3:10 To Yuma (2007)

Director James Mangold changed my opinion completely about the Western film genre. 3:10 To Yuma, is not only a great movie in general, but despite the debates, in my opinion is the greatest western I have ever seen and possibly ever made. Although I would not consider myself a film critic, if nothing else, this course has taught me to appreciate movies in a whole new light, and has really enabled me to give credit where credit is due in regards to the efforts in creating a motion picture. Movies like 3:10 To Yuma are not only a pleasure to watch, but is also fun and interesting to write about.
Appreciating the mise-en-scene (Corrigan 62) of this film is extremely easy. Everything from the clothing Ben Wade, played by Russell Crowe, and Dan Evans, played by Christian Bale, wore, to the dirt roads and weathered wooden built towns they rode through on horseback as the outlaws of the era often did. After watching the film, and comparing it to photographs and paintings of people of the post civil war era, the director did an extraordinary job of mimicking these ensembles, the architecture, and even the mustaches and beards worn by the men. In addition to the already mentioned aspects of the mise-en-scene of this film, the horse and buggies, and weapons were also perfectly matched.
Throughout 3:10 To Yuma there are many conflicts that both Evans and Wade have to overcome. One of the most obvious and important conflicts that is introduced early in the film is the lack of respect Evans’ son has for him, in fact, he does not respect him at all, and instead idolizes Wade, a well-known violent outlaw who just robbed a large sum of money. While Wade was successfully taking the loot from his victims, Evans and his two sons just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and witnessed the whole robbery. Of course, like any good outlaw would do he confronted his witnesses, immobilized them by stealing there horses so they could not contact police, and go about their business. At this moment you get a very good visual of the way William does not have faith in his father, but almost immediately compliments the way Wade can shoot so fast, even if it is at innocent victims.
Throughout the film you can tell that Wade is the alpha male, even when he is in custody, cuffed and surrounded by police and paid escorts. Not only does he manipulate almost everyone involved in escorting him to Bisbee to catch the train to the Yuma jail, but he actually kills a few guys along the way. Mangold does a great job of portraying this dominance, not only through the textual conversations throughout the film, but also through his artful use of the camera and compilation of very suggestive angles. Throughout the film, Wade is almost always portrayed in a dominant way, mostly through the use of high angles (Corrigan 112) it seems the audience has the point of view that Wade symbolically has, that is looking down on those who surround him, including those who are considered his friends, or fellow outlaws.


Works Cited

Timothy Corrigan and Patricia White “The Film Experience: An Introduction". Boston, Ma. Bedford/St. Martins Publishing. 2009 (text)
3:10 To Yuma, “Bale and Crowe cover”, 2007. Wordpress.com Accessed March 1, 2010. Karana23.files.wordpress.com/Yuma (photo)
3:10 To Yuma. Dir. James Mangold. Perfs. Russell Crowe and Christian Bale. Lionsgate Films. 2007. (film)