Film Persona

John Ford’s ‘The Quiet Man’   Thematic Elements: The Quiet Man is viewed by many as John Ford’s most romantic film (if not one of his only ones). However, upon my viewing of the movie, I noticed the abundance of perspective and subjective rules and traditions that play a role. By the end of the movie, all the characters have mutual respect and admiration for each other. However, this was not always the case. But why? Mary Kate would not confirm the marriage until she received her dowry from her brother, which was to have been demanded by her husband. Will would not provide the dowry because he is upset at Sean for buying the land he wanted and for the townspeople tricking him. Sean doesn’t want to ask for the downy because he doesn’t see it as necessary for his union, and he doesn’t want to confront Will because he knows he’s capable of killing him if a fight were to ensue. All these characters let their personal values and/or traditions get in the way of each other’s happiness...

  John Ford’s ‘She Wore a Yellow Ribbon’ The summary: US Cavalry Captain Nathan Cutting Brittles (portrayed by John Wayne) is a week away from retirement as he commands his post at Fort Starke in the year 1876. For his last week of active duty, he is given one last task: to lead his troops and deal with the breakout from the reservation by the Cheyenne and Arapaho following the defeat of George Armstrong Custer at the Battle of Little Big Horn as well as prevent any further war from happening. Things get more difficult when in addition to this, he must also bring along his commanding officer’s wife and niece so that he may drop them off at a safer location (of which he objects to). Two of his subordinates in the meantime are fighting for the affection of the niece, Olivia. Captain Brittles succeeds in securing the women to safety but fails in maintaining peace with the indigenous tribes as violence breaks out. Coming back to Fort Starke defeated and angry that his last mission as...

  John Ford’s ‘My Darling Clementine’ Thematic Elements: My Darling Clementine is John Ford’s first movie back from the World War II. It takes place in a town called, ‘Tombstone.’ The name itself seems ominous and suggests a town of violence and disorder. The movie is in essence a reenactment of the central morality play of the Western. Wyatt comes into town and recognizes the disorder and wants to take it upon himself to instill more order. It seems in this way the town is representative of the negative effects of the west, and what people are capable of given no law or order. So really, the real showdown of the movie comes between law and anarchy, Wyatt Earp representative of law and order made even more clear with him being a literal lawyer. Law wins in the end and signifies the arrival of civilization. Clementine, the movie’s namesake, also seems to represent the impending civilization of the untamed west. She is Doc Holliday’s former partner who has come to town to collect...

John Ford’s ‘How Green Was My Valley’ In 1941, America had not yet joined the war efforts and John Ford was still cranking out films. After the wild success of " The Grapes of Wrath ," which dealt with the end of a way of life, Ford decided to make something close to his heart with the adaptation of the 1939 Richard Llewellyn novel, " How Green Was My Valley ," which also seemed to deal with a withering away of a way of life. The reason this story hits close to home for Ford is that it deals with a heritage familiar to himself, dealing with an Irish community  - Ford's parents were Irish immigrants. The story takes place at the turn of the century, and showcases the dramatic effects industrialism and capitalism has on a lower class Victorian community. The film begins with a sense of community. A small boy, Huw, whose family works in the nearby coal mine, feels apart of something bigger than himself. The town is green and beautiful, his home is warm and loving...

  John Ford’s ‘The Grapes of Wrath’   The Western genre is without a doubt the foundation that supports John Ford’s oeuvre. With this genre, Ford is able to explore the firmament of the American dream. Ford’s Westerns take place in the late 19 th century in which Americans settle the Great West, and build their own utopia of individual freedom. These stories are the landscape for Ford’s philosophical questions regarding the battle between individualism and collectivism. Ford never answers the question of which is better. Rather, he uses his films to explore the advantages and disadvantages of both. Each of his films seem to weigh the costs of an impending society and its restrictions on individual freedom. With The Grapes of Wrath , Ford depicts the complete collapse of the American West and the total takeover by societal control. With this film, Ford depicts the end of the American Dream. It takes place in the 1930s during The Great Depression. While the 19 th century s...

  John Ford’s ‘Stagecoach’ John Ford's filmography is most iconic for his innumerable Western films. His Western films are unparalleled and are looked at as the framework for all films in the genre. The reason is perhaps the elevation from a B-picture action to a deeply philosophical morality play. These stories consist of meditations on the duality of individualism and collectivism. With individualism comes freedom of the self, but also the darkness of untamed savagery. Collectivism provides a respite of this savagery, but at the cost of individual liberty. These themes enhanced the Western genre to levels of respect not held previously. The film that began this trend was Ford's 1939 masterpiece, " Stagecoach."  To understand the themes of " Stagecoach," it might be helpful to understand 18th century philosopher John Locke's "Tabula Rasa," or "Blank Slate." In this thought experiment, a group of individuals are removed from society...

  John Ford’s ‘Young Mr. Lincoln’ (1939)   Thematic Elements: Mr. Lincoln seems to be a sneaky western genre. On the surface, it doesn’t look like a typical western. However, it displays the thematic elements of the western, a man comes into an environment of chaos and lawlessness and asserts his will to control the chaos and bring law and order. Lincoln comes from a simple life and decides to study law. After studying and practicing law, he comes across a murder in which the townspeople have already decided to circumvent law and order and act as judge, jury, and executioners. Lincoln uses empathy and reason with a beaming lightness to calm the chaos and bring actual lawful proceedings underway. Ford sees Lincoln as representing the necessary steps of society and reasoning to control the chaos of the west.     Camerawork: The way Ford portrays Lincoln shows him as being very much of the society he is from, rather than an alien to the environment. Ford seems t...

  John Ford’s The Informer (1935) The summary : 1920’s Ireland is in a state of economic collapse. The country is run by an authoritian police state. The lower classes are forced to operate outside of the laws in order to secure their safety and stability, thus forming gangs which are under pursued and investigated by the authorities. Our protagonist is in one these gangs. The film opens with him confessing to one of his fellow gang members (this gang member is wanted by the police) that he could not carry out the act of murder when asked by his fellow comrades. After going hungry night after night with no money for food and an opportunity to leave with his girlfriend for America, our protagonist decides to inform on this comrade so he can acquire the reward money. After informing on this comrade, the police locate and murder him. The protagonist then spends the rest of the night going to bars with his newfound wealth to intoxicate himself to drown out his guilt. His affiliated g...