Respond to these rapid questions in our Hostiles quiz and we will tell you which Hostiles character you are. Play it now.
The opening scene of Scott Cooper’s “Hostiles,” a film that is grave and somber, is reminiscent of John Ford’s “The Searchers.” While going about their business in New Mexico in 1892, a family of homesteaders—mom, dad, and three children—are attacked by Comanche warriors as they pass through the area. The father is the first to be cut down and scalped after grabbing a rifle to defend his family. Immediately before setting fire to the ranch, the Natives pursue and kill the rest of the family, including all the children. Only the mother manages to survive by taking refuge in the woods.
However, the allusion to “The Searchers” is a little misleading. The Ballad of Lefty Brown, Jared Moshe’s excellent neo-western, harkens back to classic westerns by directors such as John Ford and Howard Hawks, whereas Cooper’s film belongs to a lineage that includes “revisionist” westerns such as Robert Aldrich’s “Ulzana’s Raid,” which was released earlier this month. Regardless of who you ask, it is widely regarded as one of the most vivid and compelling depictions of the bitter, violent hatreds that once existed between Native Americans and the settlers and soldiers who invaded their territories.
There is a lot to like about this film. Beyond the gorgeous, burnished look provided by cinematographer Masanobu Takayanagi, Cooper benefits from a stellar cast that includes Christian Bale, Rosamund Pike, Wes Studi, Ben Foster, Scott Wilson, Q’orianka Kilcher, and Timothee Chalamet among others. In the department where so many ambitious, beautifully shot films fail, The Grand Budapest Hotel’s main flaw is found: the story.
But you shouldn’t waste any more time and start this Hostiles quiz.
In the film, which was written by Cooper “from a manuscript by Donald E. Stewart,” the story takes off in earnest when the action shifts from the initial massacre to a cavalry fort, where Captain Joseph Blocker (Bale) is given the last assignment he could ever wish for: to protect the fort. For the past seven years, the fort has served as a prison for ailing Cheyenne chief Yellow Hawk (Studi). However, as Native resistance to white dominance has all but come to an end, a new mood of progressivist clemency in Washington has decreed that the chief may be allowed to return to his tribal home in Montana to die in peace. When Blocker is ordered to accompany Yellow Hawk and his family on the long journey, he is so opposed to the order that he initially appears willing to risk being court martialed rather than comply with it.
Hostiles Quiz
The reason is straightforward: he has a deep and abiding hatred for Indians, having fought them on numerous occasions and been the target of their violence. One of the reasons the story gets off to such a strong start is Christian Bale’s ability to convey this character’s bitterness and anger so effectively on screen. Even though his mouth is mostly hidden by his drooping handlebar moustache, Bale’s fierce eyes radiate looks that are at once haunted and terrifying, reflecting years of pain and rage in his soul.
Also, you will find out which character are you in this Hostiles quiz.
When Blocker catches up with the dignified chief on the trail, he humiliates him by keeping him bound. However, when the party arrives at the ranch, they discover the massacre and the surviving wife, Rosalee Quaid, which complicates his unwelcome assignment even further (Pike). Everybody is in a bad mood because she has been traumatized and because she has been assigned the task of burying her family. Moreover, when it becomes apparent that the marauding Comanches are still on the prowl, the atmosphere does not improve. Fighting them and attempting to make it through their territory alive is the main focus of Blocker’s party for the majority of the first half of the story.
About the quiz
Following that, they arrive at a fort, where it is decided that Mrs. Quaid will accompany Blocker and his men, who have been given a new assignment in addition to their original one: they are to transport a soldier accused of murder (Foster) to a town where he will be tried. When the story reaches this point, it begins to lose its direction and focus. Are we more concerned with the appalling relations that exist between Native Americans and other Americans, or with the animosities that exist between soldiers? In spite of Blocker and the prisoner having a back story that includes their resentment of Indian fighting, it appears as though this entire section of the narrative is superfluous and digressive.
Also, you must try to play this Hostiles quiz.
As becomes clear early on in the film, the real, inward journey depicted is the one in which Blocker learns to grant the Indians their humanity, and in doing so, recovers his own humanity. This is a worthwhile theme and dramatic premise, but it is only partially, and in some ways, unsatisfactorily, brought to fruition. However, while Bale’s strong performance helps to convey Blocker’s gradual change of heart—which eventually includes the first sparks of romantic interest in Mrs. Quaid—the film’s most significant flaw is how underwritten the Indian portions are, which is a shame given the film’s subject matter. Despite the fact that the venerable Wes Studi is a commanding presence and a fine actor, his character is given little shading or dimension, and the other Indians are given even less.
In the end, the result is an ethereal film that is beautifully shot and performed, but also meandering and overlong, with only sporadic attention paid to the film’s central issues. In terms of politics, by focusing the narrative on the redemption of a single (white) man, “Hostiles” relies on a tired but still effective dramatic trope while saying virtually nothing about the genocide committed against indigenous peoples.
For more personality quizzes check this: Hostiles Quiz.
