The Magnificent Seven (1960) is not your average Western film. The story of seven gunslingers hired to guard a Mexican village against a group of bandits, it pulls back the romantic reputation of the gunslinger to reveal its hollow, desolate core. Each of the Seven has a story to tell, from the young wannabe, searching for a reputation and the prestige to go with it in order to rise out of his humble beginnings, to the has-been, tormented by nightmares of not being good enough, to the leader and his number 2, both sadly aware that no place has a hold on them, no woman waits for them, there are no children to care for.
It’s this awareness of a hollow at core of their existence, perhaps, that permits this movie to open with a funeral scene – or, more properly, the trip to the burial site. A man has died of a heart attack, his funeral expenses have been kindly paid for by a stranger, and the undertaker reports all is ready on Boot Hill.
Except for the small group of men who object to an Indian being buried on Boot Hill.
Chris and Vin volunteer to take the body in, showing off their pinpoint shooting skills by shooting one man’s gun out of his hand, and another in the arm, and successfully taking the body to his final resting place. But why? Why not, perhaps? Or perhaps they’ve discarded that prejudice that so many early settlers had against the Indian, discarded it because of their own bleak future.
So when three villagers show up, looking for help against the 40 or so bandits who demand tribute from their village, Chris takes on the job, recruiting Vin and the others, each coming for their own reason, from the wannabe to the man still looking for the big score, which he’s convinced is somewhere in the mountains of the village, to the has-been, a quiet cipher who may be looking for redemption – or the final way out.
Once at the village, they direct the villagers in building defenses. Each step is careful to show the inner lives of the men, such as when they realize the villagers are giving them the best food and subsisting on a few beans a day – the Seven then turn around and host a feast using the food, making sure everyone is well-fed, if only for that night.
When the bandits show up, all hell breaks loose – but now we’re invested in these Seven, along with the villagers. They win the first battle, but when the second ends in their disadvantage, some would say they were lucky to walk away with their lives. Why do they return to the third and final battle? To rescue the villagers? To salve their wounded pride?
To do right? To fill, for a moment, that hollow core?
Strongly Recommended.
