Filmed back to back, with just one week of prep time scheduled between them in the summer of 1965, The Shooting and Ride in the Whirlwind are about as close to "twin productions" as any two movies can be. So it makes plenty of sense that Criterion packaged them together last fall when they brought these early works of Monte Hellman to the attention of their considerable fan base, just as it makes almost no sense nowadays to view either of the films as standalone titles if one really wants to yield the fullest benefit from the encounter. They're organically connected, carrying the same cinematic DNA in each cell, the fruit of a productive conjugal relationship between the potent (but officially uncredited) funding source of Hollywood renegade Roger Corman and the fertile, ripe creative partnership that Hellman forged with a yet-to-become-famous Jack Nicholson.
But as a father of twins myself, I understand how easy it is to over-emphasize the pair at the expense of neglecting individuals who are, despite their singular origin, still distinct from each other, with their own unique characteristics that deserve to be respected and celebrated on their own terms. Furthermore, when one half of the dyad goes on to earn a wider share of acclaim than the other, a special effort must be made to balance out the recognition just to keep egos in check and spread the love with an even-handed consistency.
Maybe that's why my fatherly instinct seems to be kicking in a little as I consider what it is that I want to say on behalf of Ride in the Whirlwind. By the standards of the average Criterion viewer and critically-informed cinephile, The Shooting is the favored golden child of the two: more challenging in its structure and abstract minimalism, with poetic flair that delivers a bracing compendium of existential despair and incipient socio-political critique of mainstream values that effectively gets the jump on even more radical polemics yet to follow. In comparison, Ride in the Whirlwind is more like the traditional action-focused cowboy movie that you might want to recommend to watch with your western-loving grandpa as a refreshing but not quite incendiary take on genre conventions - a bit safer, more predictable, less risky and daring.
The story opens up with a classic Wild West trope - a stagecoach robbery conducted by masked highwaymen. Their crime nets them a cashbox, but also leads to the formation of a posse determined to roust the bandits from their mountain hideaway. The outlaws know that the law will soon be in hot pursuit, and they've got their lookouts in place to secure whatever advantage they can, whether it be for escape or armed resistance.
Trotting squarely (but unknowingly) into the line of fire are three cowboys just passing through, looking for the shortest route back to Texas. They stumble into the robbers' lair, each crew sizing up the other to determine the level of danger they present. Satisfied that neither party wants to stir up trouble, they all settle in for the night, resting up to make their respective departures the next morning. But their plans are disrupted when the aforementioned posse arrives, quickly and silently surrounding the hideout, ready to shoot or lynch whatever lowlife scoundrels happen to fall into their hands, skipping over the judge and jury part of their assignment straight to the role of executioner. It's more efficient that way.
Despite their indisputable innocence regarding the bandits' misdeeds, the range riders understand that they can't take the risk of trying to explain their situation to the vigilantes, who are intently fixated on hanging first, asking questions later. Their only hope for escape is to avoid capture and make a break for it. A desperate bolt into hostile terrain offers them a taste of relief and freedom, for the moment - at least the two who survive the escape attempt. But once they discover that they've been backed up into a box canyon that offers no realistic chance to make a more lasting exit, new tactics become necessary. At the midpoint of the film, Ride in the Whirlwind pivots from a tense state of siege to a wary cat and mouse game, as the cowhands resort to using a hastily improvised appeal that might coax a hard pressed family of homesteaders to peaceably "lend" them a pair of horses so they can make a getaway while also avoiding their inevitable discovery by the posse that has now dispersed across the region to track down the last remaining fugitives. The set-up succeeds at engaging our interest, keeping us guessing as to who will or won't survive and avoid capture, and steering our thoughts (or at least, mine) toward considering the plight of innocent suspects who happen to fall into the gears of a brutal system of warped law enforcement that will snuff out their lives in a moment simply because the power and weaponry are put into the hands of men who don't want to be bothered with the task of weighing evidence and dispensing justice. In that dilemma is found the ongoing relevance of this fifty year old film to circumstances in our American streets that dominate the headlines today.
Still, it's that plainness and overt disclosure of the film's underlying message that lowers the tantalizing fascination and contemplative intrigue when compared to Ride in the Whirlwind's "twin brother." Even though I think such an evaluation is fair and accurate in an objective sense -that The Shooting is clearly the more interesting movie - I can't help but come to the defense of Ride in the Whirlwind in pointing out its advantages. Along the lines I alluded to above, this is the probably the preferred film to suggest to a more general audience that may not be quite as inclined to meander for an hour in the desert, chasing down an unknown bounty for motives that are never explained, only to be left with a dried-up canteen that drips out just a few ambiguous riddles for sustenance. That's the journey that The Shooting leads us into, whereas the more compactly contained Ride in the Whirlwind offers us a hearty draft of action, suspense, chase and showdown, all the classic elements of a solid western tale, told from a suitably (but not overly) cynical point of view, and wrapping up with a gulp of narrative resolution that delivers so much more to quench their thirst.
Next: Le deuxième souffle