Tag: monte hellman

The Shooting

The Shooting is a 1966 movie directed by Monte Hellman.

The Shooting tells the story of Willett Gashade, an ex-bounty hunter turned miner who is summoned by a mysterious woman to guide her across the desert. Along the way, they are joined by a gunslinger and the journey turns into a tracking expedition.

There is a simplicity to The Shooting that ultimately creates a unique aura of intrigue. Similar to Two Lane Blacktop, Hellman maximizes his low budget restraints to focus on the existential conditions surrounding his characters.

The result is a swirl of mystery that allows the viewers to offer their own context.

This can be both enlightening and madly frustrating.

Warren Oates plays Gashade, a miner who returns home to discover his brother has been shot dead, while the other has fled camp. He is accompanied by the young and simple Coley. Oates presents as a hardened, worn leader. He tells Coley “From now on, you’ll be dependent on me.”

Oates plays Gashade with his usual blend of enigmatic cache. He is expressive displaying both earnestness and cruelty. There are moments when you can deeply empathize with him and others where you suspect his past is filled with regretful actions.

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Two Lane Blacktop

Two Lane Blacktop is a 1971 movie directed by Monte Hellman.

Two Lane Blacktop tells the story of The Driver and The Mechanic, who drive their 1955 Chevrolet across the country in search of opponents to race. They encounter GTO, a middle-aged racer and make a bet to see who can reach Washington, DC first.

I’m not sure how to properly describe Two Lane Blacktop. It’s either a minimalist classic by design or necessity. It’s both realistic and existential. The lead actors are famous musicians who barely speak. There’s no resolution to the story’s simple plot.

In short, it’s a fascinating movie experiment.

In terms of car movies of the time, it’s the antithesis of 1971’s Vanishing Point – which featured a fantastic car and bloated, clumsy social commentary. Two Lane Blacktop is all about the cars – yet somehow still makes important statements about society.

Unlike Vanishing Point, we don’t need to know the backstory of The Driver. In fact, we don’t even need to know his name. Or the names of The Mechanic, The Girl or GTO. Certainly, there’s intrigue to be found in these characters – but Two Lane Blacktop rightly puts the focus on two things: cars and races.

With only some slight exceptions, all the dialogue in the movie is focused on the cars. It’s the lone thing The Driver and The Mechanic talk about. How the car runs, who is a good race opponent and how much money is involved is all that matters. We know nothing more about their relationship – it’s not even suggested that these two are friends.

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