JOHN FORD
JOHN FORD
RANKED:
12. The Iron Horse (1924)
In one of his earliest works, Ford demonstrated the structure of his visual language with "The Iron Horse." The film is about the unity of America, as Ford demonstrates the varied American laborers who contributed to the uniting of the country via railway. With some of his typical flourishings, Ford crafts a silent epic that tries to be as grand as America itself.
11. She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949)
In John Ford's "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon," John Wayne plays a U.S. Cavalry Captian on the edge of retirement tasked with one last mission. The film, however, is more about reflection. Reflection of one's life, one's lost loved ones, and one's career. What do we leave behind when we go? Wayne's character must reconcile with his twilight years and what that means for him and what he leaves behind.
10. The Quiet Man (1952)
Ford's "The Quiet Man" is an epic romance film set in John Ford's homeland of Ireland. John Wayne plays an ex-boxer who moves to Ireland and falls in love with Maureen O'Hara's Mary Kate. The romance is not so simple, however, as all of the characters in this piece seem to be trapped by traditions. Petty differences are encompassed by the beauty of an Irish landscape, making their squabbles appear irrevelant.
9. The Informer (1935)
Ford's "The Informer" acted as a sort-of precursor to the film noir movement of the 1940s. Immersing the characters in a world of darkness, Ford creates a foggy and intoxicated visual landscape. This dark and foggy environment illustrates a hungry and impovrished Ireland ruled by a police state, as our protagonist must make dark choices to overcome his desolate circumstances.
8. Young Mr. Lincoln (1939)
"Young Mr. Lincoln" is a film that shows a man providing rationality in an irrational world, before he would go on to do greater things. A sneaky Western film, a young Abramam Lincoln comes into an environment of chaos and lawlessness and asserts his quiet will to bring law and order. Rather than detail the monolithic life of this treasured American hero, Ford demonstrates the foundational values that Lincoln creates for himself and how he utilises those values to save the life of two innocent men accused of murder.
7. Fort Apache (1948)
After defending the need for strict law and order in a firmly emplanted society with 1946's "My Darling Clementine," Ford dynamically ventures into the opposite direction. With "Fort Apache," Ford demonstrates how this law and order can go a little too far. Through the character Colonel Thursday, played by Henry Fonda, we see how a buttoned-up aherence to strict procedure and decorum can limit your ability to adapt to complex situations. With this film, Ford demonstrates how far the pendulum can swing to authoritarian mindsets and the need for a balance between structure and freedom.
6. My Darling Clementine (1946)
With "My Darling Clementine," John Ford exercised his post-war anxieties. Before the war, a John Ford western portrayed the encroaching society as the enemy of the individualist west. After the war, however, those sentiments began to wane. With this piece, Henry Fonda's Wyatt Earp comes into the town of Tombstone, only to find lawlessness and violence. With his steady but firm hand, he institutes law and order. After the violence and chaos of World War II, Ford began to shift his perspective to the side of society and law to bring an end to the senslessness of disorder.
5. How Green Was My Valley (1941)
Perhaps John Ford's most personal film in his oeuvre, "How Green Was My Valley" depicts a young boy's childhood in a small industrial Irish village. The entire village works at the adjacent coal mine as it fills their green and beautiful valley with black smoke and smog. The capitalist control over employee wages sparks a debate among the town residents as whether to strike or to stand with the factory owners. The film is not only a coming-of-age tale, but a point of discussion about a capitalist system.
4. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
John Ford's late period western, "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance," takes on far more political tones than his previous westerns. Lee Marvin plays the outlaw Liberty Valance, who represents authoritarianism, as he uses his firearms and bullwhip to demand compliance to his unlawful demands. John Wayne's Tom represents the ruged individualism of the west, along with the freedoms to protect yourself and take justice into your own hands. James Stewart's lawyer character, Ranse, represents law and order through the judicial system. These competing philosophies play out through action, as each characters attempts to do things their way. How should justice be handled?
3. Stagecoach (1939)
John Ford's "Stagecoach" takes a group of vastly different characters who are defined by who they are in society and places them in a stagecoach travsersing the desolate and dangerous west. Labels that were placed on these characters by society now become meaningless in the blank wilderness, as Ford subverts our expectations of who these people are and what they are capable of. The town drunkard becomes the moral compass, the respectable banker a criminal, the degenerate gambler a respectable gentleman, the prostitute a caregiver, and the outlaw a hero. With "Stagecoach," Ford demonstrates how the labels society places on you are meaningless. Once removed from society, the characters, through their action, determine for themselves who they are and what they value.
2. The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
Adapted from the insanely popular John Steinbeck novel, "The Grapes of Wrath" tells the story of a family who must travel west to find work after being forced off their ancestral lands. John Ford, who is typically know for his Western films, now presents the end of the American West, as it is bought up by banks and businesses. The Jode family must now scrape and scrap in order to survive. Ford scatters a visual dirtyness across the frames to convey the rotting away of the characters, their way of life, and the American dream itself.
1. The Searchers (1956)
The magnum opus of John Ford is also the magnum opus for all Western films. John Ford plays a racist, sexist, and all around hateful anti-hero who is tasked with tracking down kidnapped children after a horrific Native American attack. Because of the horrors the characters have experience, they go out searching for vindication of their anger and hatred - something to make sense of the utter violence and chaos of the world. Their hate-fueld quest for vengeance is set against the backdrop of a harsh and unwelcoming Western environment. As society moves on without them, they cannot seem to stop their endless pursuit of reason and justification in a barren landscape that doesn't provide one. Made 11 years after the war ended, John Ford's The Searchers is an exercise in the contemplation of exestiential anger and despair felt by an America that was not yet ready to let go of their vile hatred, resentment, and post-war trauma.
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