A LETTERED SOUL: REFLECTIONS ON LITERATURE, CINEMA AND CULTURE .

THE GREAT CINEMATIC POOL OF VERSATILITY

Once again, this cinephile unveils a number of significant works of versatile quality.

*****

THE HOMESMAN(2014)

This astute recreation of the great American frontier circa the 1800s centers on the pursuit of the titular designation holder. The rules of this unique passage and simultaneous moral journey are twisted as instead of a male, it's the fierce spinster (Hillary Swank) who is respected around town and has held her own in a sparsely populated yet mostly male dominant milieu amid harsh weather and undulating terrain . She boldly takes up the task of escorting three mentally tormented women of the town to a missionary haven in another state where they can recuperate. She is equipped with the self defensive skills and grit to challenge laws of nature and gender at every step. Also her companion on this perilous journey is the tough, experienced, rough hewn lout ( Tommy Lee Jones) who is as much of a buffoon as a trustworthy counterpart.

The sense of its period, dimensions of the physical space traversed and the passage of time crystallizes in accurate details while the behavioral patterns and matters of pertinence in a journey of such proportions is maintained with effective agency, in a languid movement specific to the era. The three women who are being taken on the carriage too make us look at the interiority of their losses. Miranda Otto, Grace Gummer (Meryl Streep's daughter) and Sonja Richter play their parts very well.

However, an absurd twist that suggests the overreaching effects of such trails on the people and a logical opening to their mental disintegration comes after an hour and a half and abruptly eliminates Hillary from the narrative. This is somewhat opposed to the constructive, joint momentum between the two leads. It's as if the ultimate aim for director - actor Tommy Lee Jones was to carry the final stretch of slow building bravado on his own. But as a filmmaker, he does a fair approximation of the concerns addressed here , also enlisting Meryl Streep's expert craft for a highlighting cameo.

THE HOMESMAN has a scorched earth sensibility and even though modern audiences may notice the irony of the male appendage accompanying a level headed, steely woman although she is self sufficient , the many hued purpose of the THE HOMESMAN as a title is not lost on us since the times it portrays were such. It hasn't changed much even today, especially in isolated locations. Watch it to be immersed in its atmosphere and period pitch.

*

MILLION DOLLAR BABY(2004), BOYS DON'T CRY(1999)

Talking about the towering inferno of talents and physical prowess that is two time Academy Award winning actor Hillary Swank, this generation cites her film P. S, I LOVE YOU as its personal favourite. For those who still haven't watched her landmark performances, begin with her emphatically charged, resilient turns in BOYS DON'T CRY and MILLION DOLLAR BABY where the very concept of 'blood, sweat and tears' gets a whole new life with her classic presence.