Far Country

Year: 1954

Grade: B+

Country: USA

Director: Mann

Review

this and winchester 73 have sold me on the mann/stewart collaboration…now i plan on buying all the dvds featuring their talents…bend of the river, man from laramie, etc. this is a real quality western. it has the perfect setting – in the yukon during the gold rush – which allows it to be on a frontier, with plenty of money, great vistas and lawlessness. jimmy stewart plays yet another hero who isn’t. throughout the majority of the film stewart’s character (jeff) portrays a decidedly solipsistic cowboy who is neither good nor bad. in the end, though, he comes around. he comes around not because the injustice of the world finally becomes too much, but because he becomes injured and finally knows what it’s like to be unable to care for himself – for once he is reliant upon others. the cinematography is really beautiful – especially the night/dusk scenes and the aforementioned mountain vistas. stewart is, of course, the centerpiece of the film, but the supporting cast is equally fantastic. none of them do as good an acting job, but each character reflects upon jeff in such a way that we have four different views of our central character. renee offers the opposite view – she knows from the outset that people need people, mr. gannon is the dark complement to jeff’s character – perhaps what jeff could have been under slightly different circumstances, and ronda serves as the pefect female match for jeff before he realizes the err of his ways. walter brennan rounds out the cast as he has so many times before (clementine, rio bravo, etc.). it’s an engaging story and a deep film. definitely worthwhile.