High Noon

Fred Zinnemann, 1952 (suom. "Sheriffi")

I really enjoyed this film. It's a Western, yes, but concentrates solely on an ethical theme of duty versus personal asset through dramatic exacerbation, very similarly to many Kurosawa classics. The protagonist town sheriff learns on both his wedding day and a day of his planned retirement that a dangerous convict has been pardoned and is approaching the town in menace with his criminal gang (on a train that will arrive at high noon). The whole town loving and appreciating him to the extreme, in addition to his wife, use everything in their arsenal - including his wife threatening to leave him - to make him forget about this event and choose in favor of his own good. Yet, while driving away on his honeymoon in his cart, he turns back and returns to his duties (it is his last day, are they his duties anymore or are they not?), even turning his back to his newly wedded wife. He tries to desperately assemble deputies but finds this a bit difficult, as men who otherwise have shown loyalty show less courage in the face of a real danger. The film contains many profound moments along with the meeting of the sheriff's new wife and ex-lover and the resolution of his cowardly deputy sheriff trying to escape his personal demons in his struggle between right and wrong. A well-directed and enjoyable film that makes you ponder about right and wrong without trying to underline a right answer. There's a very nice comical scene in how the reverend ends his speech when the city is assembled in the church to decide what is the right decision to make for the good of the whole town.