What makes This Bloody Country more immersive than your standard horse opera is the high-stakes drama that takes precedence over action. Instead of a series of six-gun power contests, Packard puts us on the same trail, walking right next to his characters. I’ve seen the true West in a lot of movies, but here you get to feel the true West.
Packard takes the audience on a visual journey that is as wild as the country it is filmed in. In the hazy short-term memory of pop culture, the western is usually identified by a costume, specifically a cowboy hat with a hip-slung gun. It’s so easy to forget what the most crucial defining element of the West is: the West.
Filmed in Utah near the Arizona border, This Bloody Country is one of the most scenically stunning motion pictures ever made, western and otherwise. Cinematographer Ryan Purcell composes his frames so that fantastic natural landscapes fill the screen at all times, surrounding the characters with the deadly beauty of the territory and unimaginable vistas over every shoulder.
“Packard makes sure this ruthless ride more than lives up to the promise of the title.”
These are the kind of visuals that you would kill to see projected in 70mm, as it’s one gorgeous background after another. You just want to walk into it and stay there—except you know it would kill your a*s. There also seem to be several references to silent film visual composition, with characters dead center and nature framing them in a way that evokes the oldest of cinematic styles.
These shots are particularly striking and have a tone found only in the most classic films. Connoisseurs of great cinematic visuals will feast on this film, whether they are fans of westerns or not. But once you visit This Bloody Country, you will come out a western fan. Because of the brilliant drama, the West will be in your DNA, and you can’t make it go away.
"…one of the most scenically stunning motion pictures ever made, western and otherwise."
