Ron Gilbert

The Last Rites of Ransom
Pride, an Authentic Western film

By Ron Gilbert

When
you enter a theater to watch a film, it should you really want it to be an
experience. So best not to read the press kit or the other film festival
reviews. because you do not want to prejudice your reactions to the film if
possible. So I went to a late night screening at the Laemmle Sunset Five
Theatres to see The Last Rites of Ransom Pride. From the opening shot of the
film I knew that this was going to worth it. Roger Vernon’s cinematography is a
sight to behold because you are watching a western which has authentic written
all over it. Director Tiller Russell is a talent to watch.

This
film seemed so familiar to me and I remembered being in post production house
for an industry mixer and seeing a trailer on this film and was very impressed
with the look of the film. When I met up with Tiller, we discussed this and
then “Lo and behold”, Michael Wolf the editor enters the conversation and it
all connected. Michael has special artistic skills which he and Tiller were
able to use to the utmost in this film.

This
is not your usual kind of western where the good guys wear white hats and the
bad guys wear black hats. We are watching a story which can actually be found
on the current local and international news where there is a ransom request so
that the hostages can be released. In this particular film Lizzie Caplan’s
motive is the fetch the body of her lover Ransom Pride and this not so simple.
Lots of bumps in the road in her attempt to complete her mission.

I
found the setting and the characters to be very accurate even though I was not
alive in that period. I have lived in Mexico and have been to remote
villages and when you are there you feel like you are in the time frame of a
hundred years.

 There are some very good
actors in this film like Scott Speedman(Ransom Pride),Dwight Yoakam(Preacher)
Juliette Flowers(Lizzie Caplan),Peter Dinklage(The Dwarf), Kris
Kristofferson(Shepherd Graves)and Jason Priestley(John). These talented actors
were attracted to this film because of the script and they felt that they would
enjoy using their creative juices doing it.

This film has a very sparse setting because is how it looked in
that period.

If
you liked the series” Deadwood” by my creative buddy David Milch and director Sam
Peckinpah’s films, you will enjoy this one

This
film will be released on October 5 October 5, 2010
and available on Netflix ,Redbox, Blockbuster Online, iTunes Barnes & Noble, Amazon.com, Amazon.com Video on Demand, Family Video, Army bases ,Navy Bases ,Independent Video Rental Stores and  on November 30, 2010 at Wal-Mart.

http://www.lastritesfilm.com/