Horst in Translation ([email protected])
"Woman Walks Ahead" is a new American movie that premiered back in 2017 and runs for 100 minutes approximately. Director is 2-time Emmy nominee Susanna White and the script is by Oscar nominee Steven Knight, so a British co-production we have here. the star is Golden-Globe winning lead actress Jessica Chastain and she is joined by recent Oscar winner Sam Rockwell. The poster and (not so great) title make it clear already that this is a film about Indians with modern western elements, maybe a female-themed equivalent to Christian Bale's most recently released film. But back to this one here. Sadly, I was very unimpressed. Eventually, it comes down to nothing but another unrefined film on the subject that depicts Whites as bad guys and Indians as suffering (good) guys while offering almost no depth whatsoever. In terms of Chastain and the story and material, you could thing it is one of these films that are symbolic for quality roles for females in movies these, days, but I found it to be the exact opposite. There is nothing to her character that makes an impact beyond stereotypes and generic character writing unfortunately. Her looks make the impact, maybe the clothes too, but the character never does and moves way further behind the longer the film goes to a degree where she becomes almost insignificant eventually and the occasional scene of discrimination against her for how she is bonding with Sitting Bull is pretty ridiculous. The worst, however, is the rushed-in plot about her being scared of horses that is more on the side of making fun about people who actually do with how easy she approaches the horses later on in a very clumsy attempt to show her (mental) strength. Also the parts wheer we have virtually everybody drooling over her are not to helpful in terms of strong female characters. As for Sitting Bull, there isn't too much positive I can say either. Again, it's the looks that are working well, but that is it pretty much. The seemingly important scenes about the money for the drawing, the speeches to his peers and him getting closer to Weldon never make half the impact they are supposed to. The scene at the very end with the dancing circus horse was supposed to be powerful, but not even the words appearing on the screen afterward can make this one work. It is pretty ridiculous. The only somewhat positive thing I can say here is about Sam Rockwell. The way you never knew where his character was heading was nice and offered some suspense at least. He's clearly the MVP here and it's easy to see how his career has probably been peaking in the last 5 years, not just awards-wise. The plot with the idea at the end that what seems a victory for the Indians is the exact opposite wasn't too bad, but cannot make up for all the mediocrity and very weak parts before that. I just cannot give this movie a positive recommendation by any means. I think given the cast and the general plot idea, it is an extremely disappointing outcome we got here. Very much a missed opportunity and the miss wasn't even close. Even the cinematography is surprisingly bland given the locations where the film is set. Unless you really adore both Rockwell and Chastain as well as modern western movies, my suggestion is to watch something else instead. Certainly a thumbs-down I give this one we got here.
