For Ethan Edwards, a confederate Civil War veteran portrayed by John Wayne, peace is fleeting, and he soon has a new mission: to rescue his niece from the Comanche. Vengeful, racist, and unrelenting, Edwards has no home but the contested landscapes he traverses along his quest.
The Searchers crafts an essential reflection of white settlement and masculinity, frontierism, and representation, and serves as a record for examining the myths of the American West and prejudices that still need to be overcome today. The film, presented in a new 4K restoration, remains a pinnacle example of the Western genre and simultaneously exists as a troubling document of the genre director John Ford helped define. 1956, US, DCP, 119 min.
Artist, writer, and series curator Leila Weefur will introduce the film.
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