Review of Shane (1953) by Harold W — 22 Jun 2007
There is a beautiful simplicity in this film. Alan Ladd is the first man with no name and that is what makes this film so effective. We know nothing about him. He's a gun fighter, we think. Is he bad, good, running from the law, does he have a family.
Where is from? Where was he going? These are things that are never answered and make the storytelling so effective. You get the sense that all he wants to do is settle down and escape some sort of past he never talks about.
You get the feeling that a part of him wants his friend to get killed so he can have the wife. What makes this film so moving is Shane knows himself that he can play the part of friend and farmer but he knows sooner or later he will be standing face to face with his demons.
In the end he rides off and who knows what became of him. It's films like this that help to understand how mythologies are made and why we become so fascinated with them.
This review of Shane (1953) was written by Harold W on 22 Jun 2007.
Shane has generally received very positive reviews.
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