In an interview with Roger Deakins (cinematographer for The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford) he talks about the film: “A film that is quickly becoming a modern-day classic thanks to Deakins’ poetic shots giving a look we’ve never seen before from a western, Brad Pitt plays the ageing outlaw Jesse James in the final years of his life leading up to him being killed by a member of his gang, Robert Ford (Casey Affleck).
“I love that movie so much because it really captured the lyricism of the book,” Deakins said, referring to the Ron Hansen novel the movie is based on. “It has similarities to ‘Kundun’ in not being literal. I think films these days have become too literal and too dialogue, plot-driven. ‘Jesse James’ has shots in it that have nothing to do with the plot but you can get away with it and that’s what I love about film. It’s not always about narrative. There’s just things you couldn’t express any other way but through film.””