Clint Eastwood Made the Same Western Twice — With Very Different Results

The big picture

• Clint Eastwood's films reflect his growth as both a star and a filmmaker, traversing the supernatural and highlighting his artistic quirks.
• Tramp of the High Plains
  i
  Pale Rider
  are two chapters of Clint Eastwood's history book, representing the dichotomy between good and evil.
• Eastwood's works may have been critical, but they are not superficial; explores the human experience of violence and responds with resilience to negative appraisals.

In two of his most prominent Western films, Clint Eastwood manages not only to traverse the supernatural but also colorfully illustrates his growth as both a star and a filmmaker. In Tramp of the High Plains, is a vengeful spirit that seeks to unleash the fires of hell itself. In pale rider, he is the embodiment of light, a kind of angel sent by God himself to quell man's insatiable greed. Structurally similar with small subtle differences, the two images are more than the representation of the dichotomy between good and evil. These are two different chapters in Eastwood's history book, imbued with the spirit of an artist who chose to do things his way, while trying to accentuate his quirks and idiosyncrasies.

“High Plains Drifter” and “Pale Rider” are two sides of the same coin

Tramp of the High Plains has Clint Eastwood as a walker with all the bravado in the world in the town of Lago. The townspeople are helpless, and since he is a skilled marksman with no fear in their eyes, they ask the stranger to protect them from the imminent return of three prisoners they have banished earlier. One by one, they accede to their ridiculous desires as they display the relentless outrage of a man who has lost everything. As it turns out, his movements are justified, as he is supposed to be the reincarnated spirit of Jim Duncan, the marshal who was mercilessly killed by the returning robbers while the entire town looked on indifferently. As the personification of death itself, the stranger brutally takes out the criminals and burns the entire city, exacting his revenge in the process.

In a similar vein, Pale Rider makes the icon appear as a miracle, the result of a wish of one of the villagers terrorized by a mining company. There's gold hidden beneath the rocks of Carbon Valley, and Coy LaHood, the town's mineral magnate, is determined to evict the independent miners who work day and night to collect his bounty. When the bullying gets out of hand, the mysterious preacher arrives and becomes her saving grace. Urging the miners to unite, he begins to end their suffering by firing LaHood's hired guns, restoring peace. The two pictures end with Eastwood riding off into the sunset under opposite circumstances.

Clint Eastwood movies don't always go down well with critics

There is no doubt that Clint Eastwood is one of the biggest names, not only in the Western genre, but in American cinema as a whole. Interestingly, despite his status, he was not always acclaimed. Some critics dismissed his one-dimensional performance, the political ideologies affiliated with his work, and an affinity for senseless violence in the name of masculinity. Despite his success with Sergio LeoneThe Dollars trilogy, the picture series initially met with undeserved disapproval, at least in the Western world. His future characters encountered the same poison. At the head of this is the famous film critic Pauline Kael, and in her scathing commentary Dirty Harry: Saint Cop, defended how Eastwood's film is full of immorality and full of “fascist potential”. On the surface, Eastwood was very dismissive of Kael, calling it a simple wake-up call. However, some say he took it personally, with his ex-girlfriend Sondra Locke mentioning in her autobiography that Eastwood had psychiatrists psychoanalyze Kael's criticisms.

Whatever it is, it's totally wrong to reduce Clint Eastwood's works to the colorful adjectives that Pauline Kael has commented on. Examining his art, both as a star and as a filmmaker, he seems enamored with the human experience of violence and how they would respond to it. Yes, one could say that his works are generally easy to understand, but being easy to understand does not equate to superficiality. You could even say he used Kael's comments and the other negative ratings as fuel for the fire. This is most evident if you look contextually side by side at the two similar westerns he made at different periods of his life.

With 'Pale Rider', Clint Eastwood reinvents himself

One could easily assume that Tramp of the High Plains it is a direct response to criticism of its ultra-violence and its ability to play only the man with a cigarillo, or other versions of it. Naturally, the main character is a cigarette-smoking stranger who literally and figuratively paints the whole town red. Do they say it's violent? Okay, so he whips his enemies to death and shows no mercy to the seemingly innocent residents of Lago. Do they say he has fascist tendencies? Okay, the foreigner becomes a dictator of the city, lives like a king and instills fear in their souls. They say it's one dimensional? Maybe, and he shows little or no emotion in every minute of the picture. This is a feature full of indifference and disdain, brilliantly painted with the strokes of a filmmaker with a clear intention in mind: he doesn't care what you think of him, and he'll do whatever he wants. The result of this is a picture that makes us sympathize with an almost irredeemable characterand every second is simply fascinating.

Over time, he became aware and self-aware of how people viewed the Eastwood myth and began to slowly and systematically tear down its figurative walls. In Magnum Force, Harry Callahan breaks away from a hypermasculine group of “fascist” cops and stands up for what he believes is the right way of life. In the executor, he aligns himself with a female, which allows him to humanize himself. Anyway, but loose took things to a whole different level by getting him and his image literally and figuratively beaten. The most important, escape from alcatrazThe end of s brings with it the most blatant and significant moment of removing Eastwood's old vision. When Frank Morris takes off his mask and escapes from prison, it is the cinematic representation of Clint Eastwood who sheds his old persona and ventures into a new world.

It may have shed some of the hallmarks of its legend, but to completely reinvent itself, it must return to where it all began: the Western. This is where Pale Rider come into play Like the stranger in his previous film, the preacher is also implied to be the resurrection of a man the protagonists once knew. He stands on the shoulders of his first vicious characters, but subverts their qualities to arrive at someone more principled and aligned with the general idea of ​​righteousness. Here, the preacher's violence is more determined. Yes, he's still the gunslinger Eastwood that audiences loved and critics despised. Yet here he is, using his lightning-quick hands to shoot down the enemies of the everyday man. Although he is celebrated as the town's de facto leader, he rules out a pursuit of power and selflessly encourages them to never lose hope. The fact that their main rallying cry is to get the miners to band together to survive completely demolishes the notion of any sort of fascist leanings. The preacher may have done away with all the heavies, but the glory belongs to the people of Carbon Valley. It is in this image that he begins to show a more sympathetic side, a side that will continue to be explored and subsequently subverted again, especially in unforgivable.

If you think about it, there's a lot about these two pictures that make things turn around. You have a movie giant, who made a name for himself in westerns. He gives them a supernatural twist and at the same time presents a total self-loathing and self-awareness, all in the immortal image of the nameless man, riding a horse and riding away into the sands of time. It's on Tramp of the High Plains yen Pale Rider where you can see the clearest picture of the evolution of his work, both as a star and as a director. Akin to the reincarnated spirits of Marshall Jim Duncan and The Preacher, Clint Eastwood's image rises from the dust like a Phoenix, rising from the ashes of the man with no name.

Tramp of the High Plains is available to rent on Apple TV+ in the US

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