Working my way through a boxset of the eight films Eastwood made with Universal in his early film career, I expected from The Beguiled a good quality western drama in the vein of the actor's other collaborations with director Don Siegel.
Slowly dying from his wounds, Yankee soldier John McBurney is found and rescued by a schoolgirl who has him taken to her boarding school where he is tended to by her classmates and the school's staff, who eventually decide not to turn him in to the Confederate soldiers under whose watch they reside.
Set toward the conclusion of the Civil War, The Beguiled is, if we insist upon generic classification, more a war film than a western. That said, it is far removed for being simply a war film. Immediately unearthing the idea of wartime loyalty to one's cause, the film examines the moral conflict engendered by the women's knowledge that McBurney will be killed if handed over. They are all loyal to the Confederate cause, but are uncomfortable with the thought that a man's death will be on their hands. This is not, however, the film's primary thematic concern, nor even one which is explored beyond its base dilemma. The issue of sexual appetites and the implications when they are not satiated is that on which the film focuses, portraying to us that of three of the film's female characters. Eastwood's character early identifies his power within this house despite his handicap, his phallic presence key to his manipulation of the sexually charged women who each wishes to have him in their bed. Using his masculinity as a weapon, he engages in a variety of mind games, attempting to prey upon the exasperated libidos; hoping to manipulate them so that he may make his escape. The film explores the issue of gender politics, the ideas of masculinity and femininity, the danger of sexual repression. Surprising enough in itself, it is another aspect of this film which will ensure its ability to be instantly and vividly recalled in the minds of all who see it. The third of these explorations—that of sexual repression—leads to the film's shockingly escalating horror aspects. A Gothic drama by its conclusion more than anything else, the film tilts toward scenes more terrifying than many self-proclaimed "horror films" in its latter half, pulling out all the stops to completely frighten and baffle the audience with darkness matched only in its comprehensiveness by the darkened wonders of Bruce Surtees' cinematography. McBurney's eventual fate as he becomes the emasculated prisoner of these sex-starved women is truly shocking, in every sense of the word. Though the film builds toward this all along, it softens none of the blow, leaving us wide-eyed and drop-jawed.
One of the most surprising narrative progressions I have ever seen in a film, and one of the most quietly harrowing along with it, The Beguiled is a traumatisingly dark drama that is a shocking output from all concerned. Benefiting from this greatly, it is a simultaneously exasperating, entertaining, and electrifying experience that poses some deeply interesting thematic questions about sexuality and violence.
Slowly dying from his wounds, Yankee soldier John McBurney is found and rescued by a schoolgirl who has him taken to her boarding school where he is tended to by her classmates and the school's staff, who eventually decide not to turn him in to the Confederate soldiers under whose watch they reside.
Set toward the conclusion of the Civil War, The Beguiled is, if we insist upon generic classification, more a war film than a western. That said, it is far removed for being simply a war film. Immediately unearthing the idea of wartime loyalty to one's cause, the film examines the moral conflict engendered by the women's knowledge that McBurney will be killed if handed over. They are all loyal to the Confederate cause, but are uncomfortable with the thought that a man's death will be on their hands. This is not, however, the film's primary thematic concern, nor even one which is explored beyond its base dilemma. The issue of sexual appetites and the implications when they are not satiated is that on which the film focuses, portraying to us that of three of the film's female characters. Eastwood's character early identifies his power within this house despite his handicap, his phallic presence key to his manipulation of the sexually charged women who each wishes to have him in their bed. Using his masculinity as a weapon, he engages in a variety of mind games, attempting to prey upon the exasperated libidos; hoping to manipulate them so that he may make his escape. The film explores the issue of gender politics, the ideas of masculinity and femininity, the danger of sexual repression. Surprising enough in itself, it is another aspect of this film which will ensure its ability to be instantly and vividly recalled in the minds of all who see it. The third of these explorations—that of sexual repression—leads to the film's shockingly escalating horror aspects. A Gothic drama by its conclusion more than anything else, the film tilts toward scenes more terrifying than many self-proclaimed "horror films" in its latter half, pulling out all the stops to completely frighten and baffle the audience with darkness matched only in its comprehensiveness by the darkened wonders of Bruce Surtees' cinematography. McBurney's eventual fate as he becomes the emasculated prisoner of these sex-starved women is truly shocking, in every sense of the word. Though the film builds toward this all along, it softens none of the blow, leaving us wide-eyed and drop-jawed.
One of the most surprising narrative progressions I have ever seen in a film, and one of the most quietly harrowing along with it, The Beguiled is a traumatisingly dark drama that is a shocking output from all concerned. Benefiting from this greatly, it is a simultaneously exasperating, entertaining, and electrifying experience that poses some deeply interesting thematic questions about sexuality and violence.