tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5577490778732005247.post295799628252528487..comments2024-03-27T00:17:30.149-07:00Comments on Criterion Confessions: RIDE WITH THE DEVIL - #514Jamie S. Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10574127694740978803noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5577490778732005247.post-30990910639396891952020-04-08T23:29:10.921-07:002020-04-08T23:29:10.921-07:00This movie when first released was somewhat an odd...This movie when first released was somewhat an oddity. How can Taiwanese oriental get the emotions involved in the Great American conflict of the Civil War. If anything, Ang Lee has educated me. Watching this film made me think of Vietnam, Korea, and even Hong Kong. Indeed Southeast Asia mirrors exactly what was occurring in 1860s America! Imagine a North and South United States with different governing styles and conflicts of conscience. The present-day ideological split of the coastal states and the heartland seem to portend that we are indeed living in different camps of the same country. Perhaps it took the understanding of an Eastern perspective to illustrate what was sacrificed and achieved by our bloodiest chapter in the saga that is America.<br />I gravitate to this film as it grows on me with repeated viewings. Lee has coaxed perhaps the greatest performances these young actors will ever deliver. The dialogue and regional accents flow from these Gen-Xers as if by nature. As if they were raised in the border/slave state of Missouri. I have never read the source material, but the language and delivery show a cockiness and humour, without the assurance of truth or tradition. Youth, perhaps, is always in this position. Pretending to know what is appropriate for the moment, but not for history. Their constant braggadocio masks their insecurity for their future and that of the country as well. I have heard some reviewers dismiss Rhys Meyer's and Wilkinson's roles as bit parts, They are far from that and used to great effect to illustrate the different temperaments and arguments of people on the "same" side for very different reasons. I was shocked to learn that this was considered a bomb to this day. This film should grow in stature to surpass similar films in this genre. Rank with Shane, Cold Mountain and Heaven's Gate as a truly great "Western"!DCash51https://www.blogger.com/profile/05824548210526700551noreply@blogger.com