The Quick and The Dead

There are a lot of characters in The Quick and The Dead, although many only appear once or twice before they are killed. These characters were put in mainly to emphasise the strengths of the four main protagonists they fight. The characters are also both typical and untypical. For instance the conflict between the two main characters is very typical as is the underlying motive for revenge and the past history between them. The idea of a good and bad guy is also something often found in Westerns. Yet having a woman play any of the main protagonists is very unusual. We see that she is no typical lady in her first main scenes, when she first arrives she appears riding on a black horse with a 6-gun strapped to her waist. She proves her strength in the opening scenes by fighting a male gold digger. This man also returns later in the film to challenge Ellen to a gunfight, naturally she is the victor. She is a strong and persistent character. She dresses in typical western, masculine garments and is quite belligerent. She has to put up with a lot from the townspeople when she arrives, as the stereotypically sexist town is surprised that a woman should even consider entering the contest.

"No rules against ladies...just that women can't shoot for shit."

This quote from Herod sums up the basic reaction of the townspeople. Alas for poor Herod, this is not the case with Ellen. She proves this early on by saving Cort's life with her shooting skills. Although the good guy in the film is quite untypical, it's just the opposite with the resident bad guy. Herod dresses in black, which helps to emphasise the malevolence about him. He is incredibly wealthy; well he helps himself to 50 ¢ of ever dollar traded by his minions so that stands to reason. He has the best of everything and this is shown especially in the scenes with Ellen at his lavish house. His opulent home looks out of place in the dusty western street, and is another untypical feature. He is a scheming, sly character who is not above anything, just so long as things go his way. He often changes the rules of his contest, if he becomes endangered and has many enemies within the town. The citizens of Redemption despise him so much they hire a professional gunman to challenge Herod to a fight. Unfortunately, Herod is just too quick for him and he remains undefeated. Cort is another of the main characters, also known as the preacher. He used to ride with Herod, but is now a converted man after one of Herod's plans was too much for him.

"Killing people is wrong."

He now tries his best to keep within God's guidelines, in the hope he will be forgiven for his wrongdoings. He is a morally ambiguous character and switches between his good and bad personas. No one in the town really likes Cort and they shout abuse and throw things at him. Herod keeps him locked up most of the time. One of the reasons that Herod is so cruel to him is because he's scared. Cort is a fast shooter and knows all of Herod's tricks and ways of cheating. He has no choice but to put up with the malicious attacks unless he joins Herod again. There is one last main protagonist in The Quick and The Dead, The Kid. He is the son of Herod, who likes himself as a ladies man. He takes a fancy to Ellen and tries his best to seduce her, however her feelings for him aren't quite the same. He does his best to win his fathers pride, however his actions go unnoticed. Although he's quite conceited his shooting skills are good. He fights his father to try and prove his worth and he manages to shoot before going down, without knowing Herod's secret clock cheat, which is something no one has ever managed. Even when his son is almost dead Herod fails to come through for him as a father.

The setting of this film is typical of a western, although there are again untypical elements. The barren desert nearly always features in Westerns, and the actual town of Redemption, or dusty street complete with its own saloon with swinging doors, is a standard trait. As is the violent inhabitants of the town. Something quite untypical though is Herod's house. It is a large, elegant house, decorated sumptuously. It seems quite strange that one building should stand out so in such a film, but I feel this was done purposely to stress that Herod is not just anybody. This helps to raise Herod's status in the film.

Many of the most important events in the film are gunfights, which is of course a typical western feature. Another big event in the film is when Ellen goes to dinner at Herod's house. She dresses surprisingly as we are used to seeing her dressed similarly to the men of the town. Her dressing up and the luxurious surroundings of Herod's house make these scenes stand out from the rest of the film. There is no violence, but there is tension in the air as Ellen plots to kill him. They sit at a long table and have an extensive talk, where Ellen learns some interesting facts about Herod's past. This event is again both typical and untypical. Ellen's underlying motive in this scene is to kill him while unwary, which is quite typical. Although in other films it might be done in a different way. Whereas the setting of this scene is untypical, as outlaws do not often have big mansions, decorated in such a manner. Another big event is of course the end sequence, from when Cort and Ellen fight to Herod's death.

The costumes and music in The Quick and The Dead play a big part in setting the scene. The costumes are typical of most westerns, the sort of cowboy meets redneck look you'd expect to find if you went back to the late 19th, early 20th century South-Western America. The men (and Ellen) walk about in classic riding clothes, i.e. Chaps and spurs, and the women in extravagant, feminine dresses. These really help set the scene, and as you watch it you imagine yourself being transported back in time. Herod dresses all in black, a typical trait with bad guys in films. The music also is similar to that of other Westerns and is really atmospheric. It again helps to set the scene. There is one main melody played throughout the film in certain significant places, such as the opening credits and at the end of important fights. It is a continuous, repeating drumbeat that makes you think of the pounding hooves of galloping horses or the racing heartbeats of 2 men about to fight for their lives. The one tune repeated throughout makes the film flow and gives it a fluid feeling.

Obviously due to modern techniques many scenes in the film have special effects and camerawork that the original western producers could only dream about. Therefore a lot of the camera work is untypical of most of the Western genre. One particular striking effect that is used in the fight between The Kid and Herod is where the background scenery zooms backwards on close up shots of the fighters as the tension mounts. It really helps emphasise the idea of increasing apprehension between the father and son. This camera effect is also used in Jaws. A lot of the other "fight" shots focus on parts of the body like the eyes and the gun belt. Another prominent scene in the film is where Ellen comes back from the dead, and walks out of the flames. This is also a untypical scene as effects like this were unheard of when the original westerns were made. Not all of the film is in colour either, flashbacks to when Ellen was a young girl occur throughout the film in black and white. This helps to distinguish Ellen's dreams from reality and helps to show that they happened a long time ago. In one fight the challenger to Herod gets shot in the head, and a hole is put right through his skull. The camera focuses on this for a while, which is quite untypical as Westerns are not usually gory. This also happens in another scene where Herod shoots Ace's hands.

So to conclude, after looking at the film from all aspects, The Quick and The Dead is neither a typical nor untypical Western film but a combination of the two. I think the way that Raimi and Stone have taken the classic Western and added a touch of modern camera work and special effects to make an excellent film, was great and quite imaginative. By modernising the western they can appeal to a much wider audience. Younger people who might be attracted to it by the cast, as well as the older fans of the original Western can now enjoy the film.