- 48 Hrs.
Tomorrow, the University of Chicago’s Doc Films screens Walter Hill’s The Warriors, the cult classic that’s gradually become a classic in general, a cornerstone of American genre filmmaking whose influence is as far reaching as anything in the canon. Alas, a lofty reputation doesn’t precede all of Hill’s work. He’s made some very bland and forgettable movies—Brewster’s Millions, yeesh—but at his best he’s as personal, emotional, and intellectual as any other great American auteur. He once quipped that every film he’s made has been a Western—that sounds flippant, but there’s no better way to describe his work, which focuses on moral codes, group dynamics, the male ego, the consequences of violence, and the source of heroism. At his most ambitious, Hill presents characters and situations that are deeply inscrutable; he tends to strip away consistent character development and narrative logic to reveal the inner workings of his films, a dizzying deconstructionist style that’s been taken up by contemporary genre demagogues like David Twohy and Joe Carnahan.
- Wild Bill (1995) Most prefer Hill’s other major Western The Long Riders, but Wild Bill is both less derivative than The Long Riders (which is best appreciated as an homage to Sam Peckinpah) and more ingenious in its characterizations, subtext, and tone. Hill had a penchant for building mythological constructs amid a cinematic framework, and the ones found here are among his most inspired.
