#70: Legends of the Fall

Release Date: December 23rd, 1993

Format: Streaming (Netflix)

Written by: Susan Shilliday and William Wittliff

Directed by: Edward Zwick

3 Stars

In my mind, there are certain eras of American film that connote a specific look and genre. For example, the mid-to-late 1950s immediately conjure up saturated Technicolor musicals. For the 1970s, it would be gritty urban dramas with shaggy-haired antihero protagonists. And for the early 1990s, spectacular and expansive western dramas, with long run times, big orchestral scores, and (in every sense of the word) romantic aspirations. Dances with Wolves, The Last of the Mohicans, Tombstone, Wyatt Earp, A River Runs Through It, and Legends of the Fall all fall into this category.

I like Legends of the Fall, but having read the Jim Harrison novella in college, it makes it challenging to accept the film on its own terms. Jim Harrison is most known for his novellas, but I’d argue he’s a poet at heart, and his Legends of the Fall is evocative and mythological. His characters are at the mercy of fate, and against the brutal enormity of the early twentieth century Montana wilderness, they are richly rewarded with love, war, and death. The Ludlows are no more in control of their own lives than the flora and fauna with whom they share their massive ranch estate. It’s a beautiful, incredibly tragic novella. 

Needless to say, it’s a challenging text to adapt to the big screen. I’d say writers Susan Shilliday and William Wittliff do their damndest, even if you can see the cogs and gears turning as they try to condense this mythical source material down to its 133-minute run time. There are dramatic moments that the actors try their best to sell, but that the storytelling hasn’t quite earned. I’d also say that director Edward Zwick’s strength lies in his photography (which is stunning here; shooting in rural Montana also helps, I’m sure), more so than directing his actors. The performances are mostly compelling, but border on the melodramatic at times. It seems that a lot of the cast is performing as much for the Academy voters as they are for the camera lens.

But what a beautiful movie, and what a sweeping epic of characters battling fate. But much like another short, brilliant novel, The Great Gatsby, I’m just not sure it’s possible to capture certain narrative prose on screen. There is a beauty to the written word that doesn’t always translate. Maybe Legends of the Fall works better at a 4-hour run time? Maybe it works better in the hands of a different director, such as Terrence Malick? Or most likely, maybe it’s a pretty, flawed movie working from source material that’s elusive to capture on screen, no matter how gorgeous Brad Pitt is.