The Searchers (1956)

John Ford’s ‘The Searchers’

The 'Western' is a film genre that legendary direction John Ford continuously utlized in his body of work. In Ford's hands, the genre does a great job of disecting the relationship between the individual and society. Because the Western's primary setting is that of the old American West at the end of the 19th century, you have the ability as a filmmaker to place your characters on a spaceous and empty terrain. The freedom this terrain provides you allows you to eliminate societal constructs, as 'society' is literally out of reach. Because of this, the individual has more freedom to act and behave according to their own internal desires. In the West, there are heroes, anti-heroes, villians, victims, and all types of people exhibiting behavior based on their own moral compass. In the West, you can be whoever you want to be (as there is no society to stop you). The problem arrises when society does come into the picture. As we know, the old American West only lasted for so long. Sure, parts of the vast plains and beautiful landscapes still remain, but the lawless abandon and the freedom to act according to your own individual desire has been swallowed up by modern societal restraints. The West has been claimed by society - which has been shown beautifully and tragically in John Ford's 1940 masterpiece 'The Grapes of Wrath.' Because of our comtemporary understanding that the old West had been claimed by modern society, we are able to see the characters in the West struggle with this impending future. In his Westerns, John Ford likes to play out the philosophies associated with the push and pull battle between the individual and the impending society. Ford never provides an answer to which he thinks is better, probably because there is no actual clear answer. In his 1939 film 'Stagecoach,' Ford portrays characters who have been socially branded by their society, forced to be stuck in the narrow box they've been socially placed in. Once the characters are able to remove themselves from society, they are also able to overcome the labels and stereotypes placed on them, which allows them the freedom to be the person they want to be. In the before-mentioned 1940 masterpiece Grapes of Wrath, Ford demonstrates how modern society has become a machine of profit and control, ripping away the freedoms of the individual all together. After witnessing the horrors of the second World War, Ford once again portrays this push and pull in 1946's 'My Darling Clementine.' In this film, Ford demonstrates the benefits of society, as it becomes an antidote to chaos. As you can tell through his filmography, the question of 'which is better' never actually gets answered, merely discussed. Ford is not afraid to take apart the question and demonstrate the virtues and fallouts of both the individual and the collective. This is also true of his 1956 masterpiece, 'The Searchers.' 

The plot of 'The Searchers' takes place in 1968, 3 years after the American Civil War. This is important to note because the film itself takes place right after wartime as well, 11 years after the second World War. After this war, many films took on existential temprements. Not only is 'The Searchers' incredibly existential in its execution by Ford, but also contemplates the American temprement during the 1950s. The protagonist of the film is that of a man coming back from the war filled with anger and resentment. The character, played by John Wayne, acts aggresively towards other people and even animals as an effect of the psychological damage done to his psyche by the terror and violence he's experienced. However, Ford does not portray him as a victim to his circumstances. Rather, the chacters is portrayed as the resentful and violent man he is, choosing vengeance over letting go. This anti-hero would go on to inspire the anit-heroes of the 1970's New Hollywood movement. One notable character inspired by this film was that of Travis Bickle in Martin Scorsese's 'Taxi Driver.' Like John Wayne's character Ethan, Travis Bickle is an agressive, angry, and even racist man who comes back to society after just having served in war. The characters choose to lean in to their resentments, allowing themselves to slowly become more and more bitter throughout the film. Both characters go on a rescue mission to save a girl trapped by her circumstances. Both also lash out violently, believing the world to be nothing but dispicable, dark, and evil. These temprements are explored by Ford in 'The Searchers.' After witnessing the chaos of the world, it was a time for Americans to reconcile their own bitterness and hatred - lashing out at their fellow man. To Ford, all of this lashing out is simply an inability to justify the chaos of life. In 'The Searchers,' Ford takes us on a journey to the depths of our soul, allowing us to see the fallouts of our inability to let go of the things we can't control. 

The opening shot of 'The Searchers' is considered one of the greastest opening shots in the history of cinema. We see blackness until a door swings open. A woman walks out the door and darkness into the bright and vast vista of the Old West, and the lone man that rides up. This shot by Ford takes the viewer from a place of comfort and safety to a place of peril - the Old West. The slow motion of the camera pushing in through the doorway allows the brightly-lit outer landscape to completely encompass the viewer's vision - just as the landscape will encompass and swallow up the characters throughout the story. It is important to note John Ford's use of the 'show, don't tell'-method of storytelling. Rather than provide exposition, it is preferable by Ford to present actions to the viewer that will allow the viewer to interpret their emotional meaning. An example of this is when the woman who opening the door, Martha, walks out to greet the man who rides up, Ethan. She is then joined by her husband, Aaron, and her children. She tells her children, "It's your uncle Ethan." Ethan dismounts and greets Aaron, his brother. When he greets Martha, she puts a hand on him as if to hold him back. He then kisses her on the forehead and stares at her silently. As she leads him into the house, she turns once more to look at him and she walks backway through the doorway. Later on, we see the two of them silently staring at each other. It becomes apparent that Martha and Ethan have some sort of romantic past. Ford seems to view this aspect of their relationship with great importance, as he continues to hint at the chemisty between them. Ford is using technical action to establish the foundational reasoning for the characters' continued behavior throughout the film. 

Ethan spends time with his family, whom he has not seen since he left to fight for the Confederate Army 8 years prior. In one particualar instance, he picks up Debbie, the youngest, up and holds her high in his arms - something important of note in regards to the end of the story. Since the Civil War ended 3 year ago, Ethan has been roaming the American west, collecting gold via mysterious circumstances and fighting in the Mexican Revolutionary War. . Ethan's enate racism and hatred becomes apparent when Martin Pawley sits down at the family table. Martin is an adpoted member of the family, but Ethan refers to him as a 'half-breed' because Martin is 1/8th Cherokee. Many viewers could view the film itself as an inherently racist piece - however it is Ethan's racism and many of the white men surrounding him's complancy with his perspective that becomes a central point of the story. 

Shortly after, Captain Clayton arrives notify the family that cattle belonging to their neighbor Lars Jorgensen has been stolen. Ethan and Martin join Captain Clayton and fellow rangers to recover them. They discover that this cattle theft was a ploy to draw the men away from their families. Back at the Edwards household, we know Aaron and Martha as well as their children, Ben, Lucy, and Debbie are all in danger. Ford films with danger with his choice of lighting. Representing the light from the setting sun, bright oranges and red permeate the windows of the house. This bright red emminates a sense of danger, creating dread in the viewer. Aaron then notices a threat in the distance and prepares his family for attack - while telling Debbie to go and hide behind grandma's tombstone. Debbie sits at her grandmother's tombstone while a shadowy figure approaches. Ford uses the shadow as an indication of the threatening presence. He does not show the figure, only her apparent fear. In withholding what he see, Ford is able to amplify the dread, allowing the viewer to ponder the dark fate for this innocent child.

Upon riding up to the house, Ethan and Martin find in flames. Ethan finds Aaron, Martha, and Ben dead in the burnt-up home. He does not see Lucy or Debbie, and assumes they've both been taken. He prohibits Martin from entering the home and even punches him to keep him from going inside. He tells Martin that he shoudn't see what carnage was left by the attack. This horrible attack is the inciding event of the whole story that fuels the characters until the very end. For Ethan, it is just more uncontrollable chaos and violence that he has been accustomed to. This particular scene has also inspired George Lucas's 'Star Wars.' Specifically, the scene in which Luke and Obi-Wan arrive back at his home to find it aflame with Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru burned to death. 

During the funeral for the deceased members of the family, Ethan cannot contain his eagerness to leave to find the missing girls. Ethan storms off in the middle of prayer, saying "There's no more time for prayer." He seems to have lost all faith in anything because nothing can make sense of the cruelty of life. The cruel destruction of his brother's family as well as Martha, whom he appears to have some sort of romantic history with, is just another hard and bitter pill to swallow for Ethan. Throughout the film, it is apparent that the civil war, his life spent observing the chaos of the west, and the cruel destruction of the only family he has left has filled Ethan with resentment. He can no longer make sense of the chaos, so he instead is filled with pain and anger. He not only leaves to go searching for his neices, but he also goes searching for justification to his anger. He tries to find reason in a harsh and wild western landscape that provides none. Mrs. Jorgensen, who's daughter is in love with Martin, even tells Ethan that if the girls are dead, "Don't let the boys waste time with vengeance." This line becomes the central theme of the story, as Ethan spends the rest of the film chasing after vengeance. Ethan is a character who replaces his pain with anger, allowing this anger to fuel his behavior. 

 

 When the search party arrives upon a dead Native American, Ethan shoots out his eyes. He claims that the Native American, according to their own religion, cannot enter the spirit lands without his eyes and "must be forced to wander forever between the winds." This points to another element of Ethan's hated. He hates the Native Americans so much that he has bothered to learn more about them just so he can hate them beyond death. The men then walk into an ambush and narrowly escape. The Rangers are now left with too few men to accompany Ethan, Martin, and Lucy's fiance, Brad Jorgensen, the rest of the way. Further along their search, Ethan comes across Lucy brutally murdered and presumably raped in a canyon near a Comanche camp. He withholds this information from Brad until Brad notices what he thinks is Lucy at the nearby camp. Ethan informs Brad that is is not Lucy, just a Comanchee wearing Lucy's clothes. This marks the second time Ethan has not allowed the younger men to view the horrors of their deceased loved ones. He screams, "What do you want me to do? Draw you a picture? Spell it out? Don't ever ask me! Long as you live, don't ever ask me no more!" It is clear that Ethan does not want the young men to witness the same horros he's had to witness. It is clear he does not want them to end up as angry and resentful as he has become. Regardless, Brad becomes overwhelmed with anger and charges into the Comanchee camp to his demise. 

During the winter, Ethan and Martin lose the trail and return back to the Jorgensen ranch. Martin gets to spend more time with his love interest Laurie while the two of them pause their search. However, the Jorgensens provide Ethan with a letter from a man named Mr. Futterman, who claims to have information about Debbie. Both Ethan and Laurie want Martin to stay behind. Laurie threatens to move on to another love interest if Martin leaves again, as it has been over a year and a half that she's had to wait for him. Ethan doesn't want Martin to continue on with him and encourages him to stay with Laurie and start a family. Despite their pleads, Martin follows along after Ethan. 

The Mr. Futterman from the letter tells Ethan and Martin about a Comanchee chief named Scar, who he believes to hold the missing Debbie. Another year and half of searching leads them to New Mexico - where a Mexican man leads them to the location of Scar. Scar tells the men that white men killed his two sons, leading him to seek revenge by taking white scalps. With this, Ethan becomes a mirror of the man he is chasing down. Ethan's vengeful behavior was caused by another man's vengeful behavior. Violence just bred more violence. This is also an indication of the long held resentments by the two groups over the past hundreds of years. The old American West was a setting for violence, perpatrated by hateful men. 

While visiting with Scar, Ethan and Martin find Debbie. She has spent the past five years assimilating to the Cherockee culture. Martin encourages Debbie to come back, but she refuses. With this, Ethan tries to kill her, stating that she is more Native American than white. This further elevation of Ethan's rage makes him more and more disliked by the viewer. He can't bear to see his neice (and possibly his own daughter) become the thing which he hates. His hatred has completely replaced his humanity. The Native American hits Ethan with an arrow, as he and Martin escape without Debbie.

Furious that Ethan tried to kill Debbie, Martin tells him that he wishes him dead, to which Ethan replies, "That'll be the day." Ethan delivers this line quite often throughout the film. An intersting factoid regarding this line involves it's use in a famous song. In June of 1956, Buddy Holly attended a cinema to see the film in Lubbock, Texas. He became so enamored with this line that he wrote his most famous song, "That'll Be the Day" as inspiration.

Throughout the years the men are on their search, Ford utilises the individualism vs society Western philosophy through the scenes of the Jorgensens back home. In their absence, Laurie must decide to move on without Martin, and decides to marry Charlie McCorry. She had to decide to quit 'searching' for Martin. Much like the men's search, Laurie's search was leaving her angry and bitter. She chose to let go of these resentful feelings that was turning her into a loner. Ford shows the celebration of the wedding to directly contrast with the scenes of the men alone of their quest to fulfill their fiery rage. Ethan and Martin are off being indivudals, free to be their own person and act out their own internal morality into the external word. However, the desires they've chosen to act out are leaving them unproductive. They have the freedom to be themselves, but not the regulation of their own hate-fueld behavior. Their individualism has made them alone, and unable to let go of their need to justify their vengeful behavior. In contrast, Ford shows us the Jorgensens and their celebration. It is a depiction of society moving on and letting go of their search for justification. Rather than endlessly searching for reasons to the cruelty of life, they've created their own reasons. Where Ethan is trapped by his resentments, society has let them go. Where Ethan has tried to control the chaos, society celebrates life. Their control of the chaos is through its customs, traditions, and rules. The marriage of Laurie, the law enacted by the sheriff, and the gospel as preacher by the reverend are all examples of society making sense of the senselessness. To Ford, society makes sense out of the chaos, while the individual is left to wander in it. 

Ethan and Martin arrive just in time to see the wedding. However, Martin becomes upset and fights Charlie. Charlie concedes Laurie to Martin. Just then, a young leuitenant is sent with a message to let them know that they have received word that Scar is close by. Martin sneaks into Scar's camp to rescue Debbie, who welcomes him this time around. Scar then chases the two out of camp with Ethan in pursuit. Martin kills Scar. Ethan, who up until this point in time has wanted to kill Debbie, now grabs her and lifts her up in his hands, just as he did when she was a child. Ethan embraces her and takes her home. 

In arriving at the Jorgensen house with Debbie, we reach the closing moments of the film. The family walk her in the home as Martin walks Laurie in, leaving Ethan standing outside the door. Ford's final shot of the film mirrors the opening shot, and is considered one of greatest final shots in film history. In the opening shot, Ford opens the door for the viewer as the camera glides through to unviel the western landscape. This time, his camera moves backwards through the doorframe, framing Ethan and the West inside of it. Ethan stands there alone, and turns and walks back into the desert. The doorway is used as a mechanism by Ford to demonstrate Ethan trapped between two worlds: the wild and dangerous terrain of the old West, and society. The character of Ethan represents a lot of things. He represents the Old West, during a time of violence and choas. He represents a generation fueld by hatred, just after having come back from the war (whether it be the Civil War in the story or World War II before the release of the film). He also represents America itself. America was founded on genocide and hatred. Through Ford's direction, Ethan is trapped by the frame in the door, trapped by the Old West, trapped in his hateful ways of thinking, and hopefully (to Ford) trapped in the past. To Martin Scorsese, "Only an artist as great as John Ford would dare to end on such a note. In its final moment, 'The Searchers' suddenly becomes a ghost story. Ethan's sense of purpose has been fulfilled, and like the man whose eyes he's shot out, he's destined to wander forever between the winds." Ethan's hatred of his fellow man drove him further and further away from society.