Our instructor, Mark Davis, was highlighting the director John Huston last week and assigned this film. I went ahead and ordered it through Netflix via DVD as it wasn't available via streaming. After receiving the disc, I popped it in and selected the option for subtitles (which I always turn on for any movie if available. Check out the trailer below. My review follows. Enjoy!
The Treasure of Sierra Madre takes place in Mexico with 3 characters, Dobbs, Howard, and Curtin deciding to go find gold while down in their luck. As the movie progresses, Dobbs becomes very greedy and paranoid. The group also encounters bandits, weather conditions, and other obstacles along the way that hinders their dream of becoming rich.
Director John Huston did a great job in pulling the performance of the actors in representing the characters superb, especially Dobbs. Dobbs is a middle aged fellow who is down in his luck and begs people for money, but splashes a cup of water on a little kid selling cheap lottery tickets. Once he meets Howard and finds out about searching for gold and decided to put his money towards it without any hesitation. However, throughout the film, he dug a hole of greed and paranoia by himself. He began talking to himself. He made false accusations and never apologized, only kept his paranoia going. He went as far as shooting Curtin because of the greed and paranoia. His final scene is one of sadness as he himself is killed by robbers not even looking for his gold.
The wardrobe of Dobbs throughout the progression of the film is a good image of how his inner self deteriorated. Although he was poor, he got enough money to clean himself up in the beginning of the film and then as his gold digging continued, he clothes got dirty and ripped, he grew a beard, and looked like crap when he died. Excellent way of showing by physical means his mental state.
I enjoyed this film as it kept me wanted to know what was gonna happen next.
Next film for next week is The Asphalt Jungle. Check back then!
No comments:
Post a Comment