This is Monument Valley in the Navajo Nation area on the border of Arizona and Utah. Ford made six great movies here that shaped our vision of the West.
This is from Wiki - Monument Valley, located on the Navajo Nation within Arizona and Utah, has been featured in many forms of media since the 1930s. It is perhaps most famous for its use in many John Ford films, such as Stagecoach (1939) and The Searchers (1956). It has also been featured in such films as Easy Rider (1969), directed by and co-starring Dennis Hopper; Forrest Gump (1994), directed by Robert Zemeckis, and The Eiger Sanction (1975), directed by and starring Clint Eastwood; and in two episodes of the popular United Kingdom television show Doctor Who: "The Impossible Astronaut" (23 April 2011) and "Day of the Moon" (30 April 2011).
This GIF that I use often is from 'She wore
a yellow ribbon'. This might have been Wayne -
and Ford's - best collaboration.
The desolation of the country impresses on the viewer just how hard a struggle the winning of the West (from the time the West was the Cumberland Gap, the Susquehanna and Hudson Rivers, and anywhere north or west of Baaston) actually was. The scene where Ethan's brother's family realizes they're surrounded is probably the most realistic Western scene ever filmed.
ReplyDeleteThere's no infrastructure at Monument Valley. Worth the trip.
ReplyDeleteIv lived on a coast all my life, the Atlantic coast of South Carolina & now the Gulf coast of Alabama , mostly messing around in swamps & black rivers. If it's the last thing I ever do I have got to go out west to see views like that.
ReplyDeleteDrove through it in 1988 with my Dad, who died a few months later....always look back on that trip...if only my life with him had been as good as the last 6 months....RIP. Dad....
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