Sem Lei e Sem Esperança

The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid is written and directed by Philip Kaufman and stars Cliff Robertson, Robert Duvall, Luke Askew and R.G. Armstrong. It's a Technicolor production with Bruce Surtees the cinematographer and music is scored by Dave Grusin. Plot is based around the James-Younger gang's infamous attempt at robbing the "biggest bank west of Mississippi" in Northfield, Minnesota, September 7th, 1876.

The Western done cinéma vérité by Philip Kaufman, very much leaning towards the "mud and rags" Oaters that were filing in post Sam Peckinpah's Wild Bunch. Jesse James has provided the inspiration for a whole host of movies, with many of them having different interpretations on the man, the myth and his life. Kaufman dismantles the myth aspect and cloaks it in a sort of satirical grimness, flecking it with moments of crudeness whilst paying attention to history (the usual liberties aside) and the changing climate of the time. However, with Kaufman's affection for comic book characters also comes the odd blending of tones, rendering the film an acquired taste. The narrative is strong, with the added bonus of the story continuing after the robbery, and Duvall gives Jesse James an energetic and bonkers makeover. But a safe recommendation to Western fans it is not.

I liked it enough, but not enough in that I could watch it again, but it would come as no surprise to me if it was some Western purists' favourite Western. Roll the dice and take a chance, really. 6/10

Released in 1972, Phillip Kaufman's "The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid" details the final bank heist of the James-Younger Gang in 1876, which was an epic failure for the infamous gang.

The tone of the film is equal parts raw realism and parody; you could almost call it a Western black comedy. For a fuller and more austere detailing of the story -- not to mention all-around better movie -- check out 1980's "The Long Riders."

Jesse James is played by the great Robert Duvall, who was only 40 at the time (but looked about ten years older). Actually Jesse takes a backseat to Cole Younger here, played by Cliff Robertson. These actors and the other principles do a fine job. The film is expertly made, the story is moderately engrossing and there are some genuinely amusing moments.

Despite this, the tone the filmmakers decided to go with ruins the film for me -- it de-glamorizes the wild West, making it ugly, idiotic, silly and almost profane. By Contrast, "American Outlaws" (2001) details the James-Younger Gang's first year in action and makes the Old West fun, heroic and larger-than-life and 2007's "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" is a serious Western drama. "The Long Riders" remains the best of the lot.

The film was shot in Jacksonville, Oregon -- a far cry from Missouri and Minnesota -- and runs 91 minutes.

GRADE: C+

Interesting movie has something of the rueful eccentricity of a Peckinpah movie, although it's told on a much more modest scale. The movie has a sense of transition, with expressions of wonderment at the new steam engine vehicles and even at the game of baseball - there's a sense of gun culture being pushed out and marginalized, although the town's crooked banker illustrates that the new age isn't going to be free of corruption. The structure also has an appealing oddity, illustrated by the band of pursuers on the train, monitored through the entire movie, only to turn up at the end after it's too late. Duvall is occasionally almost Apostle-like as Jesse James and Robertson gives one of his most flavoured performances as Cole Younger. The movie seems very much like a tentative first work and explores themes and ideas in a fundamentally very modest way, but the overall mood is quirky and distinctive and the trim ninety minutes running time makes it an appealing digression.

Riven by internal frictions and harried by the Pinkerton men, the James-Younger Gang is at a low ebb. One last big project is planned, a daring raid on the bank of Northfield, Minnesota.

Outlaws have long been treated as folk heroes by Hollywood, but a particularly virulent strain arose with "Bonny And Clyde" and "Butch Cassidy" at the end of the 60's, then flourished in the early 70's, mutating into the 'realistic' western ("Dirty Little Billy", "Bad Company" etc). The present film stands squarely in that tradition.

Cliff Robertson plays Cole Younger as an avuncular, pipe-smoking nice guy with a passion for machines. Robert Duvall, first-class as always, portrays Jesse James as a half-crazed, bible-thumping Southern zealot who can't accept that the Civil War is over. He regards robberies as military attacks on the perfidious North. His preacher-style oratory in the hot baths is a memorable sequence.

In order for the viewer to sympathise fully with the robbers, the authorities have to be made to look bad. Accordingly, we see Pinkerton bribing the Speaker of the Missouri Legislature to ensure that the Coles and Youngers don't get their amnesty. Throughout the film, we are constantly reminded that the gang is 'only robbing from robbers'. The proprietor of Northfield's bank is shown to be a charlatan, and the town's posse is crueller and dumber than the gang which it is pursuing.

'Northfield' is a good-looking film. The music is exceptionally good, with neat bottleneck guitar and passages of calliope-style music, mimicking the steam organ which features in the story. "Our national sport, gentlemen, is shooting," we are told, and the film has some great gunplay. Watch out for Elisha Cook Jr in the cameo part of Mr. Bunker.

There are also flaws. The baseball game is too modern in its styling... did runners really slide into the bases like this in the 1870's? And the game goes on too long. The extended joke, that fielders are sometimes clumsy, quickly turns stale. The townspeople call the crazy German guy 'squarehead', a term of abuse that surely dates from the First World War at the very earliest.

However, despite these shortcomings, the film works. The dourness of unspectacular industrial Minnesota contrasts nicely with the romanticism of these vagabonds. The egotistical Jesse's struggle to supplant Cole is well depicted, each man reluctant to fight openly, but their contrasting leadership styles making conflict inevitable.

These heroes who are not heroic populate a western which is not set in the west. The free-ranging nomads are trapped in the grey drizzle and brick structures of the MidWest, caught up in the midst of an Industrial Revolution which is sounding their death-knell.

Honor among thieves is carried to the extreme in "The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid". Showing compassion for victims of corrupt banks, with swift retribution, the gang is still fighting the Civil War in Minnesota. Gradually being overwhelmed by progress, these outlaws look quite out of place. The story is told in a linear fashion, with no annoying flashbacks. Robertson and Duvall are surrounded by a believable supporting cast, that looks the part. My only objection is a couple scenes go on entirely too long, and the film would actually be better off without the interminable baseball scene. Worth seeing for the performances and authentic feel of the movie. - MERK