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Ever since the dawn of the genre, American Westerns have been dominated by larger-than-life heroes. While this is generally a fun way to celebrate heroes that would go on to influence science fiction heroes like Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers, Westerns often were led by exaggerated male archetypes. It increasingly became a rougher, more hostile genre where physicality, violence, and disrespectful treatment of women became common. Many more fictitious Westerns that didn’t incorporate any shreds of history would surely feature a lonesome hero saving a woman from danger, and the Westerns that paid closer attention to historical detail were almost guaranteed to show the more brutal side of it. It left modern filmmakers reapproaching the genre with the role of reinventing the genre, which first-time filmmaker John Maclean did brilliantly with his 2015 A24 western Slow West. A subversive, slickly stylized dark comedy-thriller, Slow West is both a sort of fairy tale and a poignant commentary on masculinity and how it relates to the core principles of the genre.
Frankly, it’s remarkable that Slow West is a directorial debut, as Maclean has such a clear mastery of style and visual poetry that it feels like he’s mastered his craft over the course of a lengthy career; Slow West was rewarded with the Sundance Institute’s World Cinema Jury Prize: Dramatic Winner, but sadly Maclean has yet to develop a subsequent project. The film is an immigrant story following the young Scotsman Jay Cavendish (Kodi Smit-McPhee), who travels to the United States from his homeland to rescue and save his great love Rose Ross (Caren Pistorius). Jay is completely unprepared for the perils of his journey, but he gains an unlikely mentor in the veteran bounty hunter Silas Selleck (Michael Fassbender). The mismatched pair go to find Rose and her family as they are pursued by the eccentric criminal leader Payne (Ben Mendelsohn), a former ally of Silas’ that wants to claim the reward for capturing the Ross family. What follows is a bizarre combination of picturesque visuals, absurd moments of humor, surprisingly shocking violence, and an uproarious commentary on male heroes.
‘Slow West’ Has A24’s Unique Style
The film’s opening scenes setting up Jay’s relationship with Rose are nearly parodical in how fanciful they are; Jay is hopelessly smitten with the young girl, but both she and her father John (Rory McCann) have fled to America with a price on their heads after a man dies in their company. There is some sort of disconnect that distinguishes Jay’s perspective on the situation from what has actually transpired. He clearly imagines himself as a grand romantic hero whose quest is one of nobility, yet the scenes between him and Rose herself are relatively brief. While she only claims to be interested in him like a lovable “little brother,” it’s enough for Jay to make the trip across the sea to rescue her. Of course, the comedy comes from the fact that Jay is in no position to offer any legitimate assistance at all.
The moment he begins his crusade of passion, Jay’s lack of practical knowledge is evident. He gets lost in the woods, fails to create a sustainable shelter for himself, and is nearly killed by rival bounty hunters. After Silas saves him to his amusement, he decides to employ the untrustworthy outlaw as his protector and guide. Silas is of course intrigued by the bounty on the Ross family (not that Jay would be smart enough to realize that) and agrees to take care of Jay in their journey together. What’s interesting is that Jay’s decisions aren’t necessarily “toxic,” but they’re naive to a fault. He doesn’t realize he’s putting Rose’s family in more danger by chasing after them, and he seems to take any rumor he’s heard as gospel. Smit-McPhee’s meager demeanor makes him appear even more childlike and pathetic; it’s hard not to feel bad for him, but seeing him constantly screw up is hilarious in its own right.
Fassbender does a great job at showing how Silas is slightly mocking Jay throughout, as he claims that the young man’s quest is absurd. Silas views any notion of sincerity with contempt and uses his nihilistic attitude as a defense. This may be enough to convince Jay that he’s a professional, but it’s evident that his only intent is to tease. He callously mocks Jay for his mission since he hasn’t been intimate with Rose, claiming that his interests in women are purely sexual and transactional. If Jay is delusional about his mission in the first place, then Silas is simply putting on a front for someone he knows will believe anything he says. They’re both making mistakes about their masculine ego, which makes their misadventures facing off against the perils of the wilderness and Payne’s gang even more uproarious.
A Surprising Western Shootout
Slow West makes its point based on the chaotic final shootout that concludes the story. Instead of aiming for the epic noble duel of The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly, Slow West’s final battle is more of a darkly comedic frenzy with some of the West’s biggest idiots. Payne’s threatening demeanor completely evaporates when he’s revealed to be a cowardly leader who puts his men in danger as they close in on Rose, and both Jay and Silas get a slice of truth when they finally find the Ross family. Rose and John have settled into a beautiful countryside home that’s idealized to a comedic degree, but the seemingly perfect environment is torn apart as Jay, Silas, and Payne with his gang come barging in fighting like children with toys.
Payne’s evil speech is hilariously cut short when he’s quickly dispatched, and Jay isn’t very effective in the battle because his hand had been critically wounded by a Native American arrow earlier in the mission. In an ironic twist of fate, it’s not Payne or his men who strike Jay with a critical blow, but Rose herself. Rose ends up being more helpful in facing off against the outlaw band than her young suitor would have been at his strongest, but she sadly shoots him after failing to realize he was in love with her. After Jay dies knowing the relationship he thought he had was never real, it’s the rough and tough Silas whose heart mellows. Silas has spent the whole film mocking Jay for wanting a simple family life of pure love, but that’s secretly what drives him. He marries Rose, they raise children, and he gets to have the joyous romance that he had lampooned Jay for.
Slow West is a film that unpacks the fronts that men put on to gain respect or whatever reputation they desire. It’s an exaggerated game of pretend, yet each of the main characters (Jay, Silas, and Payne) is all met with the knowledge of what they can actually achieve by the end. It’s a hilariously bonkers adventure that contains a lot of truth about the genre itself, and how so much of it conforms to these fronts put on to provide a spectacle.
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