Rio Bravo (Hawks, 1959): BFI Southbank, NFT2, 8.20pm
This Howard Hawks masterpiece is my favourite film. Indeed, I wrote about the movie in the 'My favourite film' season in the Guardian. My conclusion was: 'Over the course of Rio Bravo we are treated to an entertainment masterclass, a high watermark of Hollywood cinema in its heyday. I may not go as far as Quentin Tarantino, who declared that he would show the film to any new girlfriend and end the relationship if she did not declare her undying love for Hawks's classic, but it is the movie I return to again and again, to revisit old friends and remind myself what form optimism takes in a work of art.'
The movie forms part of the Big Screen Classics strand (highlighting films in the Greatest of All-Time Poll) and also screens on April 9th and 21st. Full details here.
Chicago Reader review:
Howard Hawks's finest western (1959), and perhaps his finest film—but
who wants to quibble on this level? John Wayne, Dean Martin, Ricky
Nelson, and Walter Brennan hole up in a sheriff's office, there to
protect a prisoner from a band of hired guns outside. But the subtly
stylized setting soon becomes an arena for a moral battle, as the
characters discover and test their resources of trust, skill, and
courage, values poised against encroaching chaos. It's American
filmmaking at its finest—clean, clear, and direct—and it's also the most
optimistic masterpiece on film, valiantly shoring fragments against
human ruin. Superb in every respect, from Wayne's performance to Russell
Harlan's brilliant night photography. With Angie Dickinson.
Dave Kehr
Here (and above) is the trailer.
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