The first Hillcoat film I ever watched was in fact ‘The Road’, a post-apocalyptic film starring Viggo Mortensen about a Father and Son struggling to survive in a hell-ish, dull, ‘last days’ type of world. The film, which was based on a novel, was superbly directed from the use of smoggy colours to convey the mood of the in-prosperous world to the well-drawn out camera work creating suspense and inflicting tension. This film left a great impression on me, so when the release of a Western (a genre I adore) named Lawless was released by Hillcoat I immediately found myself on a seat in the cinema excitedly waiting. To make things even better I discovered Tom Hardy was the main protagonist!
Lawless for me was a good film, not a great film but a decent and entertaining one. The casting was brilliant with Tom Hardy playing Forrest Bondurant, one of three Brothers illegally profiting from the Virginian Prohibition. Guy Pearce plays bad cop Charlie Rakes, Shia LeBeouf shines as the younger more vulnerable and less tough Bondurant Brother whilst Jessica Chastain performs flawlessly as a victimized dancer from Chicago looking for a break.
The acting is second to none but the film hits its downfall with the extreme and unnecessary violence that goes beyond causing a visceral effect. One Critique described it as “a show down to who has the biggest pair”. The only hard-hitting effective scene where this extreme violence works is when bad cop Charlie Rakes viciously assaults younger and weaker Brother Jack Bondurant (Shia LeBeouf). The repetition of the on-going violence in this scene is disturbing as it is arguably stretched out for half a minute too long, thus making it unpleasant for the viewer to watch, however this works effectively as the scene gets the viewer despising bad cop Charlie Rakes and makes him even more despicable than his middle-parting haircut.
I watched Lawless (2012) after being impressed by The Road (2009), this ultimately lead me back to a Western of Hillcoat’s earlier work in 2005, a film named The Proposition. The first thing that struck me as interesting was the similarities I noticed in this film and Lawless before even watching it. To state the obvious the director was the same guy, but more interestingly so was the script writer, Nick Cave. The plot had similarities too with one of the stories main problems surrounding three Brothers, as it does in Lawless. The film also casts Guy Pearce, although he is the main protagonist not the villain. Whilst watching the film the main concern I had was Ray Winstone as Captain Stanley. I suppose I just didn’t like the idea of Ray Winstone in a Western invading my escapist world. However, I was sceptical about him being in The Departed (Martin Scorsesse) and he turned out to be brilliant so I left my mind open and again to my surprise it worked!
The Proposition, like Lawless, has its moments of eye squinting violence but the use of it is to much more effect and purpose. From the beginning of the film we sympathise with youngest of the three Brothers, Mike Burns. Captain Stanley (Ray Winstone) makes a bargain with middle Brother Charlie Burns (Guy Pearce) to find his infamous older Brother Arthur and bring him into the law to be hanged; in exchange he and his younger Brother go free.
Without revealing the entire story, you may have guessed that the law are a little unjust. There is one particular scene where the youngest Burns Brother is publicly whipped to the point of unconsciousness and severe illness. The scene starts out with the camera switching from Mike’s loud and excruciating screams of pain to the by-standers facial expressions which are mostly emotionless. The scene then cuts to the other two Brothers riding back and then when the camera cuts back to the whipping scene Mike is silent although still being whipped, his back is more red than flesh, and the whip is drenched through with blood! The repetition of the whip is nerve wrenching and the violent nature of the scene is far more effective than many of the scenes in Lawless.
The main difference between Hillcoat’s Lawless and The Proposition is that the level of violence in Lawless is less effective. A reason why this may be is because the Bondurant Brothers are anti-heroes whereas Mike Burns in The Proposition is made to appear weak and vulnerable from the start and is only being punished for the actions of his eldest sibling. The Road, which is not a western is the best film, for me, that Hillcoat has directed. I would very much like to see something similar to the road by Hillcoat and would be very interested to see, if he ever directs another western, if he keeps the similarities that Lawless and The Proposition have again.
If you have watched any of the films I have mentioned feel free to voice your opinion!
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