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!@#$%! · 07.27.2015, 07:57 PM

yes. ford does that. he's more about human relationships. searchers is really all about that.

peckinpah is more about death. what to do in the face of it. that's where he gets me-- it's one of my major preoccupations in life. is peckinpah a more skilled director of actors than ford? of course not. but his view of the world is just exactly where it matters to me.

i was jsut reading about him adn i saw that he got involved in zen while he was with the marines in china. and i can totally see that in the wild bunch-- not just the way the wild bunch operates like a military platoon. but the buddhist idea that the world is made of suffering, which can't be avoidd, and we're hurling inexorably towards old age, illness, and death. and i can relate to that in a very essential way. that speaks to me completely.

i was thinking of that watching thornton when he contemplates the bounty hunters pillage the corpses and take away his friends. he's okay with the world-- he sees things as they are and he smiles. it's all okay. he accepts it all. he doesn't get outraged by the desecration of a corpse-- it's just a corpse, and he lets them go. he doesn't get worked up over representations or symbolism. he has quit working for the railroad and he lets the "egg-sucking gutter trash" leave undisturbed-- he's not an angry old testament god about to punish the wicked for their wickedness.

also when dutch makes fun of wanting to have a funeral for their dead comrades, at the beginning-- "i want church service, and then i want a nice dinner with the choir..." his noblest characters see things as they are, without getting lost in representations, and operate from necessity.

ford is a christian-- not sure if a paracticing one, but his outlook clearly reflects that. that's where i can say, wow, what amazing craft, butin the end it doesn't punch me in the gut.

i know it's reductionist to peg peckinpah's work as "buddhist". i wouldn't say that defines his art. but i can totally see his "metaphysics"--a lot more than just politics-- much along those lines.

the more i think about it, the more i believe peckinpah wasn't about "ultraviolence"-- it was more about having his eyes wide open to life's basic realities and not wanting to look away from them. MOST works of art will flee to ideas, to mythologies, to ideals, but this fucker did not flinch one bit. not one bit. he kept staring.

--

ps please don't let my terrible typing distract. been writing upside down with my thumbs all day so i've been involutnarily spelling like a moron.

07.27.2015, 07:57 PM	#18860
!@#$%! invito al cielo Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: mars attacks Posts: 42,460	yes. ford does that. he's more about human relationships. searchers is really all about that. peckinpah is more about death. what to do in the face of it. that's where he gets me-- it's one of my major preoccupations in life. is peckinpah a more skilled director of actors than ford? of course not. but his view of the world is just exactly where it matters to me. i was jsut reading about him adn i saw that he got involved in zen while he was with the marines in china. and i can totally see that in the wild bunch-- not just the way the wild bunch operates like a military platoon. but the buddhist idea that the world is made of suffering, which can't be avoidd, and we're hurling inexorably towards old age, illness, and death. and i can relate to that in a very essential way. that speaks to me completely. i was thinking of that watching thornton when he contemplates the bounty hunters pillage the corpses and take away his friends. he's okay with the world-- he sees things as they are and he smiles. it's all okay. he accepts it all. he doesn't get outraged by the desecration of a corpse-- it's just a corpse, and he lets them go. he doesn't get worked up over representations or symbolism. he has quit working for the railroad and he lets the "egg-sucking gutter trash" leave undisturbed-- he's not an angry old testament god about to punish the wicked for their wickedness. also when dutch makes fun of wanting to have a funeral for their dead comrades, at the beginning-- "i want church service, and then i want a nice dinner with the choir..." his noblest characters see things as they are, without getting lost in representations, and operate from necessity. ford is a christian-- not sure if a paracticing one, but his outlook clearly reflects that. that's where i can say, wow, what amazing craft, butin the end it doesn't punch me in the gut. i know it's reductionist to peg peckinpah's work as "buddhist". i wouldn't say that defines his art. but i can totally see his "metaphysics"--a lot more than just politics-- much along those lines. the more i think about it, the more i believe peckinpah wasn't about "ultraviolence"-- it was more about having his eyes wide open to life's basic realities and not wanting to look away from them. MOST works of art will flee to ideas, to mythologies, to ideals, but this fucker did not flinch one bit. not one bit. he kept staring. -- ps please don't let my terrible typing distract. been writing upside down with my thumbs all day so i've been involutnarily spelling like a moron.
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