Ride with the Devil
VIEW EVENT DETAILS
Asia Society presents Water and Oil: The Movies of Ang Lee; a complete retrospective from February 14-23 with select appearances by the filmmaker and collaborators.
Ride with the Devil
Ang Lee, US, 1999, 35mm, 138 min.
Ang Lee reteamed with Tobey Maguire two years after The Ice Storm for this revisionist Civil War-western based on the novel “Woe to Live On” by Daniel Woodrell. The film’s epic scope and elaborate action sequences represent a major leap forward in the filmmaker’s development.
Maguire plays Jake Roedel, a German immigrant’s son in deep Missouri whose confused sense of identity leads him to join a Confederate guerilla band of so-called “Bushwhackers” terrorizing civilians on the outskirts of the war. His peer-influenced racism and violent defense of the Southern cause are challenged by a burgeoning friendship with former slave Daniel Holt, played by Jeffrey Wright, who tags along with another Bushwhacker played by Skeet Ulrich for his own self-conflicted reasons. Holt is barely heard from for the first hour of the film— but by the time it’s over he’s revealed as the central character, spirit, and engine that’s moved it forward. The cast of proto-movie stars is rounded out by Jonathan Rhys-Meyer, the musician Jewel in her screen debut, and briefly but memorably a young, stormy Mark Ruffalo. Presented on 35mm.
A limited amount of complimentary tickets will be available to NYC college students with ID at the box office on the day of the screening.
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