Distinctly Montana Magazine

77 w w w. d i s t i n c t l y m o n t a n a . c o m mission of retributive bloodshed; in Little Jo the threat of sexu- al assault is the primary reason for the heroine's disguise, and retribution isn't on the table. There is one key scene involving a shooting but it doesn't provide excitement or catharsis; the em- phasis is on the pain of taking a life. Another one of the revisionist aspects of the film's script is its focus on characters who would be mere background figures in classic Western pictures. Significant attention is paid to the Slavic immigrants who populate Ruby City and the gradual pro- cess in which they become incorporated, however imperfectly, into the nascent community (there is a commonality here with Heaven's Gate, another Montana-filmed Western). As was his- torically the case, a far greater degree of hostility is foisted upon the Chinese laborers who came to the American West. In the film, Jo first encounters Tinman when he is about to be lynched by a group of white men irate about the work the Chinese are supposedly taking away from them. The romantic relationship that develops between them could only occur due to the fact of their mutual outsider status. It is noteworthy how uncommon still in American movies it is to see interracial couples with an Asian man as the partner; in the early '90s it was even more so. Those interested in going deeper into the story of the Chinese in Montana can look to Mark T. Johnson's illuminating book The Middle Kingdom Under the Big Sky. In an interview on the How the West Was Won podcast, direc- tor Maggie Greenwald stated why she envisioned the film as a Montana story: "I wanted to make a cool weather Western…this didn't seem to me to be an Arizona or a New Mexico kind of sto- ry." Though the shooting schedule did originally plan to film in other states (including, funnily enough, in Arizona), these plans were scrapped after arriving in Red Lodge and discovering the area fit with all the production requirements. Shooting begun in the summer, but snow still hit, as is ever the possibility in Mon- tana. In a move of admirable improvisation, Greenwald incor- porated the snow into the film, introducing a changing-of-the- seasons element that hadn't necessarily been intended in the script. The weather curveball, by serendipity, fit into the rhythm of the final product. Greenwald is an unsung example of what an independent film director can achieve, even with constraints of funding and resources. Her resume includes The Kill-Off (1987), a noir-thrill- er adapted from a book by Jim Thompson; Songcatcher (2000), a beautiful humanist period drama about folksong collection in Appalachia; and Sophie and the Rising Sun (2016), another period piece centering on community outsiders and forbidden love. Even though it didn't do well commercially on its original release, The Ballad of Little Jo is arguably her most influential work as a filmmaker; its quiet example of what a Montana story can be has proved durable, at least among Western aficionados and those who might be dismissive of them. Like women in the West, it may have been overlooked, yet has stood its ground and endured. 202 State Seet Hamilton, Montana 406. 363. 2731 @biersweet_salon Best Salon in Montana! of B E S T M O N TA N A A S V O T E D B Y R E A D E R S O F 2024 W I N N E R ! We are Anaconda's new Tex-Mex restaurant serving brunch, home-made cocktails and more. Visit us today! WELCOME! jordiscantina.com (406) 563-0134 627 East Park Ave Anaconda, MT of B E S T M O N TA N A A S V O T E D B Y R E A D E R S O F 2024 W I N N E R !

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