Introduction

Watching the High-Definition version of The Searchers truly is an experience. The vast scale of the landscape between Utah and Arizona, known as Monument Valley, is simply breath-taking when you can see every detail. John Ford manages to capture, in his finest film, the isolation, beauty and threatening nature of this world. Set in 1858, Ford commands our attention from the unforgettable opening shot as Ethan Edwards (John Wayne) rides toward his brother’s house alone on horseback. He is, and remains, a wanderer – and this film reveals this man as a human who is racist and content with taking another man’s life. Though, we should despise him – Ford manages to portray him as heroic. This conflict is set-up within the first few minutes – already separating this film apart from films like Day of the Outlaw and the various ‘psychological’ westerns that appeared at the time.

Many documentaries, when discussing John Ford, often show the awkward interview Peter Bogdanovich had with the man. John Ford was a director alongside Alfred Hitchcock and Fritz Lang who began their craft in the silent era. They managed to progress past the evolution of sound and dominance of colour – and in their twilight years, they managed to create masterpieces such as The Big Heat and Vertigo. It is strange to imagine the work-like attitude to filmmaking a director like John Ford had – the idea of discussing, analysing and deconstructing a film was not something he often demonstrated. His interview with Bogdanovich is a testament to that. As Martin Scorsese says in his documentary A Personal Journey…, most American directors at the time “never claimed to be artists” priding themselves on “holding their cards close to their chest”.

Akin to the many layers in the landscape, the film itself holds deeper meanings that are worth considering. Contextually, Ethan himself is an aging man – stuck in his racist and animalistic ways. Did he simply steal the money he hands to his brother at the beginning? The Searchers was released at a point whereby Westerns were changing dramatically. The multiple revisionist versions of the Western – whereby American-Indians were depicted more sympathetically and Spaghetti Westerns, whereby the landscapes were the deserts and world of Italy, were just around the corner. John Ford and John Wayne were many years away from their hey-day in films such as Stagecoach back in 1939. Does Ethan represent the out-of-date attitudes and approaches to the western genre – almost as if Ethan is the aging version of the heroes in the 40’s films. Now he is corrupted and deeply angry about the world that frowns down on his automatic disgust against Indians – there was a time that this was celebrated and supported. But he has no place in this world – and is almost a villain in his attitudes. But he believes his duty, initially to find – and then to murder – Debbie (Natalie Wood) is righteous and justified. We know it’s not, but there is a conflicted character – and a conflicted attitude as to how you as an audience, want the story to progress.