With Wilderness Within, Essay Example

The aim of the present movie appraisal is to analyze the film directed by Edward Zwick “Legends of the Fall”. The movie is dramatic. Just as the structure of the movie itself and exposition, it cannot be viewed only from one perspective. The initial presentation of information is conducted as a storytelling by one of the participants of those events – Cree Indian, who was called One Stab. He tells the story in the beginning and in the end. He also provides the letters which are used to show different perspectives and attitudes of characters to certain events. So, the time of the story is beginning of the century, with main events taking place around 1914 -1930-40s. The preliminary situation is a conversation of old One Stab with some journalists, who want to know the story of Ludow Family.

The plot of the movie is as followed. Colonel William Ludow retired from the army because he was tired of the American Government’s policy towards the Native Americans. So, he decided to rest from politics and raise his sons in the wild mountains of Montana. He was joined by his fallow One Stab, a Cree Indian, and his family. In the childhood, all three boys proved to be different. Alfred, the eldest, was quiet thoughtful and cautious. Tristan, the middle one, was wild and close to nature, just as Native Americans (he managed to hurt a bear when he was only a teen). Samuel, the youngest one, was naive and altruistic in his perception of the world. The initial incident was Samuel’s return from Harvard with his fiancée Susannah Fincannon. First of all, Susannah appeared in lives of all three brothers and became the reason of family quarrels. Secondly, Samuel wanted to go to war against his father’s will, forcing his elder brothers to follow him. Thus, the order of the farm was distorted. The rising action was death of Samuel. Tristan tried to save him, but failed and instead brought the scalps of Nazi soldiers, he had killed. Although it could have been expected that his death was a climax, it was not. The reason is that Tristan could not find peace, after his brother’s death. Although he returned home and found some comfort with Susannah, he could not tame the beast inside. One of the most dramatic scenes of the movie was when Tristan was awakened by Susannah and almost stabbed her with his knife, not realizing whom she was. So he left her and farm for years, in order to hunt around the world and tame his beast. The climax of the movie is when Tristan returns back as a calm man and marries Isabella Two, daughter of One Stab. The falling action of the movies was in Tristan having children with Isabel Two and being at peace with Alfred and Susannah, as a married couple. The main source of Tristan’s income was bootlegging. The end of the movie is the death of Isabel Two and family revenge for her. Tristan lived a long life to see all his beloved ones die. He died in the fight with a bear.

The characters of the movie are full of emotions and life. They are complex and diverse. Obviously, the main protagonist is Tristan. He is wild American nature, which is embodied in a human being. It is tempting to say that Alfred is the antagonist. On the other hand, the antagonist is not a person but an idea. The idea, which is opposed by the main characters including Tristan and his father, is the idea of war for one’s interest. The idea of unification of wild nature within the laws of white people is also challenged. Until a certain extent, it can be argued that they oppose slavery in all its forms and fight for freedom. The main characters include Tristan, Colonel, Alfred and Susannah. The minor characters are One Stab, his wife, Isabella Two, Colonel’s wife and others. Thus, the theme of the movie is fighting for one’s personal way, for freedom and independence, the main American values.

Concerning the settings of the movie, most of the events took place in the natural environment. So, it can be proved that the authentic scenery of Montana and Rocky Mountains were screened. The city buildings and the farm itself were created, in order to correspond to the described epoch. The time was also shown through the prevalence of wooden instruments, things of everyday use, weaponry (rifles and pistols), military and hunting knives. The manner in which animals were treated also corresponded to the shown timeframe. Costumes corresponded to the Wild West style. On the farm, both men and women wore simple linen farm shirts with trousers, leather boots and ranch hats. On the other, clothes also showed the difference between classes. This was particularly evident in Susannah’s and Alfred’s outfits – fancy suits and evening dresses from smooth, light materials.

One of the most common special effects was close-up. Therefore, the lighting was often used as means of faces clarification. It was usually mild, without any unnatural brightness. Thus, the impression of candle-lighting was preserved. On the other hand, the sounds were often used in the most dramatic scenes, like death of Samuel, Susannah’s and Tristan’s love-making. These were quite light and non-invasive melodies, which supported the encouraged mood.

One of the most crucial quotations was by Alfred when he compared himself and Tristan. He said that, although Tristan acted outside Gods and human laws, unlike Alfred, everyone truly loved Tristan, and not Alfred. I think that this statement shows that natural behavior is more acceptable by everyone rather than a pretended one. From the symbolical perspective, it also shows that natural ways of Native Americans, no matter how wild they might have seemed, were more just and full of honor than “civilized savagery” of the new comer, who destroyed villages, killing small children in their sleep.

Personally, I enjoyed the movie. It is quite seldom that movie manages to touch my consciousness and make me think about other matters outside the shown events. I think that the main reason for such far-reaching effect of the movie is in the symbiosis of great acting, unconventional plot, and everlasting wisdom of the Native Americans. Their ways were shown non-invasively in Tristan’s actions and life path. Although not by blood, he was one of them. The spirit of the bear was within him. I definitely enjoyed the symbolism and frankness of the movie, which was situated on the beautiful background of the Rocky Mountains.