I had not seen "Into the West" since I screened it for my nephew 18 years ago. I was pleased that the film has aged well, and is as entertaining and substantive as I remembered it to be.

What I had not recalled was that "Into the West" was produced by Harvey and Bob Weinstein. Ellen Barkin has a small role in the film and she recently revealed that Harvey Weinstein verbally abused her throughout the production, repeatedly calling her both the c-word and b-word. This stunned me as Gabriel Byrne, her husband at the time, is the male lead in the film and an associate producer as well. Byrne, for his part, gave an interview in December in which he called Harvey Weinstein a "sleazebag" and a "bully". "He had very little respect for any kind of human being," Byrne stated.

Byrne's former assistant Laura Madden has alleged Weinstein sexually harassed her during the making of "Into the West". So, for the women involved, the production of the film was an upsetting experience. Should the film be forgotten, erased from history like Kevin Spacey's performance in "All the Money in the World"? I say no, because it is a beautiful story that (unlike Weinstein) treats its characters, and the audience, honorably. What does a producer like Weinstein actually contribute to a film? I will tackle that issue in a future essay.


Here's the latest article from the Drama Movies site at BellaOnline.com.

Into the West Film Review
While this film was marketed as a children’s adventure story, “Into the West” is a multi-layered drama in which a white stallion enters the life of a fractured family and heals their wounds. Gabriel Byrne stars.

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art63794.asp

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