Leone, Altman,Malick...Winterbottom!

As a lapsed cinema-goer, I have had the pleasure of 'discovering' the work of Michael Winterbottom only recently. In my (very long) lifetime I can think of few artists deserving of the title 'genius' but I believe Winterbottom comes pretty close. This is a phenomonal movie. Categorised as a Western, it is,rather, a brilliantly unusual adaptation of Hardy's Novel. The Script, Direction, Acting, Music and Cinematography are superb. This movie has been compared to 'McAbe And Mrs. Miller' and 'Heavens Gate'. To me it is also reminiscent of 'Days of Heaven' in stlye. In the end, Winterbottom seems to have his own unique vision which somehow transcends 'mere' movie making. It's as if he has absorbed major Directorial influences but taken his own path away from them to create original works of (dare I say) ART.