Considering that The Shooting was produced on a shoestring budget, green-lit by a notorious producer of B-movie exploitation flicks and never given much of a chance to establish its popularity through proper first-run theatrical distribution, this 1966 debut film by Monte Hellman has fared exceptionally well in terms of its critical reputation and relevant longevity. At least, that's how things turned out for the film toward the end of 2014 when the Criterion Collection saw fit to release it alongside another film, Ride in the Whirlwind, that I will review here in the near future. Before those movies, which were filmed back to back over the course of a single summer, almost miraculously found their way onto Blu-ray, they had been relegated for decades to the backwaters of obscurity, part of a cheap package deal that confined their distribution to syndicated matinee and late night TV broadcasts throughout the latter half of the 1960s, until the emerging fame of Jack Nicholson, who acted in both films and was instrumental in their production as well, sparked interest in these overlooked artifacts from early in his career. That led to a brief theatrical run in 1971, which is when the poster atop this column dates from. Thus, we see Nicholson ("Violent, Sadistic, Merciless") featured prominently in the marketing campaign, along with the suggestive promise of "unequaled climax" and the obligatory attractive woman, while poor Warren Oates is reduced to fourth billing, even though this is really his movie, from a performance standpoint at least.
But aside from that momentary flash of interest, and a warm reception accorded to The Shooting by appreciative Parisian audiences of 1968 who were held in its sway at least partly due to the endorsement of the editorial staff of Cahiers du Cinema, the film continued to languish as a rarely seen cult item, garnering occasional praise from those who'd had a chance to lock in and acclimate themselves to Hellman's stripped down existentialist scenario. Up until the time that Monte Hellman himself started dropping hints in social media that more of his work would soon be released by that label, a lot of us, even those who enjoyed his previous Criterion entry Two Lane Blacktop, hadn't heard much about either this film or its companion piece. But over the course of 2013-14, Hellman kept his friends on Facebook (of which I am one) consistently up to date on the progress of his project, and that element alone has made this one of the most unique releases that I've had the pleasure of tracking since I got so deeply invested in this movie watching hobby. As the disc's array of supplements, which showcase Hellman in dialogue with many of his colleagues who helped make the film nearly 50 years ago, make clear, the release of The Shooting and Ride in the Whirlwind is as much a celebration of the earliest phase of the contemporary American independent cinema movement as it is a showcase of these two features, which may not rank exceptionally high on the list of "important classic films" but are still quite fascinating and compelling specimens in their own right.
To recap the story of The Shooting is a fairly simple task. In the old American West, presumably sometime in the late 19th century, an isolated quartet of wary, mistrustful loners join to pursue a unknown fugitive across a bleak desert landscape, and the suspense of their journey holds the narrative together. One of them is a woman, who's never given a name despite the pleas of one of her infatuated male companions for her to disclose it. Two of the men, Gashade (Oates) and Coley, are on friendly terms with each other, with Gashade clearly dominant and Coley a simpleton who serves almost as comic relief in the early portions of the story. They're enlisted by the woman, who promises to pay them a thousand dollars to assist her in a trip across the desert. As they make their way, she discloses her true purpose, to stay on the trail of a man she's tracking down. Midway through their journey, the trio are joined by Billy Spear (Nicholson), a sinister gunslinger whose cold-blooded hostility ramps up the element of danger and menace exponentially. It's gradually revealed that the gunman and the woman are collaborators who don't necessarily have Gashade and Coley's best interests in mind. But Billy's sharpshooting skills and sociopathic demeanor, combined with the barren wasteland that their search has led them into, vanquish any thoughts of rebellion or abandonment. Gashade in particular understands that even though he can't predict the outcome of this long, slow-motion chase, he needs to see it through to the end, regardless of the danger that is obviously mounting each step along the way.
What really gives The Shooting its distinction isn't the story, which is a fresh enough take on old Western movie conventions but nothing extraordinary or unique, or even the "unequaled climax" which, in keeping with the polite request in that poster, I won't spoil here. (That ending is more of a riddle than a stunner, anyway, packed with enough ambiguity and unresolved allusions to warrant a comparison with Persona in the liner note essay by Michael Atkinson.) Nor is it even the satisfaction of discovering a pair of excellent acting performances by a young Jack Nicholson and Warren Oates in his prime.
The aspects of The Shooting that I most enjoy are the arid atmospherics, a dusty palette of creamy blue skies, sun bleached rock and bone dry scrub, a geophysical desolation that accelerates the mounting psychological pressure weighing down on each member of this discordant hunting expedition, but especially Gashade as he comes to grips with the fact that he's on a one-way trek into oblivion. His character hooks us in by virtue of his stoic determination to maintain constant vigilance in the midst of great danger, while compensating for the overly earnest foolishness of his sidekick Coley and the woman's unwillingness to give up any more information about her objectives than is strictly necessary to stay on the trail of her prey. Billy, meanwhile, is a wily, satanic adversary - Nicholson's trademark evil dead-eye grin had already been refined to perfection - who could easily kill whomever he wants to at any given moment - easy because he possesses the ability to do so and lacks any conscientious inhibitions that would get in his way. But he derives more pleasure from watching his fellow travelers sweat (literally, and profusely), keeping one eye fixed nervously on him as they meander across the blazing sands. Gashade's non-heroic tenacity in sticking with this miserable detour in his life's journey, doing what little he can to keep Billy's malevolence and the woman's monomania in check despite the apparent futility of ultimately prevailing when all is said and done, functions as the mirror that Monte Hellman holds up for us to gaze into. What do we see staring back? The image will vary for each individual.
The disc's commentary track, Atkinson's essay and several of the supplements all provide ample documentation of the influences of Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot and the assassination of John F. Kennedy on this story, so I'm content to merely cite those references here and avoiding pounding those nails any further. My bottom line on The Shooting is that it's gratifying to see a small-time film fueled with big ideas and creative ambitions get this top notch presentation after languishing in obscurity for so long.
Next: Ride in the Whirlwind