High Noon

I watched High Noon (1952) again last night, and I must say that I'm just as impressed as when I first watched it.

The opening cinematography where the single cowbow is framed in an underexposed, high contrast shot foretelling the stark reality of the towns people and inevitability of death coming to the tiny, sleepwater town.

High Noon	The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

You can tell where Sergio Leone pulls cinematic references from this movie, as shots of the eyes and series of cutbacks between characters are emminent. High Noon also utilizes the protagonist stuck between his personal moral values and the society (mob mentality). Sam Peckinpah would revamp this idea in his thriller Straw Dogs (1971) starring Dustin Hoffman.

Let's not forget the ultimate metaphore in this film, and one that resonates through Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West (1968): The train simultaneously represents capitalizim, industrialization, and the rise of civilation in the West, while also representing the death and destruction of a vastly untamed wilderness.

The train in High Noon carries a known and convicted murder named Frank Miller (but not this Frank Miller), who previously vowed to kill the hero Will Kane (Gary Cooper) five years predating the film. Once Miller exits the train, he's rejoined by three of his former cronies and begin the slow walk into town.

Death and time loom over this film like a darkening shroud of storm clouds.

The only quarrels I may have is the stiff performance by Grace Kelly, who would later go on to star as Hitchcock's blonde protagonist in films such as Dial M for Murder, Rear Window and To Catch a Thief. Granted that High Noon was Kelly's second leading role.

I didn't mind the use of the clocks throughout the film, whereas several other individuals may cry out that their use becomes redundent or monotonous. The clocks create a visual rhythm, like Darren Aronofsky's use of hip-hop visual montage, establishing tension and drama to the narrative.

Well, I'm off to to Best Buy and possibly Borders for a quick shopping spree of Lucio Fulci films, as per a recommendation (City of the Living Dead, Four of the Apocalypse and Zombie) for some references to continue my zombie/Western film research.