so ... evasive. It's not like the film contains some profound message that requires great insight to dig up. Rather, the story comes across as simply having no point. The two men and the woman have no real back-story. Characters are not well developed. From the film's start to its finish, I kept wondering: who are these people, what are their motivations, what do they hope to accomplish? I never arrived at a satisfactory answer to any of these questions.

If the story is pointless, the desert scenery is hauntingly beautiful, especially toward the end. And the film's cinematography does a nice job of showing visual perspective, with tiny human figures set against huge, barren mountains.

The film's acting is acceptable, although Will Hutchins does a really fine job in his performance. Millie Perkins is miscast. With her little girl face, she is totally not convincing as a hardened female gunslinger.

"The Shooting" is a slow moving, low-key Western with some great visuals and a fine performance by Will Hutchins. But the story is pointless. It's the cinematic equivalent of a book wherein every other page is missing.

The Shooting is an indie western that reflects Americans' feelings of dread and uncertainty following the assasinations of JFK, Bobby, Malcolm, and Martin. Man overwhelmed by his environment. This West is a lonely,cruel world primarily populated by poor, uneducated men struggling to survive. The style is minimalist in that we are given information, through images and words, with great restraint and economy. An intense experience that calls for sustained attention. Comments below:"no idea what it's about", "dialogue incomprehensible",wish "storyline could be followed easily"-indicate some may benefit from a proper sinopsis, which I have not found. Others should view film before reading further. Willet returns to his camp and finds dimwit Coley quite agitated.Coley states that Willet's brother Coin and partner Leland arrived drunk from Winslow. Coin had run over a man and a child and needed to flee.Leland stays behind and gets shot by an unknown assailant. Willet and Coley are approached by a woman(we had seen her shoot her horse for no obvious reason) who offers $1000 to be escorted to Kingsley but refuses to reveal her name.They travel toward Crosstree where Leland learns Coin bought a horse 2 days ago. They proceed through the desert. The woman shoots at random, Willet believes she is sending signals to someone following. Gunslinger Billy emerges from hiding and joins them. His relation to the woman is unclear.They encounter day-old horse tracks as Billy and Coley threaten each other. The woman's horse pulls lame. Billy threatens to shoot Coley if he doesn't stay behind, demands Willet's gun and reveals he killed Leland. Willet:"I have my reason for staying.There ain't gonna be no killing". They encounter a bearded man with a broken leg and his horse.We see Coley following on foot. He takes the bearded man's horse. Billy spots Coley approaching and goes after him. Coley aims at Billy who shoots Coley in the face. Willet buries him. Woman to Willet:"I know that feeling.I've carried the burden of it longer than you". The elements continue to take its toll on people and animals.The woman rides while the men follow on foot.Willet charges at Billy, tosses his gun away,beats him and crushes his hand with a rock. Willet follows the woman, now on foot, into a canyon. She spots Coin, who looks identical to Coley, and shoots. Coin returns fire as Willet comes behind the woman. All three are hit.Billy wanders aimlessly waiting to die. The film leaves plenty of questions open to interpretation. Why wouldn't the woman attempt to kill Willet if Coin looks just like him? Did her son(and husband?) survive being run over? Why is Billy involved? An existentialist view of man and his predicament permeates this uncompromising western. 9/10