“He was growing into middle age, and was living then in a bungalow on Woodland Avenue. He installed himself in a rocking chair and smoked a cigar down in the evenings as his wife wiped her pink hands on an apron and reported happily on their two children. His children knew his legs, the sting of his mustache against their cheeks. They didn’t know how their father made his living, or why they so often moved. They didn’t even know their father’s name. He was listed in the city directory as Thomas Howard. And he went everywhere unrecognized and lunched with Kansas City shopkeepers and merchants, calling himself a cattleman or a commodities investor, someone rich and leisured who had the common touch. He had two incompletely healed bullet holes in his chest and another in his thigh. He was missing the nub of his left middle finger and was cautious, lest that mutilation be seen. He also had a condition that was referred to as “granulated eyelids” and it caused him to blink more than usual as if he found creation slightly more than he could accept. Rooms seemed hotter when he was in them. Rains fell straighter. Clocks slowed. Sounds were amplified. He considered himself a Southern loyalist and guerrilla in a Civil War that never ended. He regretted neither his robberies, nor the seventeen murders that he laid claim to. He had seen another summer under in Kansas City, Missouri and on September 5th in the year 1881, he was thirty-four-years-old.”
I’ve often thought about ‘The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford’. The film is about the infamous outlaw and the man who took his life. It’s the best examination of Jesse James ever committed on film and not only that, but one of the best character studies as well. Director Andrew Dominik examines every fine detail about who the man was. The title ‘The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford’ doesn’t focus on Jesse James, but instead on the man who would become his killer. This is because the film isn’t told from the perspective of Jesse James, but by Robert Ford’s perspective.
We first meet Robert outside of Jesse’s camp out in the woods. They’re preparing for what is meant to be the James gang’s last robbery before they break up. Robert Ford is a hired gun of minor importance tries to get in the favor of Jesse James himself. Robert grew up idolizing Jesse and always put him up on a pedestal. He believed all the stories and myths he heard about Jesse. He collected books and memorabilia that dealt with Jesse James. Robert is ultimately accepted into the gang and strikes up a relationship with Jesse. Robert lives to please Jesse and Jesse seems satisfied to obtain such dedication and respect. After getting to know Jesse James, Robert comes to understand that the famous outlaw is simply just a man. He’s not a god. He is not exceptionally clever or special. Over time, the two become locked into a love hate relationship. Robert needs Jesse’s approval and it’s hard to see why Jesse needs Ford, but the need is there nonetheless. That’s what makes Robert’s ultimate betrayal so powerful. After a series of mishaps, misunderstandings, and decline of trust Robert expects that Jesse James will eventually kill him.
“Can’t figure it out. Do you want to be like me or do you want to be me?” Jesse asks Ford. Throughout the rest of the film, Robert starts to dress more like Jesse. When he kills for the first time, he leans up against the wall grinning. He wants to become the new Jesse James almost. He wants Robert Ford to become a household name. As the film progresses, Ford’s love and obsession for Jesse slowly turns into bitterness. He realizes that he’s nothing and will never be an equal to the famous Jesse James. He just has anger built up against Jesse. First he had a desire to be Jesse, but then he wants to replace him and Jesse James is the only obstacle in his way of fame.
Before Robert Ford’s betrayal, he walks around Jesse’s home. He sits in his bed, drinks his water, envisioning him missing a fingertip. Ford seems almost possessed that he’ll be the next Jesse James. Then it happens… the betrayal.
This scene is the perfect example of all the elements giving the film a somber, autumnal, and melancholic feel. James deliberately removes his gun holster and places it out of reach, while he stands staring out his window with his back to Charlie and Robert Ford. These actions suggest that Jesse knows what is about to happen. He’s ready for it. Jesse looking out the window has an almost spiritual sense to it. The cross-shaped grille he stands behind. Even his black vest gives him the appearance of a minister.
The room they are in is lightly furnished with dark brown furniture and the beige walls. There’s a dark brown wall shelf and a portrait on one side. Then there’s a simple drawing of a brown horse on the other side of the room. Jesse turns around and comments, “Don’t that picture look dusty,” in regards to that drawing, which is strangely located high up near the ceiling. Seems unlikely that anyone can see dust that far away. Jesse sets a chair in front of the wall so he can properly reach the drawing. His back is once again to Charlie and Robert. Robert aims his gun at Jesse, who can see it happening through the reflection of the glass pane. He knows he’s about to die, but does nothing to avoid it. Ford at long last pulls the trigger ending Jesse James’ life. It’s a suitably dramatic and stylized end to a figure whose immorality and mercilessness did nothing to stop Robert Ford from worshiping him nor murdering him.
Robert Ford is so blinded by his mission for fame that eventually his desires two-timed him. He’s famous for murdering Jesse, but he’s famously hated. Robert is neither loved, respected, nor feared… just hated. He’s called a coward, receives death threats, and is driven to alcoholism. It seems bizarre that so many people would jump to the defense of one of the most important criminals in the West, but legend had taken hold. He deals with public hate and regret. Then the cruelest blow is dealt to Robert Ford.
“Edward O’Kelly came up from Bachelor at one P.M. on the 8th. He had no grand scheme. No strategy. No agreement with higher authorities. Nothing but a vague longing for glory, and a generalized wish for revenge against Robert Ford. Edward O’Kelly would be ordered to serve a life sentence in the Colorado Penitentiary for second degree murder. Over seven thousand signatures would eventually be gathered in a petition asking for O’Kelly’s release, and in 1902, Governor James B. Ullman would pardon the man. There would be no eulogies for Bob, no photographs of his body would be sold in sundries stores, no people would crowd the streets in the rain to see his funeral cortege, no biographies would be written about him, no children named after him, no one would ever pay twenty-five cents to stand in the rooms he grew up in. The shotgun would ignite, and Ella Mae would scream, but Robert Ford would only lay on the floor and look at the ceiling, the light going out of his eyes before he could find the right words.”
In other words, Robert Ford dies hated and is forgotten. Jesse James dies a hero of the people. A symbol. His longing of fame is unproductive and destructive.
‘The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford’ is melancholic, slow, atmospheric, and haunting. It’s possibly one of the saddest westerns I’ve ever seen. It’s not your typical western film, if anything, it’s an anti-Western, which is rare. The film clocks in at about two and a half hours. I found it to be thoroughly appealing and unbelievably striking. It’s as if Terence Malik directed a western.
The score to the film is amazing. Nick Cave and his pianist Warren Ellis composed it. Nick Cave, of course, is one of my favorite artists. ‘Into my Arms’ and ‘Where the Wild Roses Grow’ are some of my favorite songs. The score adds a lot to the atmosphere to the film. Nick Cave also has a nice little cameo as a minstrel.
Then there’s the cinematography done by the one and only Roger Deakins (Blade Runner 2049). Deakins brings the most noble contribution to the film. His cinematography in this film is so astonishing, evocative, and magnificent. The visual style adds remarkably to the feel of sadness over its characters. The film is a must see for the cinematography alone. The film as a whole feels like old photographs come to life.
Last but not least, there are the performances. It feels like Brad Pitt’s entire career lead him to this role. Most of Brad Pitt’s performances are good, but his depiction of Jesse James is truly his best. Pitt perfectly encapsulates the character’s simmering anger, paranoia, and charisma. He plays a great disturbed, unstable, unpredictable, sad, and troubled figure. It seems like he was born to lay the role. Then there’s Casey Affleck as the complexly disturbed Robert Ford. He’s socially awkward and whimpering brownnoser at times. He’s constantly shifting, fidgeting, avoiding eye contacts, and having nervous ticks. He’s a better actor than his brother in my opinion. The rest of the cast includes Sam Rockwell, Jeremy Renner, Garret Dillahunt, Ted Levine, Mary Louise Parker, and Sam Shepard.
Lots of people haven’t heard of this film, but why is that? Well it was released the same year as ‘There Will Be Blood’ and ‘No Country for Old Men’. Poor distribution from Warner Bros. and little to no advertising probably killed the film at the box office. I’m glad that among my fellow cinephiles that it’s gaining popularity.
5 out of 5
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