双虎屠龙

西进运动随着东西铁路的修建结束，启蒙与文明化是西部的历史命运。Ford这次几乎冷静到可怕地去展现西部是如何发生变化的，这是一场深深嵌入到西部社会本身的民情之中而发生的革命，要秩序不要战争，要文明不要武力，要商业自由不要垄断，要代表民主不要强权。似乎一切都随着这位东部来的参议员的发际而实现了，但ford已经强烈暗示这只是表面的，真正杀死暴徒的是牛仔。启蒙与文明化是表面的故事，还有一个未说出的故事……西部在美国人的心中到底意味着什么？

故事的一重是发生在当下的西部人的感受与热望

姑娘哈莉的芳心最终给了律师，不是没有理由的。他文质彬彬，识字讲理，承认你作为人，生而平等的人的权利，哪怕现实是那么不平等。你不识字，他教你读书看报。你被看轻，他捍卫你。他说法律而不是武力实现正义。

这是自由派联邦党人天然具有的征服人心的力量。哪怕最后他背叛了自己的文明理想，拿起了枪要与牛仔，以西部的方式决斗。

但Ford创造了另外一重故事，只有牛仔和律师知道的故事

那个横行霸道的暴徒是牛仔在黑暗处枪杀的；牛仔悄悄地为姑娘建他们结婚的新房，知道她心疼律师，暗中保护着他；最后在她心许他人以后，一把火把房子烧掉，再不纠缠；鼓励丧气的律师继续参选州议员，好真正给西部带来人们渴望的东西。

牛仔死了，一个人默默地死去，只有一口小小的棺材陪着他。有多少人记得他呢？姑娘回去了，律师丈夫陪着她。她悄悄地，也是郑重其事地在他的棺木上放上当年他老给她送的仙人掌花。

杀死Liberty Vallance的故事仍然在地方上流传，美名给了律师而不是牛仔。真实的律师总有那么点懦弱，没底气，有许多理想，总少那么些实干精神和勇气。

但最让人感动的是，Ford相信，人们记得的仍然是一个牛仔的故事，爱戴的也是牛仔一样的人。不管此一美名是落在谁人头上，这才是真正隽永的存在，也是西部留给美国最为宝贵的东西。

最后，Ford老爷爷真的很帅，都要睡不着了

In my opinion, this film presents the conflict between modern civilization which emphasizes literacy and rules of law, and the Western traditional culture which is ruled by law of force.

The story takes place in the town of Shinbone where the people live here follows an unwritten rule: the man who carries the gun gets the power. One of the main male characters, Ransom Stoddard as an attorney at law with proper education, is the best representation of modern civilization in this film. He came to this Western state with a satchel full of law books but without a gun and got robbed and bullied by Liberty Valance, the villain representing savage cruelty, at the first night he arrived. Tom Doniphon, a rich and respected farmer in this town who is as good at shooting as Liberty Valance, suggested Ransom acquiring a gun to protect himself while this proposition was rejected by Ransom at first, because he believed crime shall be terminated by legal sanction instead of violence. There leads to a debate: whether a man need to carry a gun to protect himself or his belief.

At the very beginning, Ransom seemed misfit to this community. He believed in the power of law and attempted to find out solutions to every problem through his books. However, soon he found that most of residents here were not able to read and write at all. Therefore, he organized lessons for local people including both children and adults to teach them read, and more importantly, understand constitution and human rights. Shinbone was moving toward from an unnamed territory to a vote on statehood at that time, and residents were encouraged by Ransom to actively participation into the election. Ransom and the newspaper editor were elected as the representatives, but the rule of force did not give way to the rule of law until Liberty Valance was killed in a shootdown. It’s ironic that though Ransom firmly believe the power of law, the rule of law cannot be enforced in his willingness without violence.

I think what signals that the rule of force is replaced by rule of law in this film is, rather than the death of Liberty Valance, the time when Tom Doniphon shot Liberty but still give his credit to Ransom. He killed the villain in the illegal way, and he did not earn any reputation for it. The honor went to the man who spreads knowledge and stands for law. It also suggests that the personal heroism is outdated in the Western movies.

文明与野蛮一直是约翰福特的西部片中讲诉的命题。

影片通过斯图尔特的回忆讲述起这段不为人知的往事。

斯图尔特代表的律师是文明的象征，他带着他的法律文书来到西部的小镇，给人们传播民主自由的意识，教小镇居民们读书认字。

约翰韦恩饰演的西部牛仔是野蛮的象征，高大威猛，是我们喜闻乐见的英雄，他由最开始对斯图尔特的不认可，到对斯图尔特的欣赏与帮助，体现了文明于野蛮之间的冲突融合过程。

影片的反派是促进斯图尔特和韦恩友谊的因素，也是文明与野蛮交融的因素，反派的存在，让斯图尔特这个律师拿起的枪，开始网野蛮转变。

但是韦恩出手了，他暗中的一枪打死了反派，拯救了象征着文明的律师，他保留了文明，并促进了野蛮向文明的转变。

韦恩事了拂身去，深藏功与名，如果不是斯图尔特的讲述，小镇上的年轻人不会知道韦恩的英雄事迹，但正如斯科特先生说的“这里是西部，当传奇成为事实时，传奇自然会流传”。韦恩活在西部人民的心中。

小镇上修起了铁路，“像个花园一样”，斯图尔特把文明的种子留在了西部，西部大开发的成功，也意味着西部的传奇留在了过去。

这是1962年的电影，是约翰福特对西部片的告别，也是对西部历史的告别。

在时光里去回味这段西部往事吧！

《The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance》

福特献给西部英雄的挽歌

当传奇流传为事实，就将传奇当成现实。东部文明孕育出的理想主义者误入蛮荒的西部，Stoddard是个律师不适合拿枪杀人，Valance是个牛仔不希望归驯降临，不可调和的矛盾冲击着续写了数十年的西部神话，是时候体面地埋葬回不去的辉煌了。花园能否覆盖荒漠不取决于个人，时代的更迭从一开始就把结局定好，Tom看到了故事走向，把仅存的光环卸下，一枪崩死了坏人，顺带扼杀了自己的前程与美人，有怨气但也只有内心默念没关系，他活着的时候已经是个传奇，死后会有人记得英雄的模样。旧神话被打破，新神话在确立，人们永远需要神话。虽说推崇的是民主，但是政治大佬的人设还得靠跌宕起伏的前半生立住，哪怕主角另有他人，那就重写历史证明已兑现承诺。无论如何，民众渴望什么，便报道什么，世界不需要的英雄，鞋子也可以不为他留。

被选择的玫瑰很快会被种下，只在一个地方生长的仙人掌，迎来最后一次开花。