The Misfits

Filmed during a period of personal crisis for those involved, this swan song to the myths of the American West is positively seething with tension. Roslyn, a recently divorced nightclub singer, crosses paths with a mechanic broken by his war experiences, a washed-up cowboy and a disillusioned rodeo rider. Moments of hope for a new, better life briefly flash into view as they set out together to catch wild horses in the Nevada desert. Yet the adventure pushes them straight to their limits – not just on screen: Monroe’s marriage to Arthur Miller, who also wrote the screenplay, falls apart, and her excessive drug use jeopardises the production more than once. THE MISFITS is her – and Clark Gable’s – legacy: complex, monumental, and, despite everything, phenomenal.
(Florian Widegger)