The Searchers is a film that dates from 1956. This is a Western film that tells the story of the search of some women who have been kidnapped by the Comanche Indians led by Scar.
The film starts with the image of the lighted desert contrasting with the darkness of the house. Since the first moment it noticed the fact that the main events of the film are going to happen outdoors. The desert is going to be depth, in contrast with the home, which is small and a bit claustrophobic for the main characters. The light in the outdoors along the film is going to be principally the natural light.In the ndoors the light is going to be mixed.
There is not only natural light throughout the windows, but also artificial light frontal to the characters and behind the main action by the use of candles. In the first scene we can see Ethan arriving by horse across the desert. The desert is going to be the place where the film is going to be developed, and the horses are going to be really important all along the film. Both, the desert and the horses, are going to be important elements in all the events, and this Is noticed since the first scene.Ethan makes important emphasis In the care of the horse. There is a kind of arallelism in the way in which both, Ethan and Martin, arrive home.
They are completely different arrivals. While Ethan arrives slow and quietly, Martin is going to arrive fast and full of energy. They seem to be different, but the way in which they arrive home may be a signal of the fact that the destiny Is going to force them to live together along the next years In the search of Debbie. At the end, the truth Is that they are not so different. There Is not very much movement of the characters In this first scene.
That's the way In which the film not only focuses the attention on the characters and their onversation, but also In the objects and the light. It Is Important to notice the fact that Debbie and her doll are focused by the camera In the first scene. Debbie Is going to be kidnapped. Ethan and Martin use Debbie's doll as the maln element In order to look for her. Behind Debbie and her doll there Is another Important element. This element Is the rocking chair.
It represents the warmth of home. The rocking chair Is something that Mose Harper loves and needs. He only tells what he knows when he receives a rocking chair.In this first scene we can see a rocking chair lighted. The appearance In this first scene of the rocking chair shows the Importance of this element In the developing of the story. So In this Image we can see three Important elements along the film: Debbie, her doll, and the rocking chair.
The first scene Inside the house Is the same that happens at the end. There Is a kind of symmetry In the story. First Ethan comes back home, and at the end Is Debbie the one who comes back home. Ethan holds Debbie In the air, and the same happens at showing the importance of the home and the family.
