The Searchers
U 114 mins
U 114 mins
Underpinned by complex moral themes and spectacular vistas of Monument Valley, The Searchers follows a grizzled war veteran (John Wayne in one of the best performances of his career) on an obsessive five-year odyssey to rescue his niece from the Comanches who abducted her. It’s a grim quest, but one which is miraculously purified of its furies in a final moment of epiphany. For many, it’s the greatest film in the genre.
★★★★ “In the flawed vision of The Searchers we can see Ford, Wayne and the Western itself, awkwardly learning that a man who hates Indians can no longer be an uncomplicated hero.” – Roger Ebert