1883, 1923 and Yellowstone

[Hi_Henry]

I'm almost done with Yellowstone and must say I like it. It has a message if one can hear it, IMHO.

That message is "People are people."

What Duttons do is simply on a larger scale than most are used to, but it is exactly the same as what people do in those so called mostly ordinary situations. Dutton tells this to Monica (Indian wife of his son) and I think in the end she gets it.

I will offer a very simple example from my life. I have an apartment which I do not use. It is in an apartment complex and has a parking space assigned to it. Well the clever people that out there in the Universe noticed this fact. They noticed that the space is always empty. So someone started to park their vehicle in that space without permission. When I came to check up on the apartment I noticed this fact and left a message to vacate or pay me for the privileged. The car disappeared but 1-2 months later reappeared, the same one. This time I had to use some other means to convince the person not to park in my space that I PAY FOR. Well they disappeared BUT THEN AGAIN reappeared. Most obviously they though that my rights could be ignored and abused.

So how does this relate to John Dutton of Yellowstone ? John has something others want. If they can they will steal it from him. If John does not fight IT WILL BE TAKEN FROM HIM. It is naive to think it is otherwise. Covid mandates show us how this works. You don't fight and THEY WILL TAKE YOUR LIFE.

Yes, America was "owned" by the Native Indians, but even among them ownership was a matter of force. Not everywhere but in many places that it how it was. The settlers could have been wiped out early on and the invasion stopped. But the danger was not understood. John Dutton is simply playing this game but at a very high level. My example is something similar but at a very low level.

 

[skymargo]

I’ve just finished watching 1883 and may say it’s awesome ...Usually I’m not a big fan of cowboy movies but this one is different , it so beautiful and inspiring...Life is never easy and this movie shows it very well but at the same time it shows how to overcome everything, how to survive (or not) and not to lose oneself, to love life and notice the beauty around us in spite of everything...
Acting of main characters is incredible, they are so real that you laugh and cry, love and fight together with them, everything is genuine...
Though last two episodes are not so intense in action yet they’re filled with peaceful lucid acceptance of coming final step of their road... As it’s said, there’s a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them...

“ I think cities have weakened us as a species. Mistakes have no consequences there. Step into the road without looking, and the carriage merely stops or swerves. The only consequence, an angry driver. But here, there can be no mistakes because here doesn't care. The river doesn't care if you can swim. The snake doesn't care how much you love your children, and the wolf has no interest in your dreams. If you fail to beat the current, you will drown. If you get too close, you will be bitten. If you are too weak, you will be eaten.” Elsa Dutton

 

[Keit]

Recently I finished watching 1883. I haven't seen something like this for quite awhile. Something that would move me so much and would stay with me between the episodes. Not saying that it is perfect. Clearly there are plenty of things that could be pointed out and don't seem right. But the show was so well done, all these things seem irrelevant.

I actually needed breaks between the episodes, and not because of the hard content. I didn't see a problem with that. All the hard things that happened were contextual and had a meaning. But I needed a break because of the additional emotional layer.

I am currently reading "Life Beyond Life", and for some reason 1883 invoked in me a sort of recognition of the similar themes. Themes of lessons, choices and karmic debts. That's why each episode required an assimilation longer than usual. I tried thinking about it, why this show in particular.

I do believe that the feelings I had are unique to this particular project. So far it seems to me that despite the "down to earth" setting, the main characters of 1883 exhibited an inordinate level of self-awareness and essential goodness. They understood who they were, what they were capable off, accepted the challenges and just did the best they could.

Interestingly enough, this particular combination turned out to be very healing in some sense. I am obviously not sure if I ever were in a similar regions in my previous lives, but the recognition and the self-aware behaviour of the characters acted as a clarification of past hurts. It was a beautiful and haunting experience that put things in perspective, and I am grateful for everyone who persisted at recommending it.

Having said that, I have a feeling that 1923 doesn't have the same atmosphere, not to mention Yellowstone. But I am open to being wrong.

 

[Ryan]

I finished watching 1883 a while ago, and haven't yet seen 1923 or Yellowstone. I really enjoyed 1883 through the first 5-6 episodes, however I had a strong sense that the writer was expecting the show to last at least two seasons, as the later episodes had a very "rushed" feel to them, with so many highly emotional or dramatic events one after the other that it detracted a little from the realism, whereas if those events had been able to play out over another season they probably would have had an even greater effect. I thought this was somewhat of a shame, because the team had clearly gone to a lot of effort to make the show as realistic as possible.

The cinematography is nothing short of spectacular, and one of the most enjoyable aspects of the series. The actors are extremely well-cast, do an outstanding job in their roles, and more than do justice to the excellent scriptwriting. There was clearly a massive amount of detailed research that went into the plot and I enjoyed the grit and evolution of the characters.

The impassive and unrelenting portrayal of consequences in such a raw, and at times hostile, environment does add to the realism as the series builds, although I felt that the creator took too many liberties with the tragic side of the plot and abused the characters a little towards the end, simply for the utility of pouring on the bittersweet notes for emotive effect. Again, perhaps the influence of real-world filmmaking politics leaking through into the storytelling.

I didn't find the show to be overly violent given the context, however there are some fairly brutal scenes, so if you really dislike on-screen violence then you might want to consider a stiff shot of whiskey or two before settling in to watch this. The sex scenes help elaborate the characters and are done in a tasteful way, so you can feel safe about recommending this to adult family members.

Overall, a great series, definitely re-watchable, although the sad undertone of the latter part of the series does detract from its potential to be on that "higher level" of storytelling, osit, however this could just be my penchant for a happy ending, so, for what it's worth.

 

[hiker]

I found 1883 to be somewhat uneven, but ultimately worth the watch. There were some eye rolling moments and some of the acting was maybe not up to par, but there also were pretty poignant reflections about life and pearls of wisdom in the mix. The cinematography and the sceneries were awesome and majestic, and the anti-wokeness refreshing. And it must be mentioned how Sam Elliot especially did a fantastic job with his character, and although the narrator/main heroine Elsa was a bit "flippant" and annoying at times, by the end she stood her ground very well.

All these shows are brutal when it's necessary to be so, and it's one of the reasons they feel so genuine and dramatic. If very brutal 1883 won't make you cry, nothing will imho.

I hear you, by the end of the last episode I was a real "watering pot"!

1923 was not at the same quality level of 1883, in my opinion. It had it's moments, but the "unevenness" which 1883 had was more noticeable here. Spencer Dutton's love interest Alexandra, was played by Julia Schaepfer: she could be a competent actress (I haven't seen her in other movies/series), but in 1923 she was clearly miscast. She overacted pretty badly and more or less ruined the scenes she was involved in, I think. Looking through imdb reviews, other viewers have noticed the same:

I REALLY like some bits of this series and find other bits oddly off...as if they don't fit the rest of the story genre-wise. The most off bits are the scenes with Spencer and his love interest Alex. Unfortunately the casting of her really ruined those scenes for me. She is supposed to be British from London but speaks standard American and her too peroxide hair and a forever giggling, flirtatious 'vaudeville' acting (even in highly distressful scenes) means you can't take her seriously. She doesn't feel real, and so all those scenes just feel like a much less dramatic genre than the rest of the series where especially the scenes at the Indian nunnery school stand out in intensity.

Alexandra didn't get her "beat the odds" moment like Elsa in 1883, but as there will be a second season, hopefully she will get to grow as a character and have that moment.

Taylor Sheridan seems to have much stuff on his plate running several series, participating in the writing of them, etc. I guess some additional proof readings and having stronger directors would probably generate even better output: as good as 1883 was, it could have been an all-time masterpiece if all areas had fallen into place, I suppose.

 

[Redrock12]

Yeah, 1883 especially. Their journey through the center of the US, northwestwards from Texas to Montana, strikes me as being 'realistic', based on reading this book by S.C. Gwynne about that region and time period:

Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History​

Many settlers were brutal, and so were many tribes, especially the Comanche.

Totally agree @Niall. Summer Moon, and I'm only 2/3 thru it, made me see the North American Plains Indian, through a whole different lens of perception. And yes, the brutality/cruelty/violence from both sides was shockingly, and sadly, true, a real clash of civilizations, or way of life.
There's much more to this book than what I've described here. Very well written and researched. I would highly recommend it.