Western with Christian Bale is the movie you and I deserve. I confess that the first half of the film irritated me somewhat by the fact that the whites, who conquered the lands that for centuries belonged to the Indians, are exhibited here as victims of the Indians, and those, in turn, are shown to the viewer as invaders and barbarians, as if we should sympathize with the supposedly oppressed Americans. However, gradually the film straightened the tracks, and everything fell into place.
Bale's game is, as always, very good. However, the very development of the relationship between the two main characters - the warden and the Indian - seemed to me too fast, a little unrealistic, as if a person who lived for decades on his strict principles could suddenly radically change his position. And about the stupidity of secondary characters, I will not say at all. Nevertheless, the movie is beautiful and epic, and the locations of the Wild West and the sun-scorched South, against which the film was shot, together with the soulful soundtrack, created a very atmospheric cinema.
8 out of 10
Rublica - Random films. The point is very simple. Using the service of Movie Search, I will search for certain paintings, either completely randomly or given the genre. If you were looking for a genre movie, it will be put into the title. In the future, if everything works out, it will turn into an interesting test, where you will need to watch a movie every day and write a review.
Hostiles - a picture of a rather masterful director Scott Cooper, who hitherto was famous mainly for his debut work Crazy Heart, which brought the long-awaited and labor Oscar to the old man Bridges. The story tells about the workdays of the captain of the Blocker (played by the unthinkable Christian Bale), who will gather, against his will, on a long journey to fulfill most likely the last order before retirement. The character is portrayed as a classic war victim who no longer understands what is good or bad. He has exactly two emotions in his head. Hatred towards every Indian and grief towards deceased friends and colleagues.
The author presents a rather non-standard view of the problem of hatred, revenge and relations between nations. The classic problem of racism is not at all, although at first it seems different. But more on that later.
First of all, I want to pay attention to the concept and cast. In fact, we have a classic road-movie (it is difficult to call the action a western), where the characters slowly but surely move from point A to point B. Along the way there is a cloud of events, a lot of heartfelt and not very conversations and a change in the main character. He doesn’t want to change, leaving his comfort zone is not for him. But the heroine Rosamund Pike, the dying chief and other colleagues and countermen change him forever. The cast for the day looks incredible. In February 2018, most of the actors playing in the first and second plan were already known, but were not at the peak of popularity. All the more surprising is how quickly and without emotion, the director and the screenwriter remove them one by one. It would seem that here will begin the arch of this character, then this, but there is literally a couple of scenes and then spoilers.
Despite the cool and high-quality camera work, I really wanted to find fault with rather boring shootouts (there is a small budget to blame for everything), but the director managed to arrange a small tribute to classic paintings of this genre, after which it becomes warm at heart, albeit uncomfortable.
“Sometimes I envy the irreversibility of death,” says Pike, after losing her entire family in one go. You start to wonder how logical that sounds. Death is one of the few things that is permanent. It cannot be canceled, it cannot be changed on the road, it cannot be feared and not respected. There is nothing more honest and understandable than this state. Today you are, tomorrow you are not. And you're not always guilty of that, sometimes you're just out of luck. Collateral damage. This is a popular expression lately.
At first, it seemed to me that we would come to a conclusion in leaps and bounds about the importance of being a good person, about being able to forgive other biblical slang. It was stressful, because the world is much more complicated than black and white. And Scott did not fail. In the key scene, when everything is at stake: honor, pride, self-determination, loved ones, we arrive at a simple, albeit harsh, outcome. It’s great to be surrounded by people who are grateful and have mutual respect. It is important to appreciate and pay for it too. There is no place on earth where there is harmony and comfort. There are many dangers around which it is important to be able to overcome and take risks. It is necessary to not be ashamed to look in the mirror, it is necessary for confidence, for protection and self-control. It is important to understand that there is a separate caste of people who understand no language other than power. You can’t turn the right cheek if you get it on the left. There is no such thing as racism.
This idea is very difficult to accept and understand. But as history has shown, it is necessary. It is important to evaluate your abilities and be 100% sure that you are right. You can't regret the consequences. The ability to make difficult and controversial choices is the quality of a true leader. But he has a price and will have to pay it.
8 out of 10
In this story, I literally lacked a couple of nuances. First, I would like a more memorable soundtrack. Second, somewhere in the middle, the story stalled a little, hurting some pretty dynamic. Otherwise, it's a very impressive movie. But you have to be prepared for the fact that it is very heavy when watching.
What a great movie Scott Cooper made. I confess that I postponed watching “Fathers” for a very long time, everything once happened. And then the third day, left without the Internet, I remembered about the tape and deeply regretted that I did not take it sooner. Gentlemen, if you are hungry for a perfectly staged, catchy and emotional movie, you just have to see this picture.
The past cannot change what is done is done. Captain Joseph Blocker gave half his life to the war, losing many friends to the sharp knives of the Native American people. Hatred of the Indians, nurtured with every drop of blood spilled, more and more blurred in Joseph the boundary between man and the bloodthirsty beast, who saw in every dark face a dangerous enemy. When you've been living for over 20 years on a "you or you" basis, killing women, old people and children to survive, and slowly dying from a painted spear that let your guts out, it's hard to expect anything else. "I was just doing my job." I do not pursue attempts to justify Blocker, but I try to look at the world through his eyes and unenviable life experiences in order to avoid “righteous” condemnation, absolutely inappropriate here.
And so the captain is reminded of beautiful humane slogans calling for love, forgiveness and moral duty, instructing him to escort and then release the dying Cheyenne leader Yellow Hawk, who killed almost all his friends. The joint path of two soldiers, burdened by a common past, gives shades to the black and white principle of life of both and reminds both heroes and spectators that one should live looking forward, not looking back.
I want to touch on one brilliant moment that reveals Scott Cooper as an outstanding professional in his field and an intelligent director who is able to manage the emotions of the viewer. The film begins with a shocking Comanche raid on a family of ordinary people and a brutal massacre of them. How do we feel about the Indians at this moment? Disgust and thirst for punishment. What happens next? Captain Blocker indifferently deals with the escaped red-skinned man and returns him back to the shackles. Whoa, and we root for him. In a matter of 5 minutes, we were charged with the necessary degree of hatred for the Indians, rejecting the early beliefs that they were, in fact, ruthlessly carved people, and voluntarily put on the side of those who, in theory, carved them out. Only after such an exhibition, Scott Cooper spins a complex emotional drama, showing the story from different sides, where “enemies” are not always poor and oppressed, but wild thugs. But not all. And white finished warriors are not always bloodthirsty and filthy. But not all. There are no bad nations, there are bad people.
And again. What a Christian Bale titan of acting. A genuine admiration for this man.
To begin with, the film is not very convincing. Two heroes who have been cutting Indians all their lives change their attitude. There was one event in which the Indians behaved with dignity, but this is clearly not enough for the two heroes to change a significant part of their worldview.
However, there is a strong point in the film: a magnificent demonstration of the almost intractable contradiction that has arisen in the North American continent. The state has its own plans for land, private landowners have others, and the Indians have others. Everyone is ready to kill, and there seems to be no way to make peace. The apotheosis of universal intolerance can be seen in the penultimate episode of the film. And the last scene is romantic, chic.
The action of the western of Scott Cooper takes place in the late 19th century on the expanses of the North American continent, still torn by the remnants of the struggle between the indigenous population and densely settled people ' New World'.
Burnt by the Civil War captain in the performance of the incomparable Christian Bale fiercely hates the Indians for their ' brutal' temper, which killed a large number of comrades of the hero. However, his hatred is not as simple as it seems. He thoroughly knows their language, its various dialects, habitats, habits and distinctive features of each tribe.
He is given the last task before retirement. The captain must take the old leader and his family to his homeland across the vast American expanses. The leader is seriously ill and such a resonant event will help the political elite to raise their peacefulness, presenting the relationship between new and old settlers much warmer.
Of course, the captain reluctantly agrees to implement the order of the command, but on the way to the destination, he and his detachment will face a lot of problems that can pretty undermine the emotional and psychological state of the main character, who doubts the correctness of life's actions.
This picture narrates about an important problem of all mankind - unfriendly attitude to each other. We limit our vision of an individual when we consider his skin color, nationality, gender, social status, elements of biography and much more.
If some representatives of a particular state or nation were distinguished by an evil temper and committed serious crimes, how can one judge others by them?
With regard to American history, this is most acute. The indigenous population of the Indians in both the Northern and Southern continents fought against the invaders by right. Why should they suffer torment and destruction of their people? So the most zealous indigenous people did not abandon attempts to fight until the beginning of the last century, to a greater extent already taking revenge on the descendants of murderers for crimes against their ancestors. They can be understood, but not justified. How can you whitewash what the ancestors did ' free' the state. Everyone is guilty, few are forgiven. . .
How can one hope that people will treat each other with an open mind, without looking at stupid historical conventions that only limit the mind? To preserve this world with love and understanding is our only important goal.
On one side of the coin, the natives exterminate strangers, on the other, the whites capture the red-skinned. All this was seen by the hero of Christian Bale, an experienced warrior, but he has to come to terms with the task on which he sends his top. It is necessary to accompany safely and safely to the freedom of one who has done a lot of evil in front of the captain.
At the beginning of the journey, he stumbles upon the same burned house from the beginning of the film. Inside, he finds the only surviving woman. She laid the bodies of her daughters on the crib, but the corpse of her husband remained in the same place. She carries a baby all the time. He's probably dead, too. The poor girl was going crazy.
Few would argue that Christian Bale is an incredibly talented actor. You can compare the mass of paintings he’s been involved in and make sure he’s invested in each as his favorite. In addition, recently, memes about his “transformation” have become popular on the Internet – sacrifices that a man is willing to make for the sake of convincing play in a film he likes. And this is no exception. His character hates the natives so convincingly that you are waiting: well, when will this powder keg detonate and destroy everything around?
Soon the caravan is attacked by savages. The whole group could have died. But in the defense took part and prisoners with bare hands. For this reason, it was decided to remove shackles from them. The enemy of my enemy is my friend.
Do you feel the moral tension? It's just wow! And which side to go to, who to cheer for is a tough choice. Especially if you feel the revenge of the Redskins as the main characters. Then their doubts about these "helpers" are understandable. How do you fight them side by side if you don’t trust them?
However, we, the audience, can see their valiant intentions. And we feel that people can change and earn a second chance and respect for themselves. We, the third parties, understand this. But will the harsh soldiers who have fought with such a life understand? That’s the point – look and find out!
There is another parallel - a former colleague, an officer. While serving in the settlement, he slaughtered red people behind bars. He'll be hanged for that. The captain was asked to accompany him as he was on his way. And now he takes his enemies to freedom and his comrade to death. That's what life is like.
Here's the double standard. The bad are the good and the good are the bad. What? Try to figure it out. It is quite difficult to understand a person, and even more so to know his true intentions and whether he is sincere. And that's my gratitude for this film -- it brings up such important themes through the prism of an atmospheric western. And this is awesome: if you want - follow the plot, if you want - enjoy the landscapes, scenery and actors, and if you want - look for answers to questions.
This is only the first half of the film. This is how many conditions he was given. But to follow them or not and how to behave with former friends and enemies is up to him, the person.
I've brought you up to speed (don't worry, there are no spoilers) to show you how tight the plot is. And I see this as a message that life itself can push any of us into a similar framework! But what will the hero do? What will you do? In such conditions, you can not make a decision with a calm mind, so they can go wrong. So watching the behavior of the characters becomes only more interesting!
8 out of 10
Well, it's kind of normal, but the question is where did $55 million go? Here is a beautiful picture of beautiful naturalistic shootings, but the same amount should justify itself. The acting takes out, but only half of what's missing to say yes, it's a good movie. The average western, but the best is already "Bone Tomahawk" to watch, it costs $ 2 million, but looks no worse.
Good movie. Quite a non-standard plot for a western. The speakers are not very much, but constantly waiting for something, the alarm literally hangs in the air. Movies like this are hard to watch again. But once in the evening and fans of the "cowboy-Indian" genre quite himself. . .
That's it. It’s time to write the first review. I do not initially define the style of this text as ' review' because I am not yet ripe for a review.
It was the expression ' I don't believe' that defined my impression of this good, reliable (' strong' it's getting boring) western.
It was the phrase ' I don't believe' surfaced first in the discussion of the film with colleagues.
I do. Selection of locations for shooting, the work of the operator, costumers, set design (unless the title scene of the home lesson looked too perfect), makeup, supporting roles, the emotions of episodic characters.
I do. Christian Bale. The hero seems to be ready to explode throughout the film. And the question is: will he be able to extinguish the smoldering wick or destroy everything to hell around.
I do. Tight sequence of scenes, slow dialogue, naturalness of death.
I don't. Rosamund Pike. She was given many opportunities to be reborn as her heroine (the death of her children and husband, rape in a hunting camp after being kidnapped, the severity of the campaign). But she didn't use them. Until the very end, she can't ' catch ' her character. Even in the final scene of the farewell, it seems that in the background, the director shouts into a megaphone: '. You've been through so much! You have to cry!'
And when the train leaves, the director (already quietly) says to the megaphone character Christian Bale: ' Follow her - she still didn't understand. . . '
Westerns, as representatives of the genre, produced a little, and good – and that unit. This film hit both goals. The era of that time is very realistically shown - pain, enmity, survival. But through all these tribulations, germs of mutual understanding and hope break through. The last scene is a vivid confirmation of that! I recommend it!
In 2017, Scott Cooper shot perhaps one of his most memorable paintings. After watching it, only one question comes to mind: how did Enemies not receive any Oscar and Golden Globe nominations? How could the award ignore the brilliant Christian Bale, the excellent Rosamund Pike, the cinematography of Masanobu Takayanagi, Scott Cooper as a screenwriter and director, and the magical music of Max Richter?
Cooper directed a great western, with a stunning (albeit fairly simple) story and a powerful message. Like his previous directorial work in the genre of crime drama-action ("From the Heat" and "Black Mass"), "Enemies" has a leisurely narrative, a simple rather linear plot and rare, but rather cruel battle scenes. The picture is well-built and leaves an aftertaste, which is forced to think about the topics revealed in the film.
Now a little bit of everything.
1. SOURCE
The plot of the film could be nominated, for example, for an Oscar, especially given that the film deals with the theme of cruelty, forgiveness, clash of races and cultures, as well as the genocide of the indigenous people of America, which reveals not only its artistic value, but also social significance, quite important for US residents and useful for understanding for viewers of other countries. However, academicians of prestigious film awards did not suit something in the direction and script of the film (the second, by the way, could win the cherished statuette).
The story itself does not carry anything special: the American captain, after the end of bloody battles with the Indians, is sent to Montana to accompany the old dying leader to his homeland. A kind of road-movie-western, very close in spirit "Train to Yuma", where, by the way, Christian Bale played a very similar role to his character. Heroes travel through a country tired of fierce fighting, where they are waiting for robbers, tribes of hostile Indians, deserters and just angry people tired of war. Enemies raise difficult topics to understand, have a thoughtful inner drama of each of the characters and carefully carried through the entire film subtext, leaving food for thought. The living theme of the life and history of the indigenous people of America proceeds from beginning to end with a hint of the idea that Americans live not only on the ashes of their ancestors, but also on the bones of historical landowners. Especially ironic these thoughts look against the background of the constant racial clashes in North America and the discussion of oppression of the black population by all possible media.
2. Actor's Game
Here you can mark almost the entire cohort of the cast. The fact that Christian Bale and Rosamund Pike were not nominated for the prestigious film awards can be considered a crime. I understand that they most likely would not have received the statuettes (after all, Gary Oldman’s Dark Times and Frances McDormand’s Three Billboards on the Border of Ebbing, Missouri were out of competition), but, at least, academics were obliged to simply mark their performance.
Christian Bale, as always, is great. His character is harsh and battered by life and almost the entire film appears on the screen with the same mine of serious brooding closed person. But he's so good! While the face practically does not express emotions, the eyes act out pain, sadness, devastation, disappointment, hatred. Captain Blocker (Bale's hero) is superbly spelled out and experiences a storm of emotions during the film. He changes himself and changes his worldview. He begins to feel a man who knows how to forgive and be forgiven, a man who seemed to die in him somewhere on the battlefield. And all this Christian Bale plays with one eye. Captain Blocker is definitely one of his best images.
If you do not take into account the main role in the film “Gone Girl”, Rosamund Pike gives his best acting. I believe in her grief from the first minutes of “Adversaries”. In some moments, especially in the first half of the film, she gives out such a range of emotions that it becomes really scary for her character. She takes all the attention on herself and splashes all of herself directly into the viewer, which often makes you feel like goosebumps run on your hands.
Also noteworthy are Rory Cochrane and Wes Steudie. Despite the fact that their characters are in fact secondary, the writers have worked on their images. Cochrane almost straight words give one of the main thoughts of the film and plays bright and juicy. His broken war and his deeds Thomas Metz believe without any reservations. Chief Wes Studi is a more phlegmatic character, but no less sad. He is a living Indian who fought for his homeland and was defeated at the mercy of his enemies, hates them and understands that the times of quiet life of his people are numbered. Steudie bears the pain of the whole people, who have to come to terms with their unenviable future. He is an excellent counterweight to Christian Bale. Their few dialogues are fascinating and chained to the screen.
3. VISUAL
Scott Cooper, paired with cameraman Masanobu Takayanage, created a truly majestic picture. It seemed that the camera really enjoyed the actors, slowly walking around them from side to side. Long plans of the surrounding nature; current shooting, when the camera slowly “floats” after the action; careless, slightly noticeable, shaking during dialogues, which determines the viewer’s immersion in the picture, as if he is watching the action through the eyes of an eyewitness – all this plays into the hand of the picture, gives you an impression of the atmosphere.
4. MUSIC
The music of Max Richetra is another position that should have been nominated for some award (if not win). Richter is one of the few composers who perfectly manages melancholy, sad, even sad music. For the time being, it seems invisible. Completely absorbed by the picture, the music becomes part of the environment and sounds as natural as the howling of the wind or the inner pain of the characters. But at certain moments, it intensifies and turns to a scream, to a raging hum, to a bold exclamation point, delineating the significance of the moment for the viewer. And all this is possible to the composer without grotesque changes and pathos transitions. The last melody in the film is decisive and for a long time sounds in the head after the end credits.
Enemies is a must-see movie. It shows the brutality and consequences of not just one war, but all wars. He asks questions and tries to answer them. It makes you think, and this in our time can boast of not all films (even those that are nominated for prestigious awards). Perhaps it can be blamed for its weak historicity, but the film is beautiful and without reference to history. The magic of “Opponents” is created by characters, acting, dialogue and atmosphere.
This film is not for family viewing. It is better to watch it alone or in very close company, so that no one interferes with the idea of the film, so that no one interferes with enjoying the game and thinking.
If after watching the film you decided to open the historical reference and read about the events described in it, then everything was not in vain. It is not for nothing that millions of dollars were spent on filming, it is not for nothing that the actors played their roles, and it is not for nothing that you spent an hour and a half of your life on this movie.
Already in the title of the film lies a contradiction, a tear. Why is it 'Adversaries'? Why not enemies? And because everything is so ambiguous in our world. Wherever you were born and whoever you were born, you were born a human being. The film is actually about that. The importance of always being human.
A complicated movie. Some scenes look hard. The characters are drawn very clearly and throughout the film you go with them through all the events, experience with them, try to understand what drives them, what they feel, and most importantly, where they draw strength to go on to live, breathe, compassion. . .
I think it's one of Rosamund Pike's best roles. Believe her from beginning to end, never ceases to be amazed at the courage and inner strength of her character. Christian Bale is as good as ever, he seems to be one of those who has only gotten better over the years. Wes Steudi is very charismatic and fits perfectly into the image. This is how you think of an Indian leader when you read books as a child. In general, the cast is very pleasant, surprises with the presence of sufficiently well-known actors in minor and minor roles (Jesse Plemons, Paul Anderson, Ben Foster, Timothy Chalamet).
I was missing only the final scene in the film. Oh, I wish I could see the look of Rosamund Pike.
It's a parable. There is no other way in the parable. Well, the purpose of the film is obvious. Stop fighting in the past. What's done is not fixed. The past is a great excuse for evil today. The direct text in the film says this. You can treat it differently, but it is. All the conflicts of the present (and of the past) are over money in various forms (oil, land, trade routes, influence, authority, opium, the tomb of God), but the privates are involved in these wars for their own (actually not) senseless reasons. They motivate themselves to kill and die in the past. Resentment, wars, fictional or real injustice. They are fighting to restore that justice. It's stupid. Stupid. To avoid war, you have to let go of your past. Make peace with him. Let go of grievances, admit your own injustice. At least within one country, one nation, but not even locally. Even within the family, few people are capable of this.
The movie is about it. Let go and move on. Edakoye 'Heart of Darkness' on the contrary, the path from darkness to light. The idea of the film is global, universal. The implementation is local, purely American. The film is great.
For individual faults -
10 out of 10
It’s not perfect, it’s just that its flaws are so minor that they don’t matter.
It's a long movie, and it's very slow, but it's not boring, it's very interesting. There are not many picturesque places. This is North America, not some jungle, but thanks to competent camera work, there is something to see everywhere: from vast expanses to dense coniferous forest. The actors are busy with the whole movie going from one place to another, and for that they have to travel a long distance. There are very few conversations, no one throws words to the wind, and many details are clear and without any explanation. The mood of the film is deceptively calm. There is little shooting, little bloodshed, little cheerful action, but there is enough plot richness. It is interesting to follow the fate of people. Musical accompaniment is turned on rarely, but in the right places, and increases the invisible tension, from which the film will easily cause tears. Scott Cooper created a very powerful movie. With high-quality design and strong semantic content.
A veteran Joe who has been serving for a long time. I lost a lot of friends and saw a lot of blood. As a stranger, and his own, was on the verge of death. Calm as a boa, collected, cold-blooded, broken by life, is not proud of anything, does not put himself above others. The junior in rank is treated with respect, and he is appreciated and listened to unquestioningly. He has very little left to retire, and this is his last assignment, which he reluctantly agreed to. In captivity is a family of Indians with the elderly at the head. This leader has cancer and asks to be released to the land of his ancestors. He should be escorted there. Joe doesn't want to do that because he knows who he's talking about. He was a butcher in his day. Along the way, they stumble upon a destroyed dwelling. There's a young woman sitting there. She saw her husband and three children killed, barely carried away her legs, but moved her mind. This situation was, by the way, given as a prologue to the film. And all these elements are now boiled in one boiler. Along the way, different things happen with the squad, and it affects people, changes them.
Wes Studi played an Indian warrior in Michael Mann's The Last of the Mohycans and an alien humanoid chieftain in James Cameron's Avatar. Here he plays a dying tribal leader. There is little on the screen, and the role seems simple. A frail old man, but Studi fills this space with authentic life, it is perceived close and at the end, already with pain. I don’t even want to talk about Christian Bale in the lead role. His character is clear through his communication with others, through the attitude of those around him, and through words of which there are very few. And through his behavior. How he solves problems, how he responds to difficulties. Bale does wonders. Mimics, speech, views - to the smallest detail. That's great. It is a pity that in the role of John Connor we will not see him again, by the way. Rosamund Pike did not receive an Oscar for the film “Gone Girl”, and here she was not even nominated. And that's not fair. The role is difficult and how it is played. You can't put it into words.
Enemies is a great movie, and another unfortunate example of when high-class work is deprived of both professional prizes and in the movie distribution, to put it mildly, it did not become a hit. Bear Valley has never been so beautiful before.
Say hello to a man with whom you have mutual dislike, puzzle him all day long. . . -
Of course, the genre ' Western' in general - it is entirely a product of the American mentality, like music in the style ' country', so that the Western can also be called a national treasure of the United States. But even fifteen or twenty years ago, many people talked about the decline of the genre and the new Sergio Leone with its phenomenon in the form of Spaghetti Westerns & #39; on the horizon did not appear. Nevertheless, westerns continued to appear on the screen, but they did not attract the mass audience and were considered almost an ordinary tribute to traditions. However, good filmmakers were either fed up with dramas, thrillers and action films and increasingly began to turn their attention to westerns. The first sign of the revival of the genre can be considered the appearance ' Trains to Yuma' 2007 year of release, then again there was a slight stagnation, but the great and terrible Quentin Tarantino said that he was going to work with so beloved genre. And now the screens come out 'Django released' (2012) and 'The Hateful Eight' (2015), which were admirably received by both the audience and the critical mass. Now it's the turn 'Nestrels' shot in 2017.
Despite a budget of $ 55 million & #39; Enemies & #39; did not receive such an important advertising, which is now almost the main tool necessary for the return on staged films. It is possible that the creators of ' Nedrudov' did not believe in the final successful result and therefore somehow restrained themselves in relation to this western. It was in vain, because the film was extremely good. The plot is based on the story of Captain Joseph J. Blocker, who for a long time participated in exhausting bloody actions against the indigenous population of the United States - the Indians. He knows firsthand what scalps are and the cruelty of the Cheyenne. And now he is given the order to transmit the Cheyenne chief Yellow Hawk, with whom Blocker so stubbornly fought a bloody war. As a soldier, Blocker is forced to agree, feeling anger and hatred for Yellow Hawk and his family. Along the way, they meet a woman who lost her husband and children after an Indian attack. This journey will change everyone and make them look at those they once considered enemies in a different way. . .
The fact that 'Enemies' is a recognized Western, still for the most part I would like to highlight its dramatic component, especially since it itself consists of several storylines. One of them, you guessed it, is a relationship between Blocker and the Indians, and the other connects Blocker again, but this time with a woman they took along the way. The first dramatic line, in theory, was supposed to be the main one, because we were so carefully trying to present all the tension in the relationship between two warring representatives of different races and religions. Blocker shows his aggression and hatred, and Yellow Hawk with ethnic equanimity takes all the attacks of the captain, jerking him short philosophical remarks. But that storyline was completely consumed by the line of relationship between Blocker and the nailed woman. There is a very strong message, where human feelings literally turn inside out, where there should have been emptiness suddenly appear much-needed emotions that drown out all the pain that has formed inside. And 'Enemies' have several very violent scenes that bring sharpness and realism from the point of view of the Western.
Of course, it would be impossible to achieve such persuasiveness in emotional presentation, if not for the brilliant performance of the actors. First of all, this concerns Christian Bale, who embodied the image of Captain Blocker. Everyone knows that working with this actor is very difficult, because he completely gives himself to roles, sometimes driving himself to exhaustion, being a model of perfectionism. Silent outside the set, he instantly reincarnates when the command 'Motor!'. Here it is in ' Enemies' he is the same and claims in the expression of the image of Bale can not be presented, because we have a real deep and characteristic character. I also want to praise and praise Rosamund Pike. To be honest, I couldn’t imagine her in a Western at all, and I feared that she would fail as Sharon Stone had in The Quick and the Dead 39 (1995). But Pike is delightfully harmoniously integrated into the role and the picture, which I say with complete confidence that this is one of the best roles of the actress, perhaps even the best after the role in ' Gone' (2014). And the duet Bale-Pike turned out surprisingly well-coordinated. And even the fact that the actors did not talk to each other outside the set does not mean that a cat ran between them, it is only a result of Bale's character. And their climactic scene near the train deserves a tear shed.
I was pleasantly surprised 'Adversaries' because, like many, I am very skeptical of the latest westerns, only if they are not removed by Quentin Tarantino, but I assure all Cinemaphiles that ' Enemies' deserve to spend time watching. If only because of the delightful performance of Christian Bale and Rosamund Pike, and the small appearance of Ben Foster makes the picture even more cruel and tragic.
Very aesthetic film, wonderful camera solutions and overall excellent camera work. Masanobu Takayanagi is a master of his craft and an excellent operator.
Well-constructed and staged story. Beautiful images of the characters, reflection of what is happening, internal experiences and states are conveyed perfectly. Everything is very harmonious and beautiful.
It should be emphasized that the topic of the indigenous population of America is very skillfully touched upon. The problem is shown from two sides: on the part of the Indians and on the part of the Americans, respectively, and is presented quite ambivalently. But the fact that it has not been forgotten, and built on this project in our time, really nice.
Excellent versatile cast, all without exception played at a very high level.
Separately, of course, it is worth noting Christian Bale, which fully justifies his Oscar. His performance is so excellent that you start to see that he can play anyone. His acting is simply the highest acting skill.
Adversaries is certainly an indicator of quality, beauty and reasonableness in one form.
Oh, Great Chief Mumbutu, the Pathfinder salutes your wigwam! The film is serious, if not tragic. Filmed very convincingly and realism sometimes beyond any measure, comes to something deliberately dark. Watch movies like this only in quality.
Heroes almost the time of the Wild West, but there is no American cowboy romanticism. However, all actors walk with pompously proud Native American importance, uttering phrases in degrees and through intervals. 'You are, however, wrong', says the old Indian, squinting for half an hour, sucking his pipe, which the whites took away from him in the last century.
In the moments of hanging out, it seems that I had to enjoy the atmosphere of the film, and there really is something to enjoy, because the film is incredibly organic and kind of beautiful. As entertainment in such moments, you can successfully entertain your own deduction and try, for example, to answer the question, ' which of the characters will eventually remain alive'.
If in terms of filming, cast and the like, the film is almost perfect, then I can not say anything good about the concept of it. We were raised on films about Chingachgook, even at the end of the 80-showed the Canadian film & #39; On the Path of War' so that we finally took the Indian side, armed with bows and shot the cursed Americans from an ambush along with the Comanches. After the change of chiefs, we were shown the other side of the problem, and I watched films for a long time where the Indians are shown as crooked parasites driving stolen cars across the border.
In ' Enemies' the good old children's fairy tale about great democracy has returned, which speaks about the changing political situation in the country in the present time. The Indians, apparently, in the end have already turned into a professional nation, the gutter on the unhealthy body of the state, at least the United States does not want to take the garbage out of its own hut.
Maybe the movie left too much time to think. Maybe the quality of the film has overwhelmed me. Or maybe I just can't help but try to understand why something unnatural is making its way through a pretty convincing picture of the movie. I do not believe that the Americans will now apologize and return to the Indians their rightful lands. Captured is not returned. And Christian Bale, as always, is handsome. At least it's worth looking at.
As a result, the film is not at all like a Western, although it is by a rather fanciful idea of the film. I am sure that if you watch it in normal quality, you will not notice any shortcomings at all.
On the film ' Enemies' I came across quite by accident when watching the filmography of Hollywood actor Christian Bale (' The Dark Knight', ' Prestige', ' Train to Yuma', ' The Power of Fire', 'Exodus: Kings and Gods' etc.), as I was very interested in his new works. So I decided to watch this movie. I really liked the movie! Everything in order.
Briefly about the plot. Exhausted by a long and bloody war, Captain Joseph Blocker, played by Christian Bale, receives an unexpected order to bring an elderly Indian and his family back to their homeland in Montana. Full of hatred for this people, Captain Blocker is forced to lead a group of soldiers and set off on a long and dangerous journey. . .
Bale played his part so convincingly that it is a pleasure to admire him. The anger that Captain Blocker feels towards the Indians, because after the war he saw them only as enemies. Strength, courage, perseverance - all this Bale managed to convey to the hundred.
As for other actors, the main female role went to actress Rosamund Pike ('Agent Johnny English: reboot', 'Jack Reacher' et al.). She played a woman who survived the loss of her husband and children. I had genuine compassion for this character. Despite all the pain, she is kind and caring to others.
The other actors played their roles equally well. In the image of an elderly Indian appeared Wes Studi, whom I had known before only in the film ' The Last of the Mohycan'.
The film ' Enemies' successfully combines two genres such as drama and western. There are many dramatic scenes in the film, but there are also exciting combat ones, for example, a shootout with a gang of Indians in the middle of the rocky mountains. Director Scott Cooper managed to perfectly show pain, hatred and despair against the backdrop of the beautiful nature of the wild west. There is a hot desert, and small cities, and endless mountains.
War breeds hatred. In my opinion, this is the meaning of the film. But even with all the bad things that can happen, even hatred can eventually turn into good.
I highly recommend seeing this picture.
Enemies' is a very useful and, in its own way, wonderful film about people, first of all, who have become opponents, about the enmity of Americans and Indians, about the wild wild west. There are no strictly positive and negative heroes. The story of two enemies, by chance, who became companions on the last journey for one of them. Everyone has their own truth, their own view of the past and the present. This is a narrative without sentiment and special pity, sometimes naturalistically cruel and therefore believable, with all the art. The cast does not just deliver, it is well selected - colorful faces and faces of American soldiers and bandits, Indian raiders, farmers. Especially since the main roles are Christian Bale (an old horse will not spoil the furrow), Rosamund Pike (pleases from role to role) and Wes Studi (a real descendant of Cherokee blood). The enemies never became friends (this is not a fairy tale with a happy ending), but they can respect each other and their worst enemies. Right?
Don’t ask what America can do for you. Ask What You Can Do for America, John F. Kennedy
Independent American cinema has smoothly failed and has long gone into the shadows under the pressure of powerful waves of Hollywood, propaganda and machines for making money. Rocky or Operation Argo Dust in the eyes of the world with a beautiful picture and a reason to gather the nation against enemies. But independent cinema is still there, but not enough. Remember Paul Thomas Anderson, a prime example of true American capitalism. The Academy did not just give all the prizes to the “old men” of the Coen brothers. Although more than a dozen critics put the true history of the United States in the tops of the best tapes of the 21st century.
The truth is always hard and it has several sides. The strongest wins, but the dirt remains behind everyone. This is not the first time Mr. Cooper reveals the depths of the history of American democracy. How the American Dream was born and on which bones it stands.
This tape is heavy and beautiful. I recommend enjoying a real western, where shooters are not just entertainment, but a game with death. This is not the Magnificent Seven where Pratt and Washington do good deeds. There are dark corners of life, where you do not want to go, but you have to. Life has no value, you are a soldier.
Against the background of the extinction of some genres, in contrast, there are more directorial works of former actors. And ironically, the fate of the picture in the dying western genre was in the hands of actor Scott Cooper, who directed ' Black Mass' and ' Crazy Heart'. ' Enemies' - Cooper's author's work, based on the story of producer Donald Stewart with Christian Bale and Rosamund Pike in the lead roles.
The plot of the film tells about the last mission of Captain Blocker. The dying Cheyenne leader, by presidential decree, must be transferred from the reservation with his family to their native lands. The task, despite its simplicity, is not easy for the captain, because the veteran of the Indian wars still has a fresh memory of his colleagues who fell at the hands of the Redskins.
Scott Cooper from the first frames manages to attract the attention of the viewer with frank shock scenes, as if feeling in the gut what the public needs on the wave of demand for the R rating and clearly hinting at the authentic cruelty of the wild west. On the wave of the revival of the Western genre, the director maintains in his picture a general trend that leads the genre itself from the adventure of paintings with John Wayne into a gloomy realism with the notes of a thriller. In addition, the narrative of the overall history of the film is seasoned with the style of road-movie, with one exception: the road adventures of the main characters will not be fun for the viewer, since the rattling mixture of guilt, sins of the past and psr creates help for drama and a place for bright life-affirming memories in this picture simply does not exist. The heroes of Christian Bale and Rosamund Pike against this background fit as successfully as possible in many respects thanks to the wonderful acting. But the secondary characters are rather deprived of the generosity of the author’s attention, not revealing themselves fully or not living to the second act of the narrative. This is the wild west. Cooper’s picture has all the tools to create an extremely authentic western and to revive the genre as a whole, but the general dynamics of the narrative is hardly able to keep every viewer at the screen – Cooper seems to savor every frame and every minute of his gloomy creation and the main idea allocated by the creator gives philosophy to the naive – the heroes go too short and straight from hateful enemies to humility and boundless respect for each other, from the grief of losses to the romantic line. Despite such flaws ' Enemies' - the picture is an order of magnitude higher than most of the content produced by the Dream Factory and deserves to be seen.
Captain Blocker, by all truths and untruths, must get to the place, accompanying the satellites imposed on him. The captain is an experienced commander and knows his business well. He saw a lot and did a lot of things, coming out alive from all the troubles. He's a winner. It is believed that the winner gets everything. Yeah, that's all, but only what's left. After all, it is immediately clear that not all who wander through the fields of evil and hatred will survive, where they cannot be protected from the raids of angry tribes, clearing the place from their opponents.
However, for the director, what is more important is what free people and slaves carry in themselves, what remains in them after many years of battles and cruel reprisals against the atrocities of wild barbarians, coming out, hand in hand, the winners and the defeated, remembering the sacrifices and losses, akin to combat friends, attached to weapons, as if their life would be an eternal war, but fatigue makes you know, and the mind seeks a way out and peace.
Therefore, the gloomy captain gloomyly struggles with his melancholy, suppressing instinct with an as yet unextinguished consciousness, accepting the reproaching nobility of the dignity-preserving opponent, inducing him to humanistic principles, intuitively accepted by him in anticipation of peace, which invariably replaces war.
Hence the disregard for the biographical details and personal characteristics of most characters, creating the ideological and moral environment necessary for observation, against the background of which there is a complex internal struggle, completely captivating Christian Bale, who is looking for a balance of good and evil, what the main character is doing, before whose eyes good deeds and atrocities are being done, by which he is both the instigator and not a dispassionate judge.
In Bale's silence, the director operates with declarative monologues of episodic characters defining the ethical positions of nobility and obscurantism opposing him, materializing them in demonstrative acts of violence and reconciliation, acquiring the missionary tone of a preacher, turning the apostate to true values, leaving the winner with those with whom one can truly live.
At its core, the American soul is firm; it is the soul of a hermit, a stoic and a murderer. There is no such thing as softness.
David Herbert Lawrence
Perhaps it is an indisputable fact that Christian Bale does not appear in bad films. A magnificent creative path, the milestones of which were such inspiring films as 'Mio, my Mio!', 'Equilibrium' and 'American psychopath', supplemented with a new moment.'Adversaries' shows us a mature and tired Christian Bale, where the wrinkles hide all the same view .
Going through the reviews of this film, you again realize that people watch movies like a kaleidoscope, without delving into the creative idea. War, hatred, the mercy of the victors, the entourage of the West - this is all that we see in both praise and negative reviews.
Nevertheless, the film with a degree of cruelty, with a rating of 16+, shows us the path of the Warrior of Light, the way one can understand it through the work of P. Coelho. The last campaign, designed to bring the work started to the end, step over yourself and protect a few close people. The path of a mature person, staid and disappointed with the hardships of spiritual anxiety. Here the enemy understands the actions of the enemy, not thinking about them, but knowing that he would do the same. There is no love for the sake of gratitude, but there is pity and comfort in the short-term unity of souls.
And a handful of land flies by the wind. . .
The film “Enemies” is shot very stylishly, with a high-quality picture and expressive. The only problem is that everything in the film has nothing to do with the real history of the United States. Moreover, this film is blatant propaganda aimed at presenting the history of this country in a favorable light, ignoring the real facts of history. Some will say that there doesn’t have to be historical truth in cinema, because cinema is art. That's right, but the story can be shot in different ways. If we talk about “Enemies”, we can give this analogy: you can make a film about how the Nazis during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. drove all the villagers into a large shed and set fire to (a real fact), and the film is not about this, but about the experiences of a German soldier who set fire to this shed, and then cried and for a long time “experied” about what happened. It would seem that the facts are real, and the accents in the film are different. And it turns out that in 100-200 years people will watch such a film and say: what “trogal” people were these Nazis, and the evil peasants in the burning shed upset the “trembling” occupiers.
I have no doubt that the film “Enemies” will appeal to many, including people who in their reviews of Westerns instead of the Gatling machine gun write about the Darling machine gun or the film “Enemies” for them the first seen film in this genre. I want to share my thoughts about this film with people “in the subject” and just thinking people.
In the credits, a voiceover informs that the film was shot from a manuscript!!! Donald Stewart. A manuscript is not a published literary work. What does that mean? If it is not published, it is impossible to make claims, to express official criticism. He's kind of gone. Very convenient, as this "manuscript" does not withstand any criticism.
The picturesque scene with the attack of "bloodthirsty savages" and the murder of a farmer's family in 1892 immediately sets priorities. They are not intricate: “exceptional” Americans do not respond to cruelty, but solve everything through justice. And a noble, valiant cavalry captain escorts convicted Indians from a New Mexico prison north to a reservation in Montana. By 1892, all prairie Indians from Saskatchewan in the north to the Rio Grande in the south had long been driven into reservations, including the Comanches who had attacked the farmer. The legendary Apache leader Geronimo ceased resistance in 1886, the Comanches on the reservation in 1875, the last free group of Sioux Indians was shot at Wounded Knee in 1890. Therefore, it would be more logical at the beginning of the film scene of the massacre at Wounded Knee, in which the main character of the film, the captain, took part. According to a colleague of the captain, a former officer turned criminal and now the main character is also sent to prison, they together killed women and children of Indians at Wounded Knee, and it was there that 300 unarmed Indians were shot, most of them women, children and the elderly. Americans call this massacre the last “battle” with savages.
But, the main character, the captain, as if he did not want to hear from a colleague about the former "deeds", he is now a "positive hero". It is not clear why the old sick chieftain of the Cheiann Yellow Hawk was brought to Montana, the land of the Crow and the Black-footed, their worst enemies. The homeland of the Northern Cheyenne is the territory of the modern states of Wyoming and South Dakota. The episode with the landowner, who demanded that the captain and the escorted Indians be removed from his land, looks absolutely stupid and pathetic. In the United States, private property is sacred, and every landowner has the right to defend his land with a gun. It was in vain that the captain shook the President's order, as it hardly read:" deliver to Montana, anywhere. Most likely, the old chief, released to die, should be taken to the Cheyenne reservation, where his tribesmen were by 1892. But, the stupid captain started an unnecessary skirmish with the landowner and his people, as a result of which almost the entire family of the leader died.
The film in style and content clearly claims to be a true story about the Wild West, but can not claim it, with such a disastrous interpretation of known events and facts. Rather, the title of the film should not be “Opponents”, but “Unprecedented”. In both the details and the main thing, there is nothing true and reliable in this film. Suffice it to say that all the Indian leaders who fought with the Americans were especially stubborn, they were never released from prison, and Yellow Hawk was a participant in the Battle of Little Big Horn! Osceola, Geronimo, and many others died in custody or were killed, like Furious Horse and Mangas Colorados when invited to "negotiations." This is a true story of the United States, not a fairy tale called “Adversaries.” Of the worthy films about these events, I would recommend Mad Horse (1994) and Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (2007).
2 out of 10
There are very few such films as "Adversaries". They are very unprofitable, people do not go to them in crowds and generally they do not fit into the mass format, so it is very difficult for them to beat even their very modest budget. However, for the most part, only in such inconspicuous films, the director, writer, actors and the entire crew can truly realize their talent and show something truly worthwhile.
"Enemies" is the purest work and a very strong drama that can touch the living and not let go for a long time. And this is exactly a drama, there is not a large number of shootings or horse chases usual for a Western. I think a lot of people will not like the slow and calm pace of the story, which only occasionally explodes with a strong moment. But personally, I can’t imagine this film in any other way, because that’s how it should be, and that’s how it works. The film slowly and meditatively tells the story, allowing the viewer to evaluate what is happening and draw conclusions at the end.
It uses the best format for presenting characters, when there are no heroes and villains, but there are just people, each of whom is bad and good in their own way, in other words, there are no clearly correct characters for whom you need to cheer. And although it is not possible to say that all the characters are revealed perfectly, but each is revealed according to its importance: the main characters are revealed in depth and in detail, and some characters simply appear, displaying some idea, and then leave the stage.
The film once again raises the theme of the tragedy of the Indian peoples, but in this case it is shown somehow especially dramatic and tragic, so that to remain indifferent after watching is very difficult. And at the same time, the film does not beat excessive pathos and does not impose its ideas, but shows everything calmly, measuredly and gradually.
It is very difficult not to notice that the cast of the film is simply wonderful. Christian Bale and Rosamund Pike are very good and professional actors who play well in any film, and it would be difficult to pick someone better for such dramatic roles. Well, it is pointless to list the secondary cast, all the good actors contributed to the picture to a greater or lesser extent. In any case, this film is largely built on strong acting and without it, it was an order of magnitude worse.
Operator work, although it can not be called outstanding, but everything is filmed quite well and even with frequent use of static frames everything looks quite beautiful and spectacular.
As a result, Enemies is an excellent film that speaks to quite traditional, but quite relevant topics today and does it with all professionalism and quality. And if you do not find fault with the most minor details, then the film, in fact, nothing to blame. So far, this is the strongest drama of 2018.
The only thing you never get used to is losing friends.
Motivation to watch "Adversaries", mainly served local comments about the well-performed role of Joseph - Christian Bale. And the ex-machinist (now Captain), once again turned out to be really good, however, as did Denis Bespaly, who again voiced Christian. And then you involuntarily get delighted and surprised at how synchronously these two most talented actors develop each year. But that is not the point.
Each appearance of Bale, in key snippets, in a series of standout games, seemed to fall out of the context of the film. And that rethinking of values, which was mentioned earlier here, really took place, but not gradually, as I would like, but almost immediately - in one of the first scenes, where Joe and Tommy were sitting at the same table. In my opinion, this happened because most of the experiences of the main characters of the film were based not so much on what is happening on the screen, but on memories. And in this place, the narrative sagged greatly just because of the lack of flashbacks, which often become an ornament and an important addition to any film. Despite all the efforts of the actors, their characters were initially deprived as such of development and co-experience on the part of the viewer, because the script did not provide for their experience, history. And, alas, one stone, imbued with melancholy faces, here simply can not do. As a good example, I would like to recall the legendary “Dancing with Wolves”, where the characters were also deprived of any flashbacks, but only one scene with horseback riding “to the meeting of death”, turns the entire narrative upside down and dots the “i”. After that, everything that did not happen in the film inexorably goes into the treasury of Lieutenant Dunbar’s life experience, and the multiplication of the desire to live not only with him, but also with the viewer. And in a sense, years earlier, shot by the same Cooper “Out of the Heat”, in relation to the drama can be considered much more complete: where the characters are revealed to the maximum possible extent, and the strained strings between them are about to break with increasing tension.
Be that as it may, Enemies deserves the 2 hours it takes to watch. First of all, thanks to a number of fundamental scenes, each of which can be individually reviewed several times. And also incredibly relevant and emotional music, which, like a storm, mixes pain with joy, compassion with cruelty, euphoria with agony – a kind of mix of experiences. And it would be very appropriate to add that in such moments, more than ever, you understand the saying: “Silence is gold.” Because the real struggle takes place not against the background of disagreements, but in the innermost corners of the soul of the heroes.
For those who haven’t seen this movie, I would like to warn you about the genre. It's far from a western, although there are shootings and sort of chases. Rather, it is a moral parable with a trip through the endless steppes of North America in search of the lost meaning of life, built on heartfelt conversations at the campfire and mourning friends who have gone forever. The importance of living in the present and not looking back.
I don't often get the chance to watch Westerns, in many ways, because they're rarely made. I noticed this movie as soon as I heard about it. The description seemed interesting to me, and the fact that in the title role K. Bale added confidence that the movie is really worthy. It turns out. The movie was pretty good and I liked it for the most part.
First of all, thanks to the play of the main role. It was wonderful, and once again I am convinced that Bale has talent. And you can see the effort. Thank goodness he didn’t have to change his body for the role. It's getting a little scary for his health.
The role of the main female character was chosen by the actress no worse in terms of talent. I had no doubt about the power of her play either, knowing some of her previous work. In the film, she also tries, her heroine, like Bale's hero, change, progress. And if the main character has a hard internal struggle with his firm convictions, and the events that occur force him to change his attitude to some important things, then the heroine of R. Pike is generally cured of a mental illness, a deep shock that she has to experience at the beginning of the film. The squad finds her in an extremely deplorable state, and gradually she finds strength and recovers, and at the end of the tape completely returns to a normal, full life.
Not hit in the dirt face and secondary characters, among which were also famous actors. For example, S. Lang, or, looking at the light, B Foster, I immediately recognized them. It is a pity that their roles are episodic. Foster’s storyline could have been better developed and revealed, rather than through dialogue with Bale. There were a couple of familiar faces in the second roles.
I didn’t like the opening scene, even though it’s very important. It seemed that the characters did not act in the wisest way. Instead of finding shelter in the house and firing from there, for some reason you need to go out into an open space where a blind man can shoot you. And I didn't expect such a cynical murder of young children, I literally wouldn't blink an eye. It was cruel, but it was not template.
It also seemed to me a little unfinished the moment when the main character changes his mind about the leader, whom he accompanies and calls his friend. Although the captain gradually becomes softer towards the old man in the course of the film, in order to change his mind to the opposite, something more is needed, for example, an Indian must save his life or someone who is dear to him. It was necessary to play the whole situation deeper, that there was no confusion.
And in general, it is a good Western drama, with excellent actors and their play, leisurely narration, natural landscapes, atmospheric and meaningful, serious and down to earth. Worth your attention.