A simple summary of the film is the story of the protagonist, Ethan, who has been searching for his little niece Debbie who was taken away by the Indians for several years and hunted down the Indians who killed his relatives. Ethan was a Confederate who had just returned from the North-South battlefield. After his return, he lived with his brother's house. However, one day, the Indian tribe attacked the town where his brother's house was located. His brother's family was brutally killed, and the Indians also took him away His two nieces, Ethan, began the long search with Martin, a boy of eighth Indian ancestry, who was adopted by his brother.
From many tiny details, the film deeply depicts Ethan's well-intentioned, stubborn, upright, rebellious, sturdy and resolute image for the audience, which is also the consistent image of a man in director Ford's films. In the film, Ethan is a rather stubborn man with deep-rooted racial notions, and it was obvious to Martin that he first met, even if it was his brother's adopted child, just because he was one-eighth Indian ancestry. He showed disdain and disgust, and racial discrimination was vividly reflected. After his little niece was kidnapped by the Indians, his relentless search behavior may be regarded as his pursuit of pure white blood, and he was extremely opposed to it. Interracial marriage, which also implicitly reflects his stubborn demand for blood from the side. In fact, there is a certain critical attitude towards Ethan in the film. It is not like the previous one who distorted and vilified the Indians. This is a great improvement in Western movies. Even so, the Ethan portrayed in the film is still He is a mature and stable, maverick, cold on the outside but gentle on the inside. There are several details at the beginning of the film that reveal the subtle relationship between Ethan and his brother's wife Martha. Sen kissed Masha's forehead twice, and Masha didn't even want to turn around and enter the door, but kept looking at Ethan with affection and entered the room backwards. The reunion between Ethan and his brother was only expressed by a calm handshake, From this, we can see Ethan's inner emotional world, and the killing of Martha must be the source of hatred in Ethan's heart, so this caused him to treat the Indians more cruelly. This can be accepted more comfortably by us.
The process of searching for the little niece Debbie was long and arduous. When Ethan found Debbie, he found that Debbie had been assimilated by the Indians. At this time, all Ethan thought was to kill her, which was also due to Ethan's heart. racial concept. But when he picked Debbie up in front of the cave, all the family affection came back. He hugged Debbie tenderly and said, "Debbie, let's go home." Maybe this is how he faced his own conscience towards himself. The best redemption.
At the end of the film, Ethan stood alone in front of the door and looked at the endless desert in the distance, gradually walking away. This shot uses a silhouette effect, which makes him particularly lonely. The joy and family in the house seem to have nothing to do with him, because the image of a hero is always alone, and Ethan is still a loner in the vast desert. The last shot is incredibly sad.
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