An itinerant priest is mired in the sins of Silver Gulch, desperately
seeking a miracle to restore his faith in God…and humanity. Director Martin
Ritt remakes Kurosawa’s RASHOMON as a Western, replacing Japanese social mores
with American values, as he cross-examines four witnesses to a violent crime.
The cast includes William Shatner as the forlorn priest, a subdued and
aching performance in the days before being typecast; Paul Newman as the outlaw
Carrasco, unfortunately resorting to stereotype as the criminal, his Spanish
accent an embarrassment; Laurence Harvey as the impotent husband, his character
bland and underdeveloped though his eyes are always expressive; Claire Bloom as
the victim, too shrill with a faltering Southern accent that disappears in the
midst of conversations; Howard Da Silva as the prospector, his grizzled visage
depicting the weary years of suffering; and Edward G. Robinson as the talkative
Con Man who reflects the cruel truth of a despicable world. The actors fall
into caricature but it’s mostly Shatner and Da Silva who deserve our empathy,
and it’s the strength of their performances that makes the revelation dramatic.
Newman is no Mifune, and though Mifune also over-plays his part, Newman’s seems
contrived and clichéd.
Martin Ritt structures the film very much like the original but without
the artistry; he condenses important elements and lengthens the exposition.
This film is nine minutes longer than the original while excising the lengthy
tracking shots and chiaroscuro ingredients, and fills the time with annoying
explanation. Ritt mirrors a few of Kurosawa’s compositions: the low angle shot
of the dead husband’s convulsed hand, and he shoots directly into the sun for
effect…but not the same effect. Ritt reminds the audience of the blazing heat,
while Kurosawa used the sun as metaphor concerning spiritual light and
concealing darkness. As a Western, one element that adds to the story is the
landscape of prickly cacti and sand, as nature becomes an instrument of
physical pain and confrontation. The widescreen black & white
cinematography is excellent, utilizing many close-ups including several short
but frantic tracking shots, while the editing remains visually elusive.
The film’s major flaw is in being too talky. Where RASHOMON allows the
viewer to come to a conclusion, Ritt hammers home the theme with a six-shooter
mentality. The result is a monotone narrative that is more boring than
interesting, removing the viewer as active participant. And what is the
outrage? Is it the violent act? Or the intentional lies told by the witnesses?
Or is it the original sin of human nature? The title forces the audience to
consider the reality of the act instead of the act of reality; a subtle
paradigm shift that diminishes the thematic power.
Overall, THE OUTRAGE is an interesting film that stands on its own as
parable but is a pale reflection of the original.
Final Grade: (C)
