Far and Away
Directed by Ron Howard
- adventure
- drama
- romance
- western
The story
A young free-spirited Irish woman from an affluent Protestant family spontaneously befriends a street-smart commoner cheated by her family’s hostile land takeovers. They escape to America, ready to take advantage of the 19th century Oklahoma land rush.
What it’s like
Sweeping widescreen vistas dominate this one: Irish green fields and smoky tenement lanes give way to huge, sun-bleached prairie under open skies, with the camera often pulling back to show lone figures against the horizon. The palette shifts from cool misty greens and grey stone to dusty ochres and hot blues, and the sound is big and warm, a broad orchestral score swelling through the land-rush sequences alongside thundering hooves and wind. The mood is rousing and romantic, with a playful, scrappy energy in the early Dublin scenes and a steadily earnest sweep as the story heads west. Pacing is classical and unhurried, leaning on set pieces such as bare-knuckle fights, a frantic race for land, and wide communal crowds rather than quiet interiors. Intensity is moderate: there are brawls, a violent death in the background, and a few tense confrontations, but the fighting is more rough-and-tumble than gory and the sexual content is restrained. It suits a rainy Sunday or a comfort rewatch for those who want a big, old-fashioned romantic adventure with an underdog heart, and it fits viewers who enjoy grand period landscapes and a sentimental, uplifting ending.
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