Review of Fort Apache (1948) by Martin B — 22 May 2008

John Ford was a brilliant director, his location shooting and compositions were amazing, he?s simply one of the most influential filmmakers of all time, however, he had a lot of political beliefs that I don?t agree with.

This is one of his most ideologically strange works as it feels like a great anti-war story made by a pro-war filmmaker. The film tells the story of a frontier cavalry fort and culminates with a Custer-like coronal foolishly leading his troops to their death.

This should be an anti-war, anti-authority story, but Ford doesn?t have a revolutionary bone in his body. In the hands of a Billy Wilder this would be a story of gloom and tragedy, but Ford sees it as a story of triumph and courage, ford seems interested in encourage unjust historical revisionism and the glorification of authority figures.

On the bright side, the depiction of the Native Americans here is slightly, and I do mean slightly, more enlightened than most films of this time. This is of course a John Ford film, and thus it is awesome for it?s visual storytelling majesty, and the story does hold up.

This is great filmmaking even if it doesn?t fit with my personal political beliefs.