The Searchers

John Ford follows the story of a Civil War veteran who after some members of his family are killed or abducted by the Comanches embarks on a mission to rescue his niece and any surviving relatives from them. John Ford creates a solid and multilayered western using the central image of the frontier to explore the divisions of the American character in regards to order , violence, community and independence . Aided by John Waynes performance and Monument Valley as a background for the striking cinematography the film becomes a powerful and thought-provoking Wild West Odyssey but it is still tinted with inadvertent racism.