"Rust" Western with Alec Baldwin released after fatal set accident

Guns and Westerns: They go together as naturally as a happy couple at the end of a Hollywood romance. There are Westerns named after weapons, such as the classic "Winchester 73" (1950), in which James Stewart wants to own a particularly deadly rifle. An extremely long-running US Western series had the German title "Gunsmoke" (1955–1975, original title: "Gunsmoke").

The Western is the original US cinematic genre, in which the emergence of a state is elevated to almost mythical proportions. Violence in the initially ununited states is celebrated as a prerequisite for its founding. Everyone takes the law into their own hands when there is no binding law for all. A particularly popular revolver manufactured by the Colt company was named the "Peacemaker."

This has had deadly consequences to this day, as can be seen in the dangerously permissive use of weapons in the United States. Bearing weapons is a right. The powerful lobby group, the National Rifle Association (NRA), vehemently invokes the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and claims that any form of gun control is evil.

And yet, in the western "Rust" (in theaters: May 1), you flinch involuntarily when shots ring out. They ring out often when grandfather Harland Rust (Alec Baldwin) and teenage grandson Lucas (Patrick Scott McDermott) try to escape their pursuers.

Because in the case of “Rust,” someone actually died: During filming, lead actor Alec Baldwin shot 42-year-old camerawoman Halyna Hutchins.

Despite the fatal accident, director Joel Souza and lead actor and co-producer Baldwin completed the film. This was the hardest decision of his life, Souza says in a voiceover after the credits, while images of the camerawoman roll across the screen. There, we see a cheerful young woman whose drive for perfection at work is cited with the following words: "How can we make this even better?"

To this day, the question of how the live ammunition got onto the set remains unanswered. Baldwin was handling a gun during rehearsals, as requested by the director. A shot went off. The camerawoman was killed, and the director suffered a minor shoulder injury.

Later, there was talk of inadequate safety precautions and miserable filming conditions. Shooting exercises with live weapons were reportedly conducted on beer cans on the morning of the accident.

Tears of relief: The case against actor Alec Baldwin for negligent homicide has just been dropped.

Source: -/Pool Video via AP/dpa

"Rust" takes place in the early 1860s. The era of white conquest is in full swing. Trappers can barely survive on their beaver furs, and the bison herds have been almost completely massacred. The indigenous population has been banished to reservations. However, one should be careful when crossing their land.

Lucas, a 13-year-old orphan, is managing his parents' former farm, barely managing it, and lovingly caring for his little brother. Then it happens: While hunting a wolf, he accidentally shoots a rancher who is hostile to him – this incident alone involuntarily evokes associations with the filming accident. Lucas is sentenced to death by hanging. He is accused of murder.

At this harsh verdict, the judge can barely contain his compassion and suppresses a sob. But such are the Old Testament conditions in the Wild West, when America is about to become "great." Here, a boy quickly dies a man. And the principle applies: "A man makes his own decisions."

Alec Baldwin appears as Grandfather Harland Rust in a dark night: He kills Lucas's guards in a knife attack, rescues the boy from his cell, and sets off with him on a ride to Mexico, where Lucas is to receive a good education. Civilization is possible.

Hot on their heels are the cunning US Marshal Wood Helm (Josh Hopkins) and the Bible-believing bounty hunter Fenton "Preacher" Lang (Travis Fimmel). The latter is sure to make the hearts of evangelicals beat faster, given his commitment to his ultra-conservative beliefs.

Grandson Lucas had never known of his grandfather's existence and initially mistrusted the grumpy old man. Only by the flickering campfire does he learn of his grandfather's unkind fate, which turned him into a bank robber and ultimately led to his expulsion from the family. We've already seen more convincingly how old and young bond in the saddle in "True Grit" (2010) by the Coen brothers – or in "News of the World" (2020) with Tom Hanks and Helena Zengel.

The film, with the German subtitle "Legend of the West," is full of clichés. The women are primarily whores or widows. When things get contemplative, a harmonica sounds (or, in case of doubt, during an execution). Occasionally, a few war-painted natives ride by.

The majestic expanse of the country is repeatedly brought into focus, often filmed through doorways – a clear homage to Western director John Ford. After Hutchins' death, her colleague Bianca Cline completed the film.

Have filmmakers never heard of the deconstruction of the genre, which generations of US directors have worked on, from Jim Jarmusch ("Dead Man," 1995) to Ang Lee ("Brokeback Mountain," 2005) to Kelly Reichardt ("First Cow," 2019)? Even Kevin Costner, a pioneer in changing perspectives in the Wild West with "Dances with Wolves" (1990), recently told an almost unbroken classic story in his four-film major project "Horizon." Yet, in his first film, the traumas induced by weapons are at least woven into the film. He hasn't been able to shoot his last two films yet due to disastrous box office results.

Along the way, "Rust" offers the audience a brief introduction to rifles. Whether it's the Henry, Remington, or Winchester brand, they're all meticulously named. His father loved the Henry rifle, says Lucas, looking thoughtfully at the gleaming barrel in his hand. He meticulously cleaned it regularly and disassembled it down to the last spring. The man clearly played it safe when handling firearms.

Shot during the filming of "Rust": cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

Source: @HALYNAHUTCHINS via REUTERS

The metallic crack of a revolver's hammer being cocked becomes the background music. "I let my Winchester smoke," boasts a drinker at the bar, raving about 75 murdered Cheyenne.

At one point, Baldwin's character barks at his grandson: "Next time you want to kill someone, make sure there's a bullet in the barrel." For a moment, you think you've misheard. Why didn't anyone take pity and cut this remark from the film? Was there really thoughtlessness behind it? At least the scene being filmed when the fatal accident occurred was cut from the script.

There would probably be little fuss made about this film if the tragedy of the filming and the simple plot didn't clash so violently. Any sign of distance from the narrative, of a recognizable break, would be relieving. But how is that possible with a story that aspires to be legendary?

Hutchins' family wanted the film completed, says director Souza. "Rust" is the "indelible legacy" of those killed. The images that movie audiences now see were created through their eyes. However, he himself wished he had "never written this damned movie," Souza recently told the British "Guardian."

The film's proceeds, as stated on the screen after the credits, will benefit the family. The film is dedicated to Halyna Hutchins.

Weapons master Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, responsible for security on set, has since been sentenced to 18 months in prison for involuntary manslaughter. The trial against Baldwin was unexpectedly dropped last year.

The 67-year-old had tears of relief in court as the judge closed the case. She had accepted the defense's argument that evidence had been withheld. This involved cartridges found at the crime scene, which surfaced late in the trial.

After the verdict, Baldwin spoke out: "There are too many people who have supported me that I must thank now. To all of them, I say, you will never know how much I appreciate your kindness to my family."

When filming resumed after the fatal accident, dummy firearms were used instead of functioning ones. The ammunition was made of rubber or wood. A master gunsmith with two decades of professional experience reviewed the incident.