Slow West (2015) - An Offbeat Fable Set in the Harsh American West

"Love is universal, like death."

Love is a powerful motivator. Perhaps the most powerful. It compels us to do things we would never otherwise dream of, things that exist far beyond our comfort zone. For Jay Cavendish (Kodi Smit-McPhee), a 17-year old Scotsman of aristocratic blood, love drove him across the Atlantic Ocean and through the harsh conditions of a 19th century America fraught with turmoil and suffering, an abundant portion of which was perpetrated against the Native American tribes that were dispersed from their homeland by settlers. Jay is just naive enough, just hopelessly in love enough to solitarily undertake the perilous trek westward, where the girl who stole his heart resides with her father after they fled their home country of Scotland.

Two Scottish fugitives lying in wait in the scarcely populated foothills of 1870 Colorado. A love-stricken boy, still wet behind the ears and with nary a scratch on him, determined to reach them and reunite with his darling.

The proceedings are complicated when Jay encounters Silas (Michael Fassbender), a rugged, rough-and-tumble bounty hunter with little regard for such piffling trivialities as love. Silas offers to accompany the boy West in exchange for $100, and the two come to a begrudging agreement. We gather from Silas' introductory narration that, by the end of their journey, he comes to respect and admire Jay. Perhaps he always did. But their initial interactions imply just the opposite. Jay's wide-eyed innocence and warmhearted sense of compassion and understanding for others clashes harshly with the cynical world-weariness of an outlaw whose seen his fair share of violence and death. Probably enough for the both of them.

Jay has come to America with love in his eyes and hope in his heart. Maybe Silas once did the same. But at this stage in the brooding desperado's years, the purity of spirit with which Jay approaches the world is indicative of a weakness in the boy, not a strength. For a man like Silas, there's nothing more to life than survival. And death. Every other concern fades away with time.

Slow West is a magical picture that is far more concerned with the tone it conveys through its offbeat characters and gorgeous visuals than with the literal events of its plot. The film glides along like a butterfly, taking its time to unfurl its narrative while exploring the intricacies of its characters, the beauty of the Colorado landscape (dazzlingly approximated in New Zealand), and such heady thematic ruminations as the irresistible gravity of love, the inevitability of death, and the potential for personal redemption.

The screenplay was penned by rookie writer-director John Maclean, a Scottish musician with an obvious eye and talent for the cinematic arts. Maclean seems uninterested in creating a realistic historical depiction of USA in the 1800s. His conception of the American West seems heavily gleaned from the pages of Mark Twain novels and the frames of Sergio Leone movies. It may not be entirely accurate to historical reality, but it works in support of the film's almost dreamlike atmosphere.

The more whimsical aspects of Slow West are punctuated by moments of visceral violence and unbridled melanchoy, particularly towards the film's explosive climax. Every shot fired, every drop of blood spilled is consequential. We feel the weight of the violence on display insofar as we are invested in the humanity of each character.

Featuring strong performances from its unconventional cast, and underscored by pitch black humor with a tragically ironic bend, Slow West is not a traditional Western in the slightest. It borrows familiar elements from the genre to fasten recognizable touchstones to an otherwise wholly unique movie, a movie with miraculously understated storytelling and a bevy of surprises up its sleeve. This is a criminally underrated and under-seen gem that has plenty to offer both those who count themselves as fans of the Western and those who do not.

A

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