The road trip as a narrative device works so well in cinema because it provides the one thing so many small films lack: direction. Whether looking for meaning in life or cheeseburgers, the characters’ mission statement and journey to find it propels the film’s action forward in even the smallest and seemingly aimless films. Two movies out now in limited release, Güeros and Slow West, demonstrate two very different types of cinematic road trips, with similarly idealistic yet childish men at their centers, following consuming passions on what may ultimately be a foolhardy journeys.
Slow West, the winner of this year’s best world narrative film at Sundance, is a western in the classic, narrative sense, but with a fresh take. The film’s sly, dark wit has a ’70s alternative style, with just enough unexpected twists to keep audiences on their toes. And in the grand tradition on the best westerns, the movie’s cinematic look is breathtaking and intimidating; colorful and varied, the integration of the landscapes (photographed in magnificent scope) with the film’s tone works brilliantly. The darkness of the violent world, in this bright, colorful environment adds to the dark humor, while the landscape suggests that the land is not yet ruled by law.
Kodi Smit-McPhee stars as Jay, a Scottish boy still in his teens who has no business being out in the wildest lands. We first see him wandering through a burned-out Native American camp, immediately confronted by men far more dangerous than he expected. Saved by Silas (Michael Fassbender), Jay accepts his offer to chaperone him on his journey to find the love of his life, Rose (Caren Pistorius), who was forced to flee Scotland after an accidental death. Jay, however, is unaware that Rose has a bounty on her head, and is being pursued by a band of unsavory bounty hunters led by Payne (Ben Mendelsohn)… and Jay is leading them right to her.
Youngsters Smit-McPhee and Pistorius are well-cast as the star-crossed lovers who both seem to physically age on screen simply because of the way they change their body language. Pistorius is a genuine find as survivor Rose (I just hope Hollywood takes note of this latest ass-kicker); and, despite his already impressive career in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and The Young Ones, Smit-McPhee is finally a convincing leading man with confidence and charisma. Mendelsohn (probably my favorite actor working right now) is having a great time playing up Payne’s swagger in the tradition of Alan Rickman (perhaps he learned from Igby Goes Down). It’s nice to see him playing so many different shades of villain, but after five years, even I’m really ready to see him in some lighter material (rom-com anyone?) before he plays another villain in Rogue One. His band of bounty hunters aren’t exactly fleshed-out characters, but they are all memorable (the good fortune of hiring true character actors), and their scene at the camp fire is one of the best scenes in the movie. The only actor I wished we had a bit more time with is Kalani Queypo, who plays the only speaking Native American character in the film. Although he has great moments, especially with Pistorius, and Queypo is fantastic in his limited screentime, and it sure does feel limited.
But the best performance in the film is easily Michael Fassbender as Silas. Fassbender is a great actor, but it stuck me watching the moving how rare it is to see him playing a character as “easy.” Whether in serious material like Shame or 12 Years a Slave or lighter fare like the X-Men films, he is always so tense. Silas is chill. He smiles and laughs and is charming as hell. And because of that, Fassbender is a blast to watch on screen, making Silas into a loveable anti-hero. I’m completely serious when I say this is probably my favorite performance by Fassbender to date. Perhaps it’s the fact that he’s working with a friend, having already starred in writer/director John Maclean’s short films. Maclean is making his feature debut with Slow West, but you would never know it. He has a clear knowledge of films while bringing a sensibility of his own to the screen. The same is true of Alonso Ruizpalacios, the co-writer/director of Güeros. Like Maclean, there is a sense from the very beginning of the movie that we are in the hands of a filmmaker we can trust, and by the end they prove us right.
Güeros is set in 1999 in Mexico City, during the National University strike out. Roommates Sombra and Santos (Tenoch Huerta Mejia and Leonardo Ortizgris) are unable to go to school because of this strike, and find themselves struggling each day just to find ways to spend their time. Tomas (Sebastian Aguirre), Sombra’s teenage brother, is sent for a visit after getting in trouble, and the brothers plan to find and pay their respects to Epigmenio Cruz, an aging folk-rock hero for whom they have a shared love. Thus begins their road trip throughout the city. Santos joins them, as does Ana (Ilse Salas), Sombra’s girlfriend, who is one of the leaders in the strike.
All three boys are great in the film, with the brothers establishing a real connection on screen, and Ortizgris providing some hilarious comic relief. Salas enters the film with almost an ethereal quality, Sombra is so in love with this extroverted, intelligent, compassionate woman, and Tomas develops his own crush on the dream girl. Like Rose, Ana is definitely a “dream girl” who we see from the perspective of the men who love them; but in this case they love her for her good internal qualities, which makes her seem both identifiable and an exception to the general “pixie” rule. From the minute she appears on screen, photographed in soft focus and floating camera work, you fall in love with her the same way Sombra did and Tomas do.
Ruizpalacios’s cinematography is something to behold, filmed in breathtaking black and white and with a crispness that gives the film a look all its own. The movie has the kind of depth of field we rarely see in 3D films, and he finds enough angles to makes the “ordinary” city seem magical because they are on this kind of youthful journey. The movie incorporates this moment of history well, but always keeps the focus on the inner-relationships of these four (particularly between the brothers), and uses the strike as a backdrop rather than plot. The movie has an easy-going rambling feeling (the trip takes almost 40 minutes to start) but that all feeds the immersive sense of being along for the ride. It is that rare time when young people have the freedom, resources, and ambition to go on an impromptu trip, and its pleasure to be with these four – and despite how ridiculous the goal, you want them to find the elusive hero.
Slow West and Güeros are both refreshingly different from the mainstream big-budget films in the megaplex. And as good as Mad Max is, if you want a break from the explosions, Slow West and Güeros are great ways to chill this summer at the movies.
Lesley Coffin is a New York transplant from the midwest. She is the New York-based writer/podcast editor for Filmoria and film contributor at The Interrobang. When not doing that, she’s writing books on classic Hollywood, including Lew Ayres: Hollywood’s Conscientious Objector and her new book Hitchcock’s Stars: Alfred Hitchcock and the Hollywood Studio System.
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