KIDD'S PLAY (NEWS OF THE WORLD)

  

Mention the name Paul Greengrass and many will think of the 'Jason Bourne' movies with their pulsating energy and frenetic action sequences.

Others will think of his brilliant neo-realist recreations of the events of 'Bloody Sunday' in Northern Ireland, the hijacking of a flight during 9/11 in 'United 93' and the Utoya Island massacre in Norway in '22 July'.

Then there was 'Captain Phillips,' his stunning 2013 collaboration with Tom Hanks which brought the same, nerve shredding neo-realist sensibilities to the tale of an American merchant navy ship taken captive by Somali pirates.

Hanks and Greengrass are back in the saddle for a film that feels like a major departure for the English director.

'News of the World' is a Western based on a 2016 novel by Paulette Jiles.

The production is Greengrass's second movie for Netflix but his first foray into a world that isn't set in the 20th or 21st Centuries.

And it is so respectful of the Western genre, you can't quite believe it's the work of Paul Greengrass.

The rhythm of the film is so familiar to anyone who loves the genre.

Indeed, it is so familiar that had it not been already snapped up by Netflix, you would have expected it to become a regular fixture on TV channels like TNT in the US or the Paramount Channel in the UK.

Hanks plays a former Confederate Army captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd, who makes a living travelling from town to town around Texas reading to paying audiences stories from the newspapers.

A newscaster of sorts, he sometimes performs to crowds nursing resentment towards the Federal troops following the loss of the Civil War.

He also carries around with him a photo of his wife, who is a figure of mystery for much of the film.

One day, on his way to another town, Kidd stumbles upon the body of an African American soldier hanging from a tree with a note saying Texans say no to black men.

He discovers an upturned wagon and a young blonde girl in Native American tribal dress, played by the 12 year old German girl Helena Zengel, who the soldier was escorting.

The girl does not speak a word of English.

Federal soldiers pass by on patrol, inspecting Kidd's papers and enquiring about the scene.

They advise Kidd to take the girl to a Union checkpoint in a neighbouring town where the Bureau of Indian Affairs will sort out her paperwork and arrange for her to be reunited with her family who he believes to be German.

When he gets there, Kidd is told the Bureau of Indian Affairs representative is on a reservation and will not be available for two months.

Performing a newspaper reading that evening, he asks a favour of Ray McKinnon's former Confederate soldier, Mr Boudlin and his wife, played by Mare Winningham, to look after the girl whose real name he believes is Johanna.

But when the girl flees during a rainstorm, only to be found trying in vain to get the attention of a Native American tribe passing by on the other side of the river, he takes responsibility for returning her to her surviving family.

In typical Western fashion, the trek proves perilous, with the duo encountering a sandstorm, wagon troubles and plenty of gun toting ne'er-do-wells.

Will Kidd be able to deliver Johanna to safety and help reunite her witn her original family?

Steeped firmly in the Western tradition, Greengrass' fco-wrote the screenplay with the Oscar nominated Australian Luke Davies whose is best known for his work on 'Lion'.

The film draws a lot of its inspiration from John Ford's 'The Searchers' which also featured a girl, played by Natalie Wood, who is abducted and integrated into a Commanche tribe.

But unlike John Wayne's Confederate Civil War veteran, Kidd is not bitter or a vengeful racist.

Hanks' character is much more in the mould of a typical Gregory Peck or James Stewart hero.

Full of honour and integrity, Kidd takes his responsibility towards Johanna seriously and sets about his mission with determination and heart.

Over the years we have come to expect from Hanks intelligent and extremely subtle performances and he doesn't disappoint.

Nevertheless it is Zengel who most impresses with a stunning performance that is every bit his equal.

As an 11 year old girl rediscovering her true identity, Zengel initially brings a feral quality inito the part but handles Johanna's gradual warming towards Kidd with great maturity.

The film also boasts strong supporting performances from MacKinnon, Winningham, Elizabeth Marvel as a kind Kiowa speaking innkeeper, Michael Angelo Covino as a bandit, Thomas Francis Murphy as one town's bigwig who insists on Kidd reading from his own newspaper and the ever reliable Bill Camp as an attorney.

But Polish cinematographer Dariusz Wolski also does a tremendous job, capturing the untamed beauty of the New Mexican landscape that doubles up in the movie for Texas in all its glory.

Followers of Greengrass's work will be surprised by the pace of 'News of the World' which is a world away from the frenetic action of most of his movies.

They will also be taken aback by the conservatism of his approach, which is so deferential to the tropes of the classic Western genre that you keep expecting Ward Bond to turn up.

While the film toys with the tensions between the Confederate States and the rest of the US - tensions that are still playing out to this day as we saw during the ransacking of Congress in January - Greengrass does not dwell too heavily on it.

In the end, he focuses on the humanity of Kidd and others in a harsh, harsh world.

Watching 'News of the World' is an oddly reassuring experience as it rekindles memories of the classic Western.

It may not be the finest Western you will ever see but is a solidly constructed piece that is as warm and comforting as your dad's slippers.

And sometimes, that's all you really need.

('News of the World' opened in US cinemas on December 25, 2020 and was made available for streaming on Netflix in the UK, Ireland and other territories on February 10, 2021)

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