Réalisation:
John HustonScénario:
Ben MaddowPhotographie:
Franz PlanerMusique:
Dimitri TiomkinActeurs·trices:
Burt Lancaster, Audrey Hepburn, Audie Murphy, John Saxon, Charles Bickford, Lillian Gish, Albert Salmi, Joseph Wiseman, June Walker, Kipp Hamilton (plus)VOD (1)
Résumés(1)
Au lendemain de la guerre de Sécession, dans les grandes plaines du Texas, le clan Zachary habite un ranch isolé, près duquel repose le père, mort en défendant les siens contre les Indiens kiowa. Ben, qui a appris la langue de ces derniers en grandissant, et refuse de communier dans la haine des “Rouges” qui cimente la bourgade voisine, tient le rôle de chef de famille auprès de sa mère Mathilda, de ses frères cadets et de leur sœur adoptive, Rachel. Un jour, celle-ci croise un vieil illuminé qui affirme la connaître. Peu après, trois Kiowa viennent au ranch des Zachary réclamer la jeune fille, qu’ils disent être leur sœur de sang... À contre-courant des scénarios manichéens alors de mise à Hollywood, John Huston signe un faux classique du western, émaillé de chevauchées fantastiques et de fusillades, mais sous-tendu par l’ambiguïté. La mère (Lillian Gish) vit dans le mensonge, le frère et la sœur adoptive (Burt Lancaster et Audrey Hepburn) sont épris l’un de l’autre, et les pionniers incarnent la face sombre de la conquête de l’Ouest. Installant son casting de haut vol dans un paysage grandiose et impitoyable, le génial touche-àtout, pour son premier western, subvertit les codes du genre sans renoncer à sa grande tradition. (Arte)
(plus)Vidéo (1)
Critiques (3)
Western from the old school with a clearly defined romantic line, in a classic attire of good and evil, this time enriched by a surprising but more emphatic motif of racism. The first half is annoyingly monotonous, while the second is strongly above average in its seriousness. And I definitely cannot forget the theatrically semi-pathetic, but terribly adorable Audrey among the actors. In the end, it is definitely not a groundbreaking piece in any respect or genre, but rather a nostalgic comfort, undermined by sluggishness, excessive literalness, and above all, overstated pathos in dialogues.
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Considering that this film was made at a time when the US was experiencing one of the many waves of racial intolerance, the words "ordinary and boring" are the last that come to mind. On the other hand, all of the filmmakers should be commended for the way they have managed to combine the historical western setting with purely contemporary issues. Yes, the film would have benefited from a faster pace and all that, but it's the idea, the warningly raised index finger that John Huston used to say over the years: "Look, people have treated each other like this a few times before, and it hasn't done them any good." The actors probably don't need any commentary (Burt Lancaster's determined tough guy, and Audrey H., the most beautiful of all and acting the most natural), the storm search and the ending are legendary scenes for me, and I loved Tiomkin's classic music playing with the song “Glory, Glory, Hallelujah".
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Audrey Hepburn's short career is one of those extremely overrated ones. So I decided to take a closer look. This Belgian-born "miracle" of the 50s and 60s left an indelible mark in several simple genre films and in several controversial adaptations. And like the vast majority of Hollywood actors, at some point, she found herself needing to try a western as well. Which is especially spicy for European actors, for whom nothing is more unnatural. So is there anything memorable about The Unforgiven? Of course not. It is completely routine, where perhaps the only thing that raises eyebrows is the utterly pointless casting of Hepburn and (almost 70-year-old) Lilian Gish. A confusing, uninteresting, boring encounter with a rank-and-file western. A waste of time.
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Annonces