Penn was 30 when he made this movie,and it seems to be a mature director's work.Although it takes place in America,it has an European sensitivity;in a nutshell,it recalls John Cassavetes (to whom the film is dedicated) and Kenneth Loach. Connection with John Cassavetes? Penn refuses any dramatization;the mother's death (Sandy Dennis has only a cameo)is totally non-melodramatic:a short scene between the father (almost unrecognizable Bronson,in a part diametrically opposite to his usual he-man performances)and Joe,another one between the two brothers,in which emotion is so subdued it takes a stranger -Dorothy,Frank's girlfriend- to shed a few tears.No dramatization too when Frank smashes the man's face in:we only see Frank's bloody face. Frank was a Vietnam veteran,but never Penn uses it as an excuse or an explanation as far his behavior is concerned:no flashbacks,no bad dreams,no hints at the war he had to fight,no clichés.Joe is a good man,he's an Abel who wants his brother to find his "delicate balance" although he does know it's impossible.It seems that this impossibility has its roots in childhood,as Penn insists on the picture of the little boy dressed as a cowboy with a pair of revolvers.Some are born to endless night,some are born to sweet delight. And here's the connection with Loach:like him,he focuses on ordinary people,on the small joys of their routine life.Joe dreams of a simple happiness,between his wife and his kid.He knows that life is hard,but he wants to hope against hope,and his nephew's birth is to him one of these sweet delights he has learned to content himself with.The last sentence is a message of hope,and God knows how much we need it.The late Laura Nyro wrote this line:"and when I die,there will be a child born to carry on".
Review of The Indian Runner
