Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974)
Michael Cimino’s directorial debut, Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, is a buddy/road/heist film with a good sense of humor and a more subtle sense of forlornness. Debuting in 1974, it capitalized on the popularity of road movies started in 69 by Easy Rider. Starring the ever popular Clint Eastwood and the just 24 year old Jeff Bridges, the two portray kindred spirits of two generations. Our criminal drifters meet after Thunderbolt (Eastwood) escapes former gang members, who think Thunderbolt has betrayed them, with the help of Lightfoot (Bridges). The two travel across the plains of Idaho and Montana until they convince the disgruntled gangsters of Thunderbolt’s innocence, and then plan one last heist together on the same bank they robbed years ago.
It’s incredible to think this was Cimino’s directorial debut, when one stops to appreciate the visual bliss throughout the film. From wide angle shots of the breath-taking mountain ranges and rivers to two camera cuts of our heroes talking each shot feels warm and cozy, and they look exactly how they’re made to feel. The wardrobe choices are also symbolic, our main characters dress in eye-catching patterns, Lightfoot’s slightly more wild and colorful, while Red and Goody wear plain white shirts. As Cameron Beyl notes on his blog, “[Cimino]’s studies in painting and architecture subtly inform images that deal in layers of perspective and an awareness of setting. The frame is packed with details that enrich the story, yet are unobtrusive”. This is something I noticed in the scene below, check out the LOVE sign and the sheriff’s hat behind Lightfoot and Thunderbolt, respectively. It’s a clever nod to the pair’s dualistic personalities, one a flowery beacon of positivity, the other a reserved, impersonal authority figure.
Beyl forgets to mention Cimino’s background in advertising, which I think helped him to create that “nostalgic for a time that never was” quality. It’s a theme that appears throughout the movie — notably when Thunderbolt sees that the modern school has replaced the old schoolhouse. “Progress” he quips pessimistically. Or when he describes the “microphones, electric eyes, pressure-sensitive mats, vibration detectors, tear gas, and even thermostats” that now protect a bank vault. Oh if only it were still so easy to rob a bank.
The film’s score is appropriately country folk-y, although it’s used rather sparingly. A memorable moment comes at the very end, where the jingly radio tune suddenly stops as Lightfoot meets his demise. We’re left with the rumbling of the Cadillac for a moment before a country rock tune plays us out and the credits roll.
I’d be remise to mention how blatantly homoerotic much of this film is. Thunderbolt taking his shirt and belt off to clean a wound in the beginning of the film could have been the start to an adult film. Peter Biskind, writing for Jump Cut, makes a rather compelling case for the homosexual subtext as the main theme of this film, pointing out how “Lightfoot’s feminine attire compliments Thunderbolt’s phallic cannon” in the film’s climax. He views Lightfoot’s death as an inevitability, “because homosexual male love is still taboo, because society will not permit the consummation the film strains to achieve”. It’s a hard case to argue with, and though some other analyses of the film almost convinced me otherwise, Biskind’s view is really unparalleled in terms of depth. The film can be read as a lamentation of diminishing freedoms in America, Keith Phipps notes “what unites them also makes them misfits in a world that keeps crowding out what it can’t tame”. But from the queer perspective, it’s clear that they’re not misfit’s because they’re criminals. It’s because they’re gay. The system didn’t kill Lightfoot, the aggressively heterosexual Red Leary did. And in a way he represents the system — the system of enforced heterosexuality that Lightfoot dares to threaten. The scene below highlights this beautifully, and somewhat somberly considering the ending.
In a way Cimino was making us nostalgic for a time that never was. A time where men were truly free. The vast empty plains give us a sense of that freedom. But Lightfoot’s death shows the forces of society that have and always will dictate what’s possible. Thunderbolt’s stoic reaction is perhaps the movies message for those who caught the subtext. Put your shades on and keep moving forward. Progress.
