This is an uneven film with both very good strong points and serious flaws that ultimately I think is overrated.
Many people seem to love this film and I can see why. Much of the camera-work and cinematography, editing, use of sound, shadows, close-ups, etc., is incredible and some even brilliant. The long tracking scene in the beginning is perhaps the prime example of this and it is simply wonderful. This scene and others do a great job of building tension and atmosphere, and setting the mood, such as the shots of Vargas, Quinlan, and others looking around the town at night. Other scenes like the one where Joe Grandi is trying to intimidate Vargas's wife are also wonderful.The story certainly has many promising aspects such as the basic issue of Quinlan's nature, goals, and tactics, Vargas's attitude toward them,what this drives Quinlan to do, and the ultimate trouble this all creates. The exploration of Quinlan's character is a particularly interesting subject and Marlene Dietrich's line at the end is great.
However, Dietrich's line rings hollow and comes across as both insincere and melodramatic because the film as a whole is not compelling or convincing. The film's the underlying plot and the screenplay itself are wanting, although some of this may be due to editing as well. Ultimately, the subject matter just fails to fully impress or convince. The story doesn't work and in the end one comes away not really being convinced or caring about any of it. The pieces don't all fit together and some of the elements seem jumbled. Some scenes, moreover, are inexplicable and seem added without apparent purpose to the story or without explanation as to their relevance. A good example is the scene with the two women joining the Grandi toughs at the motel. That was unexplained and went nowhere. What was the point of having it and who were the women? Other elements, such as the very ending itself, seem perfunctory. In addition, promising elements were not fully developed or explored and either only hinted at or left hanging.
Ultimately, this film starts promisingly, has a subject with potential, and is very successful most of the time in creating the right mood and tension, and yet it becomes lost and jumbled, and fails to convince or fulfill its apparent goals.
Many people seem to love this film and I can see why. Much of the camera-work and cinematography, editing, use of sound, shadows, close-ups, etc., is incredible and some even brilliant. The long tracking scene in the beginning is perhaps the prime example of this and it is simply wonderful. This scene and others do a great job of building tension and atmosphere, and setting the mood, such as the shots of Vargas, Quinlan, and others looking around the town at night. Other scenes like the one where Joe Grandi is trying to intimidate Vargas's wife are also wonderful.The story certainly has many promising aspects such as the basic issue of Quinlan's nature, goals, and tactics, Vargas's attitude toward them,what this drives Quinlan to do, and the ultimate trouble this all creates. The exploration of Quinlan's character is a particularly interesting subject and Marlene Dietrich's line at the end is great.
However, Dietrich's line rings hollow and comes across as both insincere and melodramatic because the film as a whole is not compelling or convincing. The film's the underlying plot and the screenplay itself are wanting, although some of this may be due to editing as well. Ultimately, the subject matter just fails to fully impress or convince. The story doesn't work and in the end one comes away not really being convinced or caring about any of it. The pieces don't all fit together and some of the elements seem jumbled. Some scenes, moreover, are inexplicable and seem added without apparent purpose to the story or without explanation as to their relevance. A good example is the scene with the two women joining the Grandi toughs at the motel. That was unexplained and went nowhere. What was the point of having it and who were the women? Other elements, such as the very ending itself, seem perfunctory. In addition, promising elements were not fully developed or explored and either only hinted at or left hanging.
Ultimately, this film starts promisingly, has a subject with potential, and is very successful most of the time in creating the right mood and tension, and yet it becomes lost and jumbled, and fails to convince or fulfill its apparent goals.