Case study in why we need the serial comma: " >Some people may say we've seen it all before, but I thought "Merle Haggard" >was a truly classic cowboy film.
>Here we have two men riding into a small town, two very different men who have >nothing in common except that each of them bears the scars of having spent a >decade being married to Merle. We can see the way Merle (and Merle's >aftermath) has shaped both of their lives -- and Merle, although dead before >it begins, shapes the film the same way. >Duvall is a cowboy, taciturn, reclusive, and you can still see how very >gorgeous he must have been when he was young. Kristofferson is a singer who >won Merle away from Duvall with a song. (The chords of the song haunt the >movie, but we do not hear the words until the end.) They were once rivals for >Merle's love, but now that Merle has been murdered they have to work together. >They come to what's first a grudging respect for each other and later an >actual friendship with just a hint of romance. The final shootout is beyond >tense, and the last moments brought tears to my eyes. News clip : "Merle Haggard: The documentary was filmed over three years. *Among those interviewed were his two ex-wives, Kris Kristofferson and Robert Duvall*." http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/012652.htm Jo Walton's take on this: >People will compare this with the old chestnut "Brokeback Mountain", but the >difference goes far deeper than just shepherds vs cowboys. "Brokeback >Mountain" focused on the angst of being gay and a shepherd. "Merle Haggard" >leaves the angst out -- these men are rough Westerners who just happen to love >other men. And lets face it, the position of women in the Old West has always >been ambiguous. The lives and loves of cowboys have always been each other -- >Merle Haggard just makes explicit what so many other films from "Butch Cassidy >and the Sundance Kid" on have left implicit. What women we do see are well >done -- Kristofferson's sister-manager, Duvall's niece, and Sue, the >saloon-keeper who knows everybody's secrets. The film is stronger in that >nobody questions the direction of anybody's sexuality, it turns instead on who >they love and how long love lasts. All right, the real Old West wasn't like >that, but it wasn't like Shane either, and people always make films for a >modern sensibility. >It's nonsense to call "Merle Haggard" a documentary, however. This is a >western pure and simple. I'm glad I saw it, and I shall be buying the DVD as >soon as it's available. Again, the above is by Jo Walton. Brilliant, and I don't want to accidentally take credit. -- Facebook: Gar Lipow Twitter: GarLipow Grist Blog: http://www.grist.org/member/1598 Static page: http://www.nohairshirts.com _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
