True Grit (2010)
Written for the Screen, Edited and Directed by: The Coen Brothers
Starring: Hailee Steinfeld, Jeff Bridges, Josh Brolin, Matt Damon
Nominated for 10 Academy Awards.
It's a Western film, with a very interesting premise - after the death of her father, a 14 year old girl sets out to find her father's killer with a sheriff. The film reminds us of the title 'True Grit' in so many instances. Just the way, the 14 year old, Mattie even negotiates deals with Cogburn - she won't budge and she will stand on her word no matter what. Negotiation can be tough to sustain after a point of exhaustion - one of the main techniques of negotiation is to just exhaust the other party - but Mattie won't get exhausted. She would want things done exactly her way. This reminds me of how Rajamouli describes characters - he says when a character stands by their word no matter what, and when we see the extent to which they'd go for what they want - that's when we know the integrity of a character and that is what is a strong character. The film takes off with this premise - it's the story of an underdog and also a coming-of-age story for the girl. All of this set in a Western, it was a delight to watch.
The series of events that the film presents us are very interesting - at times it feels like the Cogburn and Mattie are on the same page, at the same level of expertise. Although the heart of the film is in the ending 20 minutes - from the time where Mattie sees Chaney. Everyone is at gunpoint from there, and that's where the genre kicks in with full intensity. After the whole shoot out, and after the whole thing was resolved, I loved how the film cuts to 25 years later and explores this whole event from the point of view of past, and history. What's beautiful is that Mattie is still strong on her word. She'd do what she's meant to do, or even more. Mattie is easily one of the most inspiring characters I've seen in a long time, and the film was worth just for that, if not for watching a Western made by the Coen Brothers.
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