![]() Here lies the first of several simple dichotomies that Lee’s film debunks. Like the historical figures upon which both film and novel are based, these Missouri Irregulars sympathize with the South, but swear no allegiance to either side. The son of German immigrants, Roedel belongs to a band of ruthless Missourian guerrilla fighters known as bushwhackers. At the center is teenager Jake “Dutchy” Roedel (Tobey Maguire). It is also an exceptional film.īased on Daniel Woodrell’s novel, Woe To Live On, and adapted for the screen by James Schamus, Ride With The Devil tells a story of the Civil War from a rather unusual perspective. Artfully transcending the dualisms associated with the American South, Ride With The Devil is an exception to the Civil War genre. Consequently, when it comes to the American Civil War, filmmakers have offered up a plethora of binary oppositions from which audiences can find and make meaning: North over South, black over white, man over woman, free over slave, hero over villain, winner over loser.ĭirector Ang Lee, avoids all such convention in Ride With The Devil. ![]() In its pursuit of an orderly society, the antebellum and Reconstruction South relied heavily upon categorization based upon such “difference”. American history, culture, and identity have traditionally been interpreted through the lens of “difference”, especially the difference that exists between opposites.
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