As I read the many reviews of "The Shooting" I am amazed at how "certain" some people are about their speculation while other people seem to completely miss the point of some aspects of the movie. It seems to me that you are supposed to be left guessing about many of the details. I.e. who, exactly, is the woman? and who shoots who in the end.
The performance of "the woman" is a very difficult role and done quite well by Millie Perkins. She is playing the part of a clearly troubled and emotionally unstable woman who at the same time is very focused, determined, and calculating about one objective. The fact that she is slight and girlish in appearance is an intentional contrast to the vicious objective on which she has focused. Whatever her history, she is not a "gunslinger."
The unknowns during the movie and the unanswered questions even at the end are completely intentional, I think. Reality isn't about being omniscient. Everyone lives and dies having known only part of the story they've lived through.
Some clues in the movie that I think have been missed by many are as follows: The woman is more disturbed than would seem to be appropriate for being simply distraught over the death of husband and child. She also exhibits some signs of having been sexually assaulted.
Will intentionally leaves a trail of flour for the woman following him. Why? He must have already known something about her and her objectives before he even talked to Coley.
Will's hand is injured. How and why?
Will was late getting back. He gives Coley an explanation, but it isn't very satisfactory.
Will's gun is missing. What's up with that? Again, the dialogue doesn't give a satisfactory explanation.
Why is it that the woman gets there so far ahead of the Sheriff?
Why did the woman kill her horse? The obvious answer of drawing Will and Coley to her assistance seems to be an awfully high stakes gamble against the odds.
Leland didn't seem to think he had anything to fear. So why did he get killed and Coley didn't (initially).
If Billy wanted to kill Coley, why didn't he do it the night he killed Leland?
Why wasn't Coin (Coan?) "running" faster and why did he trust the Bearded Man and yet leave him to die?
What did the Bearded man tell Coley?
What exactly was Coley trying to accomplish in the minutes leading up to his death?
One might notice that I've switched from clues to questions. If anyone thinks they have easy, or certain, answers to the questions or conclusion from the clues, then they are missing the point of the movie.
One last thing, pay careful attention to the colors of the horses and the horses legs.
The performance of "the woman" is a very difficult role and done quite well by Millie Perkins. She is playing the part of a clearly troubled and emotionally unstable woman who at the same time is very focused, determined, and calculating about one objective. The fact that she is slight and girlish in appearance is an intentional contrast to the vicious objective on which she has focused. Whatever her history, she is not a "gunslinger."
The unknowns during the movie and the unanswered questions even at the end are completely intentional, I think. Reality isn't about being omniscient. Everyone lives and dies having known only part of the story they've lived through.
Some clues in the movie that I think have been missed by many are as follows: The woman is more disturbed than would seem to be appropriate for being simply distraught over the death of husband and child. She also exhibits some signs of having been sexually assaulted.
Will intentionally leaves a trail of flour for the woman following him. Why? He must have already known something about her and her objectives before he even talked to Coley.
Will's hand is injured. How and why?
Will was late getting back. He gives Coley an explanation, but it isn't very satisfactory.
Will's gun is missing. What's up with that? Again, the dialogue doesn't give a satisfactory explanation.
Why is it that the woman gets there so far ahead of the Sheriff?
Why did the woman kill her horse? The obvious answer of drawing Will and Coley to her assistance seems to be an awfully high stakes gamble against the odds.
Leland didn't seem to think he had anything to fear. So why did he get killed and Coley didn't (initially).
If Billy wanted to kill Coley, why didn't he do it the night he killed Leland?
Why wasn't Coin (Coan?) "running" faster and why did he trust the Bearded Man and yet leave him to die?
What did the Bearded man tell Coley?
What exactly was Coley trying to accomplish in the minutes leading up to his death?
One might notice that I've switched from clues to questions. If anyone thinks they have easy, or certain, answers to the questions or conclusion from the clues, then they are missing the point of the movie.
One last thing, pay careful attention to the colors of the horses and the horses legs.