Directed by Andrew Dominik, 2007, 160 minutes

Brothers Robert and Charlie Ford (Casey Affleck and Sam Rockwell) join an outlaw gang led by Jesse and Frank James (Brad Pitt and Sam Shepard). After a violent train robbery, gang members split up and go to ground. Robert Ford becomes fascinated by Jesse James but hero-worship turns sour as the authorities close in and Jesse’s paranoia escalates to murderous pitch.

Less than 40 years after Jesse James’ death the outlaw’s son portrayed his father as a hero in ‘Jesse James under the Black Flag’ (Franklin B. Coates, 1921). Hollywood westerns continue a long tradition of mythmaking and men like James were conscious of their own celebrity as constructed in journalism and pulp novels. Romantic outlaws inhabit almost every national folklore and characters like England’s Robin Hood quickly made the transition into cinema. The James Gang emerged from the trauma of the American Civil War; the ‘bushwhackers’ portrayed in Ang Lee’s ‘Ride with the Devil’ (1999). To Confederate sympathisers these militias were freedom fighters; to their victims they were simply bandits. Filmmakers have recreated the past as entertainment since the earliest days of cinema. Viewers and critics consider veracity to be a mark of legitimacy in historical drama and the idea of authenticity lends film the stamp of authority. Andrew Dominik’s ambitious re-telling of the Jesse James story demonstrates the impossibility of retelling the past accurately. History and legend are both constructs, coloured by our own politics and morality.

As in his debut film ‘Chopper’ (2000) Dominik is also interested in how society portrays masculinity and defines the qualities that make a man into a hero. Although many Westerns use complex or realistic characterisation (for example ‘Heaven’s Gate’, Michael Cimino, 1980) or anti-heroes (‘The Unforgiven’, Clint Eastwood, 1992) it remains a heroic form linked closely to myths of nation-building and self-image so it’s rare to find a Western where all the characters are flawed and damaged individuals. Sam Peckinpah’s ‘Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid’ (1973) has similar themes of masculinity, friendship and betrayal to Dominik’s film but the relationship between James Coburn’s Garrett and Kris Kristofferson’s Billy retains the alluring sheen of myth. ‘Assassination’ contains no heroes or heroics; its characters are as unappealing and uncommunicative as ourselves and this makes it a difficult film to watch.

Instead of Shane or the Lone Ranger we meet men defined by contrasts and contradiction. Brad Pitt’s Jesse is a sociopath, capable of beating a child without compunction and then walking his son to church on Sunday. His persona is riddled with uncertainty and self-doubt. Paranoid and constantly on the run from the law James’ end seems self-determined, already old and tired at 34 he is fascinated by death. Unable to kill himself, the film suggests that Robert Ford offers him an easy way out. Casey Affleck’s performance is both wonderful and uncomfortable to watch. Robert is a fragile personality unable to engage in the rituals of performed masculinity; intently watchful, too easily hurt and uncomfortably gauche; his attempts at socialisation always fall flat behind his brittle smile and frightened, downcast eyes. We see him trying to engage Frank James (Sam Shepard) in manly banter and succeeding only in unsettling the older man to the point of violence. The rhythm and cadence of male conversation is perfectly captured by Dominik’s writing and fine ensemble performances. The conversations in ‘Assassination’ are laid with traps as these men posture and compete; any sign of weakness can be fatal. Instead of the heroic, face to face theatricality of the gunfight the protagonists of Dominik’s film constantly approach each other from behind, catching one another off-guard and foreshadowing the inevitable moment when Ford pulls the trigger and becomes legend.

When the Ford Brothers realise that Jesse is systematically eliminating their fellow former gang members, they find themselves locked into proximity with this unpredictable and violent man. Robert Ford’s collaboration with the government forces hunting James further complicates the situation. His motives are complex: Killing James may be the only way to save his own and his brother’s lives but it also offers him a path to heroic celebrity. Although the viewer may find it difficult to sympathise with Ford’s treachery the film makes no attempts to glamorise James either; a merciless killer who executes former friends on the slightest hint of suspicion.  The film builds relentlessly to the killing in a sequence of unbearable tension. Time seems to slow down, and small details become magnified as Ford waits for his moment, torn between his need to kill James and residual love for his idol.

Warren Ellis and Nick Cave (who cameos as a ballad singer) provide a halting, insistent score which underscores the elegiac tone of the film and the vulnerability of the characters. ‘Assassination’ is shot amidst similar handsome vistas to other Westerns but here characters are swallowed up by the bleak landscape and crippled by intense cold on icebound plains. We are further distanced from the characters by the narrative voice-over and Roger Deakin’s sumptuous photography which often recreates the visual texture of early photography. We see events through a distorted lens or the thick, imperfect glass of old windows. These devices emphasise not only the distance of these times from our own, they also reflect the uncertainties of historical narrative. Facts are fluid, changed by time, perception and memory. Ford’s image of Jesse is created from cheap paperbacks and partisan press reports; the real man is unable to compete with the Jesse James that Ford preserves in his box of relics. Constant oppositions of image and reality haunt the film. When Robert and Charlie Ford recreate the ‘assassination’ as a theatrical piece to tell their side of the story audience reactions are hostile. Robert states late in the film that he expected applause when he killed James, instead he finds approbation.

Although ‘Assassination’ is an ensemble piece the film’s intense focus on masculinity leaves frustratingly little space for female characters. It would be fascinating to see these men through the eyes of the women who shared their lives. There are some intriguing hints of greater depth: Zee James’ (Mary Louise Parker) unshakeable loyalty to her violent, secretive husband and Dorothy Evans (Zooey Deschanel) who touchingly accepts Bob Ford for what he is and with whom he finds some degree of comfort. It’s possible that material was lost as the film’s running time was cut down prior to release and there is a nagging feeling that a longer film would have been more satisfying.

When Dominik handed the finished cut of ‘Assassination’ to the studio they were dissatisfied and the film languished in limbo for a year, when finally recut and released it made little impact at the Box Office. Like David Fincher’s ‘Zodiac’ (also released in 2007) this is an ambitious and complex film that proved too sophisticated for the marketplace. Both films also had the disadvantage of coming up against Paul Thomas Anderson’s overrated ‘There Will Be Blood’ with its monumental central performance by Daniel Day Lewis at awards time and lost out there too. This may be a film to admire rather than to love but it rewards the patient viewer with compelling performances and an evocative sense of time and place.  The realistic characters display frailties that we can all recognise, reminding us that heroes are hard to find in a harsh world.

Quotes

“Rooms seemed hotter when he was in them, rains fell straighter. Clocks slowed, sounds were amplified” Narrator (Hugh Ross) describes Jesse James

Connections

Film

‘Jesse James under the Black Flag’ directed by Franklin B. Coates (1921)

‘Jesse James’ directed by Henry King (1939)

‘Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid’ directed by Sam Peckinpah (1973)

‘Heaven’s Gate’ directed by Michael Cimino (1980)

‘Unforgiven’ directed by Clint Eastwood (1992)

‘Wyatt Earp’ directed by Lawrence Kasdan (1994)

‘Ride with the Devil’ directed by Ang Lee (1999)

‘Chopper’ directed by Andrew Dominik (2000)

‘The Proposition’ directed by John Hillcoat (2005)

‘Meek’s Cutoff’ directed by Kelly Reichardt (2010)

Reading

Ron Hansen, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Souvenir Press, 2006

Margaret Atwood, Alias Grace, Virago Press, 1997

Music

Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, ‘Music from the Motion Picture The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford’, Mute Records, 2007, CDSTUMM294