Le cowboy

I was infatuated back in 1971/72 with Hollywood' brief but productive dalliance with the Rodeo film genre, of which Steve Ihnat's "The Honkers" was my favorite alongside the far-better publicized "Junior Bonner", "When the Legends Die" (the closest one to "The Rider") and "J.W. Coop". Chinese director Chloe Zhao takes a neo-Realist stab at the format with this affecting, strong and experimental film.

Unlike Clint Eastwood's unsuccessful recent film where he had the American heroes of the French railway terrorist incident play themselves on screen, Chloe has recruited real-life Native Americans from the South Dakota rodeo milieu to play fictional characters close enough to their real-life personae to establish an immediate and realistic connection. Rodeo has long been a metaphor for Western movie themes, especially those end of an era notions favored by Western masters Sam Peckinpah and John Ford, and here Zhao takes the concept one step further by having these modern day cowboys personified by Native Americans of the Lakota tribe whose culture was effectively destroyed by us "Americans", including the cowboys of old.

The central protagonist Brady has a face and utterly stoic demeanor the camera loves - a Bronson figure who happens to have the handsome features of a Channing Tatum, but never hitting a false note. His dilemma recalls the Greek myth of Sysiphus, rolling that boulder up the hill only to have it roll back down endlessly, accomplishing nothing. But the difference here is that although he cannot recover from the rodeo accident which renders him unfit to ride anymore (actually, in real-life Brady was injured in a car accident, not from rodeo performance) he is presented as a brilliant horse whisperer, adding great depth and panache to the movie.

His best friend Lance, crippled from rodeo, offers the moving sentimentality that Chloe otherwise scrupulously avoids in her filmmaking, using spectacular visual imagery to give the movie a strength that mere documentary technique wouldn't allow. Subsidiary characters like Brady's autistic sister and stern, incapable of expressing his love dad, are potent real-life people rather than Hollywood constructs, though many a character actor would leap at the chance to play these roles.

As I watched the movie I thought of many Sports-related pictures that had covered similar ground, perhaps more intellectually and that achieved classic status. Certainly Brando in Kazan's "On the Waterfront" as the boxer who "coulda been a contender" presents a mirror image to Brady's hero, though their acting styles are diametrically opposed. Kurosawa's "Dersu Uzala" is the most brilliant of these movies (but not about sports) of a strong spirit overcoming physical hardship, and I was somewhat surprised that director Zhao chose to make the character's Native American background so subtle in terms of her screenplay, as opposed to Kurosawa in a Russian movie emphasizing the outsider nature of Dersu the Siberian hunter from an ethnic minority. Perhaps it is the lack of a stronger, more universal theme as developed in the Kazan and Kurosawa films that prevents "The Rider" from ascending to all-time classic status. But it is still a wonderful movie.

While watching the end credits of this film, I noticed that Brady Jandreau is mentioned twice: as the lead actor, and as the horse trainer. It's a way of telling the audience that Jandreau is, in fact, playing himself, or at least a version of his personality.

Brady Jandreau - only his last name is changed for his movie role - is a rodeo rider who is recovering from a near-fatal head injury. Doctors tell him he should never ride again, but after having spent some weeks working in a supermarket, he comes to the conclusion that there's only one thing that makes him happy: riding rodeo's.

It's a simple story, but it is told with lots of empathy for the heart wrenching choices Brady has to make. We can see him wrestling with his fate and in the end, he knows that he is meant to ride horses, 'just as a horse is meant to run across the prairie'.

There are several side stories deepening the insight in Brady's predicament. His teenage sister is mentally challenged, the family is poor and lives in a trailer, and he has to say goodbye to two of his favorite horses.

The film can be interpreted as a heroic tale of perserverence and dedication. Brady lives for the rodeo, and the viewer understands why he gets a kick out of the horses, the clothing, the masculinity and the competition. The director indicates this in subtle scenes. For example when he decides to pawn his custom made saddle, because he needs the money. At the last moment, he changes his mind.

But you can also interpret this film a a sad story of a man who has only limited possibilities in life because of the environment he grows up in. Brady really has nothing else in his life, and is not capable of even imagining changing it. One of the saddest scenes in the film is when Brady visits another rodeo hero, who is paralyzed for life after a fall, and lives in a care facility. Helped by three assistants, Brady lifts his friend on a wooden horse, puts a cowboy hat on his head and makes him move as if he is riding a horse. Even this terrible example doesn't deter Brady from continuing rodeo riding.

The cinematograpy is beautiful, with plenty of shots showing the treeless prairies of the empty American heartland in all its beauty. It also gives a nice insight into the rodeo world, a cultural phenomenon as essential to the American West as bull fighting is to Spain. But it's essentially a film about a man fighting the odds to do what he wants to do.

What a magnificent film. It's a simple story, one that has been told before, but the execution has almost never been better. It has a lot in common with The Wrestler, but it's way less flawed than that. Visually the film is incredibly beautiful, with some amazing shots and really accomplished editing. As strong as the screenplay is, it's the acting and directing that make this as powerful as it is. I had an actual visceral reaction to it in a way I rarely do to any type of film. The portrayal of the disintegration of body and the sacrifices people take to accomplish these dreams was captured in such a raw, painfully realistic way. Consideing the background of the people who act in the film, it's not a surprise. In particular, Brady Jandreau is a true revelation. There's a profound sadness that he is able to capture in the close-ups of his face. The camera is able to capture so much of his nuances and every little reaction to the comments said by others hits deep. In line with the entire film, it's hard to see this as an "acting" performance because everything feels so genuine.

There have been many great films this year but this now stands as easily the best so far.

I love big budget blockbusters like Black Panther and Infinity Wars but there is a special place in my heart for the little guy with the little film with a little budget that can still bring the story home. I do not usually like sad stories. I firmly believe that movies should first entertain and then teach a lesson just like the best children's story. This is sometimes painful to watch but you have to root for Brady Blackburn. The shots of the Badlands are spectacular, the emotion heartfelt and the filmmaker's vision realized.

A silent, serene & subdued portrait of small-town life in the American heartland, The Rider is a gently crafted, elegantly narrated & sincerely acted contemporary western drama that's heartfelt in its storytelling, authentic in its execution, and makes for one fascinating character study of a rodeo who grapples with his identity after suffering a near-fatal injury.

Written & directed by Chloé Zhao, the story is more or less a dramatisation of a real-life incident and even employs the same people in lead roles whose lives it attempts to render on screen. Enriching the imagery some more is the exquisite photography & unhurried approach, not to mention the care & understanding Zhao exhibits while sketching these characters on paper & film.

Zhao shows ample empathy for her characters, depicts the tender moments with a deft touch, and creates a comfortable enough environment for the untrained actors to give their best shot. The actors here are merely playing a fictionalised version of themselves, and they all end up doing a pretty neat job at it, for their performances are honest, arresting & emotionally resonant from start to finish.

Overall, The Rider is a tragic, soulful & poignant story of what it means to lose one's lifelong dream, the inadequacy that fills the life in its absence, and the unfathomable hardship of making peace with oneself by letting it go. There isn't really much wrong with anything Zhao does here yet for some reason, the film never immersed me into its world or made me care as deeply about the characters as Zhao does. I just like it fine.