Unexpected journeys

A Homeric Western and a strange fantasy classic

‘Slow West’

Is it weird that the guy best known for being the DJ from The Beta Band, John Maclean, just made one of the best movies of the year? I guess it shouldn’t be. But having only heard the music of his cult-favorite, electronic Scottish-folk ensemble in films like “High Fidelity” and “Remember Me,” I found Maclean’s feature film debut, “Slow West,” a welcome and unexpected revelation.

Kodi Smit-McPhee (“Let Me In”) is Jay Cavendish, a Scottish teenager traversing the American wilderness alone in pursuit of his true love, Rose Ross (Caren Pistorius), who fled to the Western frontier with her father after a deadly altercation back in Scotland.

Jay, a gullible yet inexplicably lucky traveler, crosses paths with Silas Selleck (Michael Fassbender), a mysterious rogue who offers to safely guide Jay west, handily killing anyone who gets in their way—all except for a band of like-minded bounty hunters led by Payne (Ben Mendelsohn). Jay is a sheep among wolves. 

The joys of “Slow West” lie in their discovery. The narrative scrolls through a humorous, often violent, dream-like world. From the opening scene—which finds Smit-McPhee whimsically shooting stars—the tone is of a textbook Joseph Campbell hero’s journey. It’s a trippy Herzogian adventure where the environment becomes a part of the characters’ existential journey. 

  That influence becomes readily apparent when Jay leaves Silas behind and meets a writer named Werner (Andrew Robertt) who’s documenting native cultures while trying to keep them from being killed or proselytized by white people. For transparency’s sake, Jay confesses to killing a woman in self-defense. 

“I’m no judge, or father,” he replies. “In a short time, this will be a long time ago.” 

I guess actually casting Herzog would have been a little too on the nose.

Writer/director Maclean infuses this slow-burn story with gritty ruthlessness, metaphysical atmosphere and an unlikely sense of humor that makes it feel like a weird “Game of Thrones” episode with Aria and The Hound set in 1870’s America. (The Hound himself—Rory McCann, as Rose’s father—accentuates that vibe.)

Smit-McPhee treats Jay with tenacity and vulnerability that never feel overplayed and a ghostly gravity that lends a strange depth to his character. Fassbender plays the protector badass with his typical charisma while keeping us guessing at his true motives. Mendelsohn radiates delicious menace as the leader of a band of scofflaws out for a bounty—though I wish we could have seen more of him. Pistorius is great in a small but intense role that elevates the film’s deviously empathetic emotional core. All of Maclean’s characters evolve believably within this organically rendered world. Stunning cinematography by Robbie Ryan (“Wuthering Heights”) captures the wide, gorgeous vistas and thoughtful performances with equal aplomb.

As a first feature, “Slow West” is a novelistic knockout—Maclean has this auteur thing down right out of the gate.

‘The Last Unicorn’

If Rankin/Bass Productions doesn’t ring a bell, you likely remember their 1964 stop-motion “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” The purveyors of childhood catnip mostly made a name for themselves with ‘70s network holiday specials and their televised adaptations of “The Hobbit” and “Return of the King.” 

Though 1982’s “The Last Unicorn” is geared toward tween girls rather than Tolkien nerds, its sentimental charms are enticing. Shout Factory releases it this month on Blu-Ray with a trove of new bonus material. 

A unicorn (voiced by Mia Farrow) hears a rumor that she might be the last of her kind in the world. Though her presence protects the forest, those without a pure heart or a little magic see her as merely an unusually beautiful horse.

She’s captured by the witch Mommy Fortuna and her bumbling wizard sidekick, Schmendrick (Alan Arkin), who displays the Unicorn in their collection of phony mythical creatures (with a fake horn that normal people can see). But the good-hearted Schmendrick decides to help free her and aid her quest to find the Red Bull, a terrifying beast who’s herding all the unicorns into the ocean and keeping them prisoner for the amusement of the wretched King Haggard (Christopher Lee). 

To protect her from the Red Bull (who has no interest in humans) Schmendrick transforms the unicorn in to a beautiful girl, Amalthea—for whom the king’s adopted son, Prince Lir (Jeff Bridges), falls head over heels. But the longer she remains in human form, the more she risks losing her identity forever.

“The Last Unicorn” doesn’t quite get its legs under itself until after the first act. But by then, you’re either fully immersed in the world and its themes of man subjugating nature, or you’re rolling your eyes at Okie Jimmy Webb’s syrupy ‘70s folk soundtrack. Something of a musical, the film utilizes songs in a kitchen-sink way, with treacly montages giving way to individual songs that fulfill character exposition. The singers are a little worse for wear (I know Jeff Bridges can sing, but here his vocal stylings seem out of place). For better or worse, the score is very much a product of its time.

But the animation is rich and unique, and the world is well-rendered, with fairy-tale creatures, dark caverns, magical clocks, talking skeletons, trees with boobs, cats that speak in riddles and a demonic bull. Its anime quality will appeal to retro-dwellers and contemporary senpai alike. 

The voice cast is the strong suit, with Arkin, Bridges, and Lee stealing the show, along with Tammy Grimes as the bandit sidekick, Molly. Farrow sounds like she’s constantly on the verge of tears, which is really what she always sounds like.

As a Saturday afternoon confection, the warm nostalgia “The Last Unicorn” induces after 33 years is still rewarded by an imaginative fable that memorably stands apart.

For more from Joe O'Shansky, check out his recent reviews of "Mad Max: Fury Road" and "Ned Rifle"