The Searchers Case

THE SEARCHERS

John Ford's film The Searchers filmed in the Arizona and Utah deserts, tackles the emotionally complex issues of pride, prejudice, racism, hatred, morality and murder. From a darkened room a door is opened. A woman's silhouette is framed for a moment in the door as she is seen looking out into the bright sunlit desert of what is suppose to be Texas. A man on a horse rides up to the home as one by one the family comes out to greet the stranger. Ethan Edwards (played by John Wayne) after serving time as a Confederate soldier returns to his brother's ranch where he is greeted by his brother and his family. Martha, his sister in law is the only member greeted by Ethan with any warmth, giving the impression that he has come home to her, and no one else. His tender kiss on her forehead and the way she closes her eyes in return seems to portray unresolved feelings between them giving the impression that he has come home to the woman he loves. Once inside, Martha takes Ethan's coat folds it and puts it in the chest at the foot of her bed while Ethan watches from the living area. Although Aaron, Ethan's brother witnesses the exchange between the two and yet says nothing, we begin to notice a kind of tension between the two brothers. Ethan's unwillingness to speak about the war or his past only seems to cause an added problem, and the unspoken question seems to be, "Why are you here, and or where have you been?" The tension increases when Ethan is introduced to his adopted nephew Martin who is one eighth Cherokee. "I could mistake you for a half breed", Ethan says without reservation and doesn't accept him as any true relation to him. This however changes in time when both Ethan and Martin ride together to find Martin's sister who is kidnapped by the Comanche Indians. At first, Ethan preferring to be alone on this mission goes out on his own to find his niece. It's unclear in the beginning what his true motives are for this journey. His hatred for the Indians is the only thing Ethan has chosen not to hide. Is he out to save her, or out for revenge? After five years of searching, we see that the love he has hidden from the world shines through when Debbie agrees to "go home" with them and Ethan picks her up as he did just before she was kidnapped five years ago. When Ethan returns with her, she is led inside another ranch home and once again Ethan is left standing alone outside and framed by the door, where the camera pulls back as Ethan turns and walks back into the world he knows, the solitude he feels, and the emptiness he has come to hate. The door is shut and the scene goes black; a jester that might suggest to the viewer that Ethan although he spent five years searching for his niece Debbie, and although he did bring her home, he is not a part of what is civilized; family, home and true friendship.

The Searchers opens with the credits rolling down against what looks like an adobe brick wall, we hear the song "What makes a man to wander" playing, and giving the viewer the basic idea of what the theme of the film will be. "What makes a man to wander? What makes a man to roam? What makes a man leave bed and board, and turn his back on home? Ride away, ride away, ride away."

The scene goes black and the words "Texas 1868" is shown. We see a cabin door opening and the view of the outdoors is vast and bight. The doorframe shot may signify the difference between the two areas. The inside of the door is where home is, where civilization is, where family is; where as the outside is shown to be stark, almost desolate, dangerous and wide open. Next we see the silhouette of a woman in the doorframe and the camera is held there for a brief moment. This implies that the woman is attached to her home and family. We see her moving through the doorframe with a forward-tracking shot (168) thus not only holding the two images together, also significant in this scene, but also giving you the impression that you are walking right behind her to see who is riding towards the home. This was often the case when strangers rode in; more than one family member would come out to greet them. The incoming rider is held in the same doorframe as the woman is for a moment giving him an unknown importance at this time. In his text Giannetti states, "Epic films are generally presented with a dignified, larger than life importance" (442) so this may have been why this shot was made and held as it was, the man was and is significant to the woman, and body language of this man portrays him to be, "Larger than Life". The woman who we come to know as Martha and as we see in the film when it is only hinted to later, as Ethan's lost and left behind love; stands out on the porch and realizes that the man is Ethan Edwards, her brother in law, and a man she still feels a great deal for. Ford's use of the long distance wide angle panning shot (110) to give us a better idea of the potentially dangerous and life threatening wilderness this lone cabin lives with daily, with it's desolate landscape and total seclusion. When the camera goes from the man on