Part IV   Undressed Under Duress   Slow Times

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In the 2013 movie, Slow West, sixteen year old Scotsman Jay Cavendish (Kodi Smit-McPhee) goes on a quest to find the young girl he is deeply infatuated with. He travels to the American West Frontier from Scotland to search for Rose Ross. On the way he is shot through the hand with an arrow, witnesses a robbery which turns deadly, has all his clothes stolen, hooks up with Silas, a bounty hunter (Michael Fassbender), regains his horse and clothes, travels on horseback threatened by killers, and nearly drowns in a torrential rain storm / flash flood... 

Caught In a Flash Flood - Save the Underwear!

In this introduction to America, Jay is hoodwinked by a shyster who had befriended him. Taken under the wing of a medicine show barker, the lonely boy is given food and companionship around a warm campfire. The two turn in for the night under a beautiful, desert starlit sky. Devoid of mental and physical resources, Jay curls up under a thin blanket in only his union suit for a well-earned and peaceful snooze. He sleeps with his boots on to safeguard the money he has hidden in them. The sound sleeper doesn't know until the following morning that his new “friend” quietly sneaked off during the night. But not before the scoundrel stole everything the boy owned: horse, supplies, food, and clothes... 

Upon awakening, he finds a note left for him held down to the windy ground by one brown egg. He had been abandoned. Since he soon discovers the egg is raw and not hard-boiled, no breakfast is to be had. What to do?!

The ever determined and resourceful Jay wraps himself up in his blanket and continues the quest on foot in his union suit to find his true love.

Ahh, Food

Before  the day is out he is located by Silas, the bounty hunter, who provides Jay with food, clothes and a horse but only after the boy pays him from money in a wallet he had stashed in his boot for safe keeping. But Silas is not what he seems. 

After a middle-of-the-night downpour, Jay suggests to Silas they use a rope to hang and dry their clothes. So off into the sunset they ride, clothes strung between them, in their soggy long underwear....

Pushing onward, the bounty hunter and the boy face additional adventures, mostly challenging, until an unexpected and unsettling conclusion.

Trouble! 

We're Out of Here, Into The Woods.....

Safe for Now!

But More Trouble Awaits Our Hero...

Set in the Scottish Highlands and in Colorado, the film was produced by Film4 Productions, a British / New Zealand company. Filming commenced in October, 2013. It premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival to rave reviews and won the World Cinema Jury Prize for Drama. It was released in the United States on May 15, 2015.

Get this Movie. It's surely the best contemporary western I've seen. There aren't many these days! 
... Chris

Reid of Los Angeles emailed me today:

"Chris, regarding your last posting of Undressed Under Duress, I wanted to send you these photos of shots from the making of 'Justin America.' Too bad we've not seen the next version. Hopefully, they will get around to filming more. I too wanted to know how Justin was going to get out of his predicament. Hope you and your readers enjoy.
   ...Just another Union Suit Fan, Reid Gostler"

Thanks, Reid. Appreciate you taking the time to send these to me. These photos capture "behind-the scenes" Hollywood film making. Great! I always thought making movies would be a lot of fun even in your underwear...Chris

Undressed Under Duress, Part III    Parting Ways  

my third posting in a multi-part series

What's more stressful that being forced to strip down to your union suit at gun point? How about being shot after being forced to strip down to your union suit at gun point? Just ask Justin.

In Justin America - Parting Ways, the indie six minute episode begins with just that. Justin is held by gunpoint having just been made to strip down to his long red underwear and boots. He had told his outlaw gang he had had enough and was leaving. No more bank robberies, killings, and plundering. He decided it was time to break away and go straight. Maybe even clear his name and add “a few honest dollars to my pocket.” As far as he was concerned the outlaw gang life was over for him. No more!

The boss of the gang reluctantly was letting Justin depart but not before making him undress under duress. He had him strip to his union suit demanding even his boots. Justin was prepared to depart in his underwear but was not going to be turned out in the wilderness without his boots. At least not without a fight.

Tanner was told to take the boots by force so he charged Justin who put up a good fight. But he ultimately lost to the larger man. His boots were pulled from his feet depositing gold coins which Justin had taken from the outlaws and hidden. Caught! 

Trying to run away, he is ultimately shot in the side by a shotgun discharged by his apparent (ex)girl friend, Audry. The bandits believing him dead leave him lying in the dirt in his union suit. Now, that's undressed duress. After the gang leaves him, he awakens and limps away into the unknown.

What's to Become of Justin?!

Created and first filmed in 2013, Justin America was “a new western web series that’s riding into town on the musical twang of spaghetti western meets The Magnificent Seven bombast.” 

The main roles are played by actors, Myko Olivier as Justin America and Samantha Colburn as Audry. The young producers, Jared and John, spoke to their web audience at the end of this first episode. Hoping to find a production company to back their effort, the boys implored their viewers to get their friends and family to watch. If enough people viewed their film they believed they could entice a movie company to jump on board. Since I have found no subsequent episodes, they were probably unsuccessful. Too bad, I really wanted to know what happened to the desperado picking his way through the wilderness bootless in his socks and union suit.

The End