Monday, November 2, 2015

I'm Your Huckleberry!



Heck yeah! I'll be your huckleberry Val Kilmer. (we're talking in the 90s Val, obviously)

So the scene I picked was from the movie Tombstone. It has always been and always will be one of my all time favorites.  This film debuted in 1993, with some powerhouse actors and in my personal opinion one of the best performances by Val Kilmer as Doc Holiday.  Lora Kennedy did an amazing job casting this film. George P. Cosmatos directed the film and we can see how he really wanted to execute a vintage western movie that John Wayne himself would be proud of.  The entire movie has the rustic western feel that America is known for.  Throughout the movie we get taken back in time to earlier part of western expansion and all the dust that comes with it.  We also see how the director made sure to highlight Doc Holliday's tuberculosis throughout the entire movie, as well as how persistent he was. His overall character is excellently executed by the entire film team as well as the actor himself.

This particular scene has always been one of my all time favorites. SPOILER ALERT!! It's at the end of the film so if you haven't seen it yet, oh well, you'll recover.  In this scene the art directors (Chris Gorak, Kim Hix, and Mark Worthington) and set directors (Gene Serdena and Brian Stewart)  worked well together to create a scene that sends chills down your spine.  Johnny Ringo waits in this natural setting expecting Wyatt Earp, and is surprised to see Doc Holliday step out from the shadows,  I loved how they did the lighting for this scene.  Doc Holliday starts off in the shadows walking toward his reckoning in front of him.  As he emerges into the light and Johnny Ringo realizes who he is there is a lighting behind him that silhouettes his figure more and shows his clammy skin, highlighting his sickness.

The cinematography by William A. Fraker helps bring the continuity of Doc Holiday's sickness throughout the entire movie.  Doc Holliday is always on the verge of collapsing in every scene of the movie and shirks it away as if it's nothing each time.  He still goes and gives it his all in every fight regardless of his weak frame. Throughout the movie he remains the unsung hero in the background. The framing of his figure with the background lighting makes him the most pertinent character in the scene to me.  Shows that he is the one being spot lighted almost eluding the fact that he'll be triumphant in the end.

1 comment:

  1. I remember watching this movie when I was a young teenager and I always felt like the guy with tuberculosis was very mysterious. I like how his outlined shadow and the smoke from his cigarette enhanced the mysteriousness of his character.

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