True Grit
2010 · Directed by Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
Original language: English
- drama
- adventure
- western
The story
Following the murder of her father by a hired hand, a 14-year-old farm girl sets out to capture the killer. To aid her, she hires the toughest U.S. Marshal she can find—a man with 'true grit'—Reuben J. 'Rooster' Cogburn.
What it’s like
Cold, bright winter light and wide, dusty landscapes framed with the Coens' precision: long, deliberate shots of snowy plains, frontier towns and the grey-green timber of Arkansas and Indian Territory, often held while the characters ride slowly across the frame. The palette is burnt ochre, pale sky and muddy browns, with the interiors lit by low lamplight and smoky hearths. Sound does a lot of work here, with Carter Burwell's sparse, mournful strings and fiddle tunes sitting under the creak of saddle leather, distant gunfire and the crunch of frozen ground. The vibe is dry, wry and melancholy, a frontier tale played with straight faces and sudden bursts of comedy. The pace is unhurried, with long stretches of riding and talk punctuated by sharp, brief violence, including a hanging, a gunfight and a snakebite, that lands hard and quick rather than lingering in gore. The emotional register is gruff and stoic, following a stubborn teenager and a battered, hard-drinking marshal who grudgingly come to respect each other. This suits a slow weekend afternoon, a rainy evening with a drink, or fans of classic westerns who enjoy sharp dialogue, for people who want character-driven grit rather than spectacle.
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