Released: 1973

Dir. Clint Eastwood

First Time Viewing Reaction

              High Plains Drifter is one of those movies that has eluded me for years. I’d seen bits and pieces, but we were never in the same place at the same time. I knew it by reputation alone, and strangely never really knew what the story was actually about, other than Clint Eastwood quite literally paints the town red. So, not being able to find it on any of the streaming services I have access to, I went on Amazon and found a collection of 7 Clint Eastwood films from Universal at a ridiculously low price. I placed an order, and Bob’s your uncle, less than 24hrs later I’m watching High Plains Drifter.

              Although I’m possibly the last person on Earth to see High Plains Drifter I will attempt to refrain from spoilers for the handful on Omicron Ceti 3 who haven’t. This is my first reaction to the film, and I haven’t read anyone else’s opinions of the movie.

              When I watch a movie, I endeavour to consider when the movie was made, in this case 1973, when anti-heroes were all the rage, especially if they were played by Clint Eastwood, and anti-heroes can commit some pretty despicable acts. Within 17 minutes of arriving in the town of Lago, a stranger with no name, kills three hired guns and rapes one of the town’s woman-folk, who is of questionable character, but that’s no excuse. However, it will be clear why the stranger is behaving in this uncivilized manner by the end of the movie.

              Lago seems to be an idyllic western town situated on the shores of a large lake, possibly somewhere in the American southwest. I found the town to be quite different from other movie western towns. When the stranger checks into the hotel I noticed that the stairs leading up to his room are on the outside, reminiscent of a Holiday Inn in the 1970’s, rather than the usual interior stairway found in countless westerns. It felt strangely modern, and unexpected. But the town, and its inhabitants are also strangely unexpected.

              Soon, the town is bending over backwards for the stranger. Giving him free reign of everything, resulting in the stranger mercilessly taking advantage of and humiliating the citizens of Lago. But the town for the most part shows no pride, and allows the stranger to humiliate them, all they ask in return is for the stranger to help them defend the town against impending arrival of three recently released outlaws who have unfinished business in Lago.

              Lago is a town of secrets. It is headquarters of a shady mining operation, but there is a much darker sinister secret that the town would like to keep hidden. Both the sheriff and mayor are unusually spinless, and the mining company is surprisingly accommodating to the stranger. But we soon learn the towns secret. A year earlier the three outlaws brutally whipped the then sheriff to death, while the townsfolk watched and did nothing. Now they learn that the outlaws are returning, and the stranger has killed the men the town hired to protect them. Instead of turning their wrath against the stranger, they seek his help, and the stranger proceeds to exploit the situation. Thus, allowing the town to start coming apart at the seams. It’s obvious the stranger is playing the town for a bunch of chumps, but what’s his motive?

              The stranger makes bizarre requests at great inconvenience to the residents. Culminating in painting every building in town red, and re-naming it, Hell. Then, with the arrival of the outlaws imminent, the stranger leaves town, abandoning the citizens.

              I really don’t want to give the climax away, other than to say that a tombstone at the very end allows us to reach our own conclusions. Is the stranger the devil? Is he a living embodiment of true evil? A man possessed, or is he a hero? The symbolism of the red town is obvious, but is it a metaphor or is it literal? The stranger holds the truth, and he ain’t talkin’.

              The stranger, in my opinion, isn’t just punishing the town, he is forever scaring it. It looks so peaceful at the beginning, but quickly the façade begins to crumble. Lago/Hell is left a festering ruin, still livable, but impossible to heal. The stranger disappears into the heat of the desert, from where he came.

              High Plains Drifter was not the movie I was expecting, it was better. Far more than a straightforward revenge story. Far less tangible, open to interpretation and discussion. I don’t quite know how to feel about Clint Eastwood’s ‘man with no name’, he is so vastly different from the characters from the Sergio Leone films. For the time being I must settle for the haunting cry of one of the outlaws before he dies, ‘Who are you…?!’

High Plains Drifter is available from Universal Home Video