The movie, the Searchers, is an excellant representation of the relationship between the cowboy and the land. The film takes place out west and the landscape always seems very dry and dusty. There are large rock formations which cause the characters to appear very small. The landscape in the film relates to how Tompkins describes it. She says "The land revealed on the opening pages or in the opening shot of a Western is a land defined by absence: of trees, of greenery, of houses, of the signs of civilization, above all, absence of water and shade." In the film, all of these qualities were present. The house where Ethan's brother, his wife, and their four kids lived was in a desolute area. They appeared to own the only house around. Throughout the movie, they were in the wilderness and it was very brown and there was no greenery.
This film suggests that the relationship between the cowboy and the land is that the two are similar. Tompkins says in her book that the cowboy is usually a lonely figure. He travels alone and lives alone. This is true of the landscape. As picturesque as it is, the land is desolute with no civilization. The cowboy prefers to be alone and tries to excape civilization and he finds refuge in the landscape.
The movie, the Searchers, is an excellant representation of the relationship between the cowboy and the land. The film takes place out west and the landscape always seems very dry and dusty. There are large rock formations which cause the characters to appear very small. The landscape in the film relates to how Tompkins describes it. She says "The land revealed on the opening pages or in the opening shot of a Western is a land defined by absence: of trees, of greenery, of houses, of the signs of civilization, above all, absence of water and shade." In the film, all of these qualities were present. The house where Ethan's brother, his wife, and their four kids lived was in a desolute area. They appeared to own the only house around. Throughout the movie, they were in the wilderness and it was very brown and there was no greenery.
ReplyDeleteThis film suggests that the relationship between the cowboy and the land is that the two are similar. Tompkins says in her book that the cowboy is usually a lonely figure. He travels alone and lives alone. This is true of the landscape. As picturesque as it is, the land is desolute with no civilization. The cowboy prefers to be alone and tries to excape civilization and he finds refuge in the landscape.
There is one scene in particular that displays the connection between the cowboy and the land. Ethan is riding towards the house on horseback and it looks as though he is coming out of the land. This describes the alpha male cowboy because he usually is coming out of the land. It is where he prefers to live, it is what he thrives off.