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From: amc@mhuxl.UUCP (COHILL)
Newsgroups: net.movies
Subject: Review of Pale Rider
Message-ID: <272@mhuxl.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 1-Jul-85 08:20:17 EDT
Article-I.D.: mhuxl.272
Posted: Mon Jul  1 08:20:17 1985
Date-Received: Tue, 2-Jul-85 05:20:10 EDT
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill
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I went to see Clint Eastwood's new movie "Pale Rider" the other
night. It is a must for Clint Eastwood fans, naturally, but it is
also one of the best westerns that I can remember seeing in a long
time. Eastwood directed, and he plays the the same character
he always has, with a little twist I won't reveal for those that
don't want it spoiled.
  The story is stolen almost verbatim from 'Shane', although it is
big miners against little miners, rather than cattle ranchers 
against farmers. Although the story is predictable, Eastwood has
given all the characters very interesting personalities, something
you never saw in the old Leone films he made.
  There was also a lot of attention given to costume and setting,
that reminded me of "Heaven's Gate." You really had the feeling that
this is how things must have looked. The most interesting thing I
noticed was that all of the interior scenes were shot in natural
light (or a minimum of artificial light).  It was startling at
first, but after you think about it you realize that this was the
*real* thing--it was always dark inside then. Eastwood has the
characters move toward and away from the windows frequently to bring
them in and out of the light.
   The whole movie, though, is dark and somber. Eastwood has tried
for some allegory here (there is a clumsy Biblical reference to the
"pale rider" at the beginning) and on the whole, I thought he
succeeded. The one gunman character has a mystical quality that I
liked.
   Eastwood also injects some moments of real humour in the film,
something else that was always missing from his earlier "spaghetti"
days. Finally, there is no wanton bloodshed in the movie. There is
some killing, but it is strictly part of the plot, and none of the
Peckinpah blood all over the place scenes.
  This is a very elegant Western.
 
                                 Andy Cohill
                                 {allegra,ihnp4}mhuxl!amc