Traditionally, watching a Western will transport you to the American West, depicting frontier life in a story often fronted by a lonesome gunslinger. Since the genre’s heyday in mid-20th century Hollywood, the Western has expanded and extended its reach, exploring its themes and style in new ways or superimposing them onto other tales.
South African film has not only been influenced by the genre, but is ripe for the picking when it comes to inspiration. With our many dramatic mountain ranges and desert landscapes, our local settings are just begging to tell stories. A fine example is Five Fingers for Marseilles and now we have another excellent entry in the form of the new local series Desert Rose. Located in Namaqualand, the location looks set to be an extra character in the turbulent story of the Greyling family.
One of the most famous personalities associated with the Western is the director John Ford. And if you’ve watched a Western, there’s a good chance you’ve seen a tribute to the famous John Ford doorway shot from his 1956 film, The Searchers. This shot refers to the last few frames of the film in which the camera peers from inside the cabin to the character of Ethan Edwards (played by John Wayne, another legend within the genre) standing alone on the porch, silhouetted against the bright landscape, creating a frame within a frame.
This stark, lonely shot is meant to emphasise Ethan's solitude and alienation. These are themes often depicted in Westerns, whether through the remoteness of the landscape or that of the characters from each other or society. We see this in Ethan’s isolation in The Searchers and it’s explored in Westerns to this day, as seem most recently in Benedict Cumberbatch’s portrayal of Phil Burbank in Jane Campion’s award-winning The Power of the Dog.
These themes are echoed in Desert Rose, already evident from the first episode, particularly in Kai Luke Brummer’s character, whose very name Eben is reminiscent of John Wayne’s Ethan. That famous shot has been paid homage too, as we learn of the Greylings’ estrangement from their absent father and even in their fraught relationships with one another and their benefactor, Eugene van As. With so much tension, isolation, and drama brooding both in the landscape and the characters, Desert Rose is sure to keep you hooked on the story and become an indelible gem in this legendary genre.
Watch Desert Rose every Thursday at 20:30 on M-Net channel 101.
Images: The Searchers (1956), The Power of the Dog (2021) – Alamy
Desert Rose – M-Net