320. The Harder They Fall; movie review

 

THE HARDER THEY FALL

Cert 15

137 mins

BBFC advice: Contains strong bloody violence, language

Django Unchained meets reggae in this tough but funny Western played out to perfectly pitched soundtrack.

The Harder They Fall alights upon the most famous black figures from the Wild West.

Yes, all of the characters in Jeymes Samuel's film existed but not in the context in which he brings them together.

I spent time reading up how Rufus Buck (Idris Elba),  Nat Love (Jonathan Majors), Stagecoach Mary (Zazie Beetz) and Gertrude 'Trudy' Smith (Regina King) had carved their name in history.

In Samuel's film, Love is an 11-year-old who witnesses his parents being shot dead by Buck and decades later is bent on revenge.

His opportunity arises when Buck is sprung from custody and returns with his gang to his old hometown.

That is actually a shorthand version of events which are intricately woven and played out with a deliciously sharp dialogue.

The similarity to the Tarantino westerns, Django Unchained and The Hateful Eight are so obvious I could imagine Samuel L. Jackson riding over the horizon.

The difference is the ferocity of the women who are every bit as tough as the men. Indeed, the aggressive rivalry of Mary and Trudy is almost arresting as the headliners.

The Harder They Fall spares no sensitivities. The blood-letting begins in the first minute and ends in the last and, consequently, the body count is bewilderingly high.

But that will not be my abiding memory - I was more taken with the smart script and the very unusual soundtrack.

I was also rather taken with the performances of a high-quality cast - they are quickfire on several levels.

It is one of the top Netflix movies of the year.

Reasons to watch: Tarantino-esque Western

Reasons to avoid: Extreme violence

Laughs: Chuckles rather than laughs

Jumps: None

Vomit: Yes

Nudity: Yes

Overall rating: 8.5/10

Did you know? Born to enslaved Tennessee sharecroppers in 1854, Nat Love headed out West after the American Civil War. He was one of 5,000 black cowboys who drove cattle on the treacherous Chisolm Trail and  distinguished himself as a roper and shootist in an 1876 competition in Deadwood City, South Dakota earning himself the nickname “Deadwood Dick."

The final word. Jeymes Samuel: "I see music and I hear film, so to speak. In my brain, they kind of exist as the same thing. I wanted to give this film its own signature, like Ennio Morricone gave Sergio Leone his own signature. " Polygon

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