He may be a divisive figure based on his political and social views, but in terms of artistic reputation, you rarely find people more iconic than Clint Eastwood, whose talent is only matched by his longevity, his legacy is beyond secure. He is one of those extremely prolific individuals – both as an actor and director – who has worked so consistently over the decades, that his signature work is subject to debate, in terms of either side of the camera. However, his most iconic work will always be within the Western genre, as evident by the subject of today’s conversation, High Plains Drifter, the second film he directed as well as his first endeavour into helming a western, after over a decade of solid work as an actor in the films of Sergio Leone and Don Siegel, both of whom are heavy influences over this film. Telling the story of the occupants of a hostile small town in California who grow suspicious over the mysterious appearance of The Stranger, a drifter who comes bearing nothing other than a sense of violent vengefulness, his arrival signifying a new chapter in this town’s history, one in which they will have to pay for their misdeeds or face the wrath of this mysterious entity that descends on their hamlet and integrates himself into their community, eventually taking over entirely. There are many ideas woven into the fabric of this film, which takes on the form of a multilayered western that draws from many different sub-categories within the genre, each one developed by Eastwood, who proves to have a firm grasp on how these films function, both narratively and in terms of their visual approach, which makes High Plains Drifter one of his most interesting projects, a daring and captivating western that doesn’t play into the tropes of the genre but still manages to find a creative use for even the most cliched of concepts. It has its moments of sheer brilliance, as well as a sincere sense of simplicity in how the world he constructs functions, which makes for a thrilling and often quite dark examination of some fascinating concepts that propel this film to be far more than what it seems to be on the surface.

For those expecting a very traditional Western drama, High Plains Drifter is certainly not the kind of film that you may anticipate. Eastwood’s involvement should be an immediate indicator that this is not a conventional film by any means, and the period in which it was made should also be an obvious sign that not everything we find throughout this film is to be taken at face value. There is a coldness to this film that is quite fascinating to see, and Eastwood (along with NAME, who conceived of the idea and wrote the screenplay) makes sure that he is drawing on several intriguing ideas through the process of putting this film together. It’s not anything that can be considered entirely experimental, especially since the concept of a revisionist western had been around for plenty of time, and had started to shape into a worthwhile genre all on its own. The days of valiant heroes rescuing the damsel in distress while the maniacal villain is apprehended and forced to face the consequences of their actions are a distant concept, and instead tend to be replaced with darker, more challenging stories about the depths of debauchery that can be found in American history – this is essentially what these films aimed to achieve, doing so with precision and a sense of complexity that is always quite compelling, but never heavy-handed. Greed, despair and violence are all concepts embedded within the heart of the period reflected in this film, and rather than skirting around these very deep issues, Eastwood chooses to embrace the chaos, going in search of something quite deep and unquestionably profound, all the while cobbling together an action-packed western drama that is heavily infused with a psychological complexity that immediately separates it from every other similarly-themed film produced at the time, proving to be one of Eastwood’s more intriguing experiments as a director, and the first time he attempted to take command of one of these sprawling westerns – and based on the fact that he would revisit the genre many times over the next fifty years, we can safely assume he found artistic sanctuary within this category of films that defined him as an artistic voice.

As quite an early work in his career as a director, Eastwood had quite a bit to prove with High Plains Drifter, since this needed to be a film that both kept with the traditions of the genre, but also added something new, since Eastwood was not interested in simply retreading the same hackneyed conventions, especially at a time when westerns were not necessarily going out of style (one of the many inaccurate facts about the genre – they just transitioned from being major blockbusters built on formulae and took on a more artistic form during the advent of New Hollywood), which makes simply watching this film such an interesting experience. His directorial skills were sharp and very clear from the first moment he stepped behind the camera, and rather than being an actor whose vanity persuades him to take on other roles within the industry, Eastwood had genuine talent from the start, and while it may not be as explicitly ambitious as some of his other work, particularly those that would be made in the next few years, he does have an unquestionably strong style that his film reflects with incredible consistency and just the right amount of visual flair. While overt stylisation is not entirely necessary with a film like this, it does help elevate the film above the conventions that would usually serve to make it seem quite derivative. The cold, bleak appearance reflects the dark, complex story that has many correlations with Biblical imagery, which may not have been entirely intentional on the part of the writer and Eastwood, but still very much a factor in understanding precisely how this film develops on many of its major ideas, capturing them in vivid detail and never being afraid to become slightly darker and more unnerving, especially in those moments where it uses the ambiguity of the protagonist’s origins as well as his presence in this town to suggest something deeper is simmering below the surface, patiently waiting for us to take notice of those small but impactful details that make up this challenging and subversive revisiting of the western genre.

Beyond being an exceptionally well-made film, High Plains Drifter also proves to be a fascinating character piece, acting as something of a chamber drama about a town full of morally corrupt, hedonistic individuals who encounter a mysterious stranger whose presence is inexplicable, and whose knowledge of their town indicates some kind of divine intervention, albeit the kind that is far more violent and less focused on salvation, and more on punishment. Eastwood draws on his persona as The Man Without a Name in playing this character, simply known as The Stranger – there are a few key differences, but they are essentially cut from the same cloth. It may seem as if he is incapable of versatility, and arguments around these being essentially the same character are not without merit – however, Eastwood’s talents have never been about diversity of roles, but rather in raw, unhinged screen presence, and these roles are often his best because he doesn’t put himself in a position where he has to force out emotions that are not adherent with these characters. His performance here is solid but not anything we haven’t seen previously, which seems to be the entire purpose of the film – this character is ambigious and morally fluid, and we never truly know his identity or purpose, outside of being very skilled with a gun and possessing a vengefulness that has been the source of a lot of discussions. The more nuanced performances come from the supporting cast, with the scene-stealing Billy Curtis playing the sympathetic Mordecai, perhaps the only truly good character in this film, and the one who is ultimately spared a gruesome fate solely because of his moral values. Verna Bloom and Marianna Hill prove that not every female character in a Western has to be a damsel in distress, and the entire supporting ensemble navigates playing these bitter and caustic characters with such incredible intensity, it is surprising that very few of them managed to retain some place in the cultural cache for the work they did in this film.

High Plains Drifter is by far one of the darkest Western films Eastwood ever made, and some even categorise it as part of the niche but fascinating category of Western horrors, especially since the combination of the subject matter and the bleak, often quite terrifying execution makes it clear that this is not the kind of western that intends to have any genuine sense of heroism found anywhere within it, and that every decision made throughout this film is not only essentially, but outright important to the overall narrative, and its broader intentions. Many fascinating details drive this film, and we find that Eastwood takes his responsibilities as a director quite seriously – there is never any sense that he believes that a Western can “direct itself”, which is a sentiment often shared by those who step behind the camera to make one of these films, and while it is undeniably quite rough around the edges, by being one of his earlier directorial efforts, but there is a promise present throughout this film that indicates that he would become a major talent almost immediately. Dark and sinister, but also oddly moving in a way that shows how there was an abundance of thought that went into the production, High Plains Drifter is a tremendously compelling, well-constructed western thriller with strong performances, an exceptional sense of direction and an earnest approach to challenging themes, all compressed into this delightful and irreverent drama that looks at a more bleak side of humanity and the consequences that come from the innate selfishness that has always been a factor in the history of society.