Jun. 18, 2002 - 12:37 am
no, i'm not talking about Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002). i'm talking about the Best Picture winner of 1931. what does the word "Cimarron" mean anyway you ask? well it's basically a river in New Mexico that flows into Oklahoma. it's almost 700 miles long. it's also a term used to describe the territory surrounding this river in the late 19th century. this movie is the story of one man and his family as they witness the westward expansion through this area. (actually much along the same lines of Spirit's plot). i might go see Spirit at some point too. it looks pretty good to me and i've heard some good things about it. i love some of Dreamworks' animated pictures like The Prince of Egypt (1998).
so Yancey Cravat is our hero in this film and he is a very complicated fellow. he's a lawyer, a newspaperman, gunfighter, preacher, and just about everything else you can think of. the first scene of the film was for me very reminiscent of the land race scene from Far and Away (1992). i think it might actually be the exact same race for land. outstanding. Far and Away is a great film though. this one just isn't.
i guess this was really before sound film had come into its own. there really is hardly any non-diegetic (meaning not coming from the story space) music in this film. the only time you hear any music usually is if someone's singing or playing a piano, etc. the dramatic value of the film could've been greatly enhanced with a little mood music. oh well, i have to give it a 5/10.
this is another one of those Best Pictures where you follow a family through its rise and fall. it even has the intertitle cards where the viewer is shown the years as they pass. i can't believe there are so many of those on the Best Picture list. is there a formula you can follow to win Best Picture? i could definitely give you some hints i think.