Slow West

Dir: John Maclean

2015

*****

2015's Slow West is an amazing debut from John Maclean. The one time member of The Beta Band and music video director has painted a vivid and somewhat alternative picture of the old west that actually reminds me of the music he once made. I disagree with the opinion that Slow West is a slow burner, I found it to be instantly captivating and hypnotic throughout. I think progressive is a better word to describe its structure, not to mention highly original and far from predictable. Pretty much every western that has come out in the last twenty years has been described as an exciting new direction for the genre (I've probably said as much in some of my past reviews) but Slow West really is the real deal. From the very beginning scene where the impressive (and now very tall) Kodi Smit-McPhee shoots the stars out of the sky with his pistol to the last scene that shows the wild-west for what it really was, the visuals, script and performances are spectacular. I watch a lot of films and I've seen and enjoyed many a western but Slow West really is something special. I'm not going to mention the work of other directors that it reminds me of because I don't think it's fair, John Maclean clearly has enough of his own original ideas, and making comparisons would be insulting to what is a beautifully crafted work of passion. Michael Fassbender's Irishman turned cowboy is one of my new favourite fictional characters, I really hope this is the beginning of a long running collaboration. The story is romantic but cynical, melancholy but no nonsense, it's full of contradictions that dance beautifully together throughout the entire length of the film. The conclusion is devastating but funny, happy but sad and not only has it got the classic shootout every good western should have but has to be one of the best shootouts I've ever seen. It is near perfect, in fact, I can't think of anything negative to say about it, it's a future classic and a bonafide masterpiece.