Run for the High Country (2018) - full transcript

- Everyone show me your hands.

Show me your hands.

Alright, everyone
needs to get out.

Get out!

- Put your hands up.

- Hey, pretty lady.
- Hey, that's my wife.

Get your hands off of her.

- She was
your wife.

I bet she'll learn next time.

- I'm not armed.

- I could see that.



Like a game of Chance, mister?

- Yes, I would.

Smith's the name.

Benjamin J. Smith.
- The money bag.

Pick one.

You lose.

- What are we playing for?

- It was just my luck

to get caught in
this spring storm.

I was headed to the
Arizona territory.

I've been sent there to
track a bad bunch of outlaws.

They were easy to follow

'cause they didn't try
to hide their trail.

Wherever they went,
there were dead people.



They showed no mercy.

They had no soul.

- That night, I
dreamt of my grandfather.

I miss him so much
and my father, too.

Now I was all alone.

I walk in the direction
of my people, the Navajo.

We have been traveling
far from our land.

We would walk all
night and rest all day.

- We denounce themselves.
- It would be my last time

I would hear my
grandpa's favorite story.

- Threw red sand
all over themselves.

They didn't even talk
or see or listen.

Just kept throwin' red sand
all over, stirring up the dust.

This was the place called
,

the home of the bitter winds.

The winds that blow for no
reason, but to cause strife.

The winds that come
to you carry sand.

If you are caught in it,
it will sting your face.

- Just like
my grandpa's story,

a bitter wind was
headed our way;

a wind that would
forever change my life.

Never again would I
feel my father's touch.

And my dog, my best friend,

would give his life
tryin' to protect us.

He sent fear all over my
body as he looked my way.

- I was
getting closer now.

The trail was not as cold.

These were killers;

the kind that killed
'cause they liked it.

I had been a lawman
for a long time.

As I saw it, life was a
battle of good against evil.

Evil would never win, but it
would also never be defeated.

It always seemed
to rise up again.

In this life, you're either
good or you are evil.

♪ Swing low sweet chariot ♪

♪ Coming forth carry me home ♪

- Chacon, how long are
we gonna be sittin' here?

How come I gotta sit in the sun?

- 'Cause I said so.

- Somebody's comin'.

- I got him, I got him.

- Hey, he's alive!
- You just grazed him.

- He's the law.

- US Marshall, why
you following me?

- I'm not followin' you.

- Why you here?

- I'm just passin'
through the territory.

- Why'd you hit me, Chacon?

- 'Cause you never listen.

I say when we shoot.

Me, not you.

Where you comin' from?

- Colorado.

- Now we're gettin' somewhere.

I like that.

Why you following me?

- Like I said, I'm
not followin' you.

- What are you doin' here?

- I'm headed this
way to see a woman.

- A woman?!

I see.

Let's get him back on his horse.

Get him up.

- I was scared
sittin' on my horse

with a noose around my neck.

Lord, it ain't fair
to go this way.

It just ain't.

I never thought it
would end like this,

a horse with a noose on
my neck like an outlaw.

Lord, I wouldn't mind you
gettin' me outta this one.

I know I haven't exactly.

Easy now, Chance.

Easy, easy boy; it's okay.

You hold there, Chance.

Good boy, now you hold.

Son of a bitch.

I thought it would
end like this.

I swear to God.

Lord, it's a
beautiful goddamn day.

- SI wandered always

in the direction of my people.

I had never known such sorrow.

I was barren.

- I prayed and I
thought about my life.

Lord in Heaven
hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come,
thy will be done

on Earth as it is in Heaven.

All night I stayed
awake to urge my horse

to stand where he was.

Maggie, I don't see ya.

I was comin', darlin'.

I was comin'.

Oh god, help me.

- I dreamed
of my sheep in my home.

My mother came into my
dreams and brushed my hair.

In the morning, I woke
to a giant wolf dog

staring down at me.

So I ran and it followed.

I had the knife my father
gave me and I used it.

I had never seen such a sight.

A white man on a horse with
a rope around his neck.

- I been prayin' all day
for an angel and a miracle

and I think you're it.

- I wanted to run,

but just then the
wolf dog appeared.

- All I remember is wakin'
up and seeing the boy,

the boy who saved my life.

You did it.

I was elated.

I have a second chance.

You did it.

- I had never been

this close to a
white man before.

I feared them.

We all did for what
they did to my people.

I had no idea what
he was saying,

but I listened to his voice

and I could tell
he was a good man.

- You just made the best
friend of your life.

Son,

I wanna thank you for my life.

I prayed for someone to come
and save me and you did.

Those sons of bitches
wanna hang me.

You got kin around here?

You got family?

Wouldn't it be
something if they come

and get me now?

Oh my god, thank you
Lord and thank you, son.

My name is John Towne.

I'm the US Marshall.

I'm gonna get my stuff, alright?

Son of a bitch.

Rain on me, why don't ya?

- Guns.

Victorio will trade
him only for guns.

- Can I see them?

- I didn't
know it at the time,

but Chacon and his gang

were sellin' rifles
to the Apaches.

They were tradin' Spanish
gold and gems for guns.

- Beautiful.

- Rifle.

- Man need rifles.

We will send some warrior
to show you the way

to our summer camp.

- Okay.

- It was clear that the boy
wanted to show me somethin'.

Now I knew why he was all alone.

Son, sometimes life ain't fair.

For you, today's
one of them days.

I'm truly sorry.

This boy had saved my life and
I was gonna do right by him.

Sleep well, son.

You had a rough day.

I followed Chacon's trail
to a little trading post.

- Welcome to the
Imperial Trading Post.

What can we do for ya?

- I need some guns.
- Rifles or pistols?

- Both.

- Don't mind me askin',

what are you doin' travellin'
with this Indian boy?

- These
white men were different

and I could feel their evil.

- Kinda strange travelin'
with that Indian boy.

- Especially
the one with no hair

on top of his head.

- Lemme see that
pistol right there.

- That one's not for sale.

- Gimme that rifle then.

- That's a good rifle.

You wanna sell him or trade him?

I got blankets,
whiskey and guns.

I even got Irene.

Might even wanna poke with her.

Irene!

- Cartridges.

- She gets a little
feisty every once in a while.

I got her about a week
ago from the Mexies.

- Now you gimme that pistol.

- I told you, that
wasn't for sale.

- Pick it up and
look at the grips.

On the bottom,
there's some initials.

JT, stands for John Towne.

Marshall John Towne.

- Well I'll be.

- Thought they hung him.

- Appears not.

- Smart man.

Take my badge off your shirt.

- Now we have nothin' to do
with this as you know, Marshall.

- I'm sure y'all broken
up about it, ain't ya?

Now y'all listen to me.

I got business with
Chacon and his men.

I will require you
to watch this boy.

- What do you mean
by watch the boy?

- No harm will come to him

and he will be
here when I return.

- I think we can arrange that.

- I'll be
back for you soon.

I'll get ya; I'll
be back for you.

No no, go back; sit.

I'll be back for ya, alright?

- 'Pears you don't wanna go.

Want me to tie him
to a chair, Marshall?

- When he left
me, my hopes were dashed.

I was forlorn.

- I felt bad
about leavin' him.

But by god, no one was gonna
put a noose around my neck

and not hear about it from me.

- Get up, we gotta
go get these rifles.

- I'm tired, I'll catch up.

Go ahead.

- Chacon ain't gon' like this.

- Chacon ain't here, is he?

- No, he's not.

- Okay, we got time.

Go ahead.

- Alright, suit yourself.

- Culpepper get your
boot off me, man.

- Next time you hang a man,
you better do it right.

- Hey man, what're you doin'?

- Where's Chacon?

- He ain't here.

- I can see that.

- I didn't hang ya.

That wasn't my idea.

That was Chacon's.

- Yeah, that didn't stop
you from shootin' me.

Did it, Billy?

- I didn't shoot ya.

That wasn't my idea.
- Yeah.

- That was his too.

- Yeah, did he also make
you rape and kill that girl?

- What girl?
- Girl on the stagecoach.

- Stagecoach?

I don't know nothin'
'bout no stagecoach.

- What do you think
I do for a livin'?

I track and I hunt bad men.

I'm real good at it.

I've been doin' it since
before you was born,

so don't tell you don't know
nothin' 'bout no stagecoach.

- I didn't rape that girl.

That wasn't me,
that was Culpepper.

- I don't think so.

I'm afraid not, Billy.

See, a man's life is in
the tracks he leaves.

I seen your tracks.

You got them little boots, but
you're a murderin' bastard.

When I saw you, you dragged
that girl from that stage

and you took off
her into some wild.

You raped her and you beat her.

You stabbed her with the knife.

- You can't prove that.

Honestly, it wasn't me.

They'll believe me.

- You're right, Billy.

They will 'cause you and I
we know the truth, don't we?

Don't we?

Don't we?!

- No, please no!

You gotta take me
back to the judge.

- No, I don't.

No, I don't.
- No no, please.

- She say please, Billy?

- She did.
- Did she say please?!

- Yes!

- There's not enough
to weigh here.

- It must be worth
something, is it not?

- Everything's
worth somethin'.

- As to what I'm inquirin'.

- Flink like that,

probably get you
couple drinks maybe.

- Told you it weren't
worth the ride in here.

- What's that sound?

What d'you got over there
in that trunk?

- I got my
own lil' Indian boy.

- These were bad men.
- You don't say.

- Though I'm tradin' him
to the Mexicans next week.

Now he's worth somethin'.

- I
thought I would die

in the little box with no air.

- We'll take those drinks now.

- Mm-kay.

Marshall, I didn't
expect you so soon.

- Where's the boy?

- When I heard
his voice, I had hope again.

- I had to put him in there.

He went a little crazy
right after you left

and I put him in
there for his own good

to watch him, like you said.

- I never said nothin' about
puttin' the boy in a trunk.

You are one sick son
of a bitch, ain't ya?

- Marshall, lemme
introduce you to my associates.

Now Benson, you can have
as many pokes as you want.

Goes for you too, Wilson.

- Ooh my.

- Gents, I got no
trouble with you.

This boy and I
were just leavin'.

- I do believe you're
miscalculating, Marshall.

- It's time to leave.

- It was
loud like thunder.

- Alright, son?

- I was angry at him

for leavin' me with those men.

Then he hugged me like my
father would and I felt safe.

- We were hungry
and I promised him

a breakfast of
flapjacks and eggs.

I knew he had no idea
what I was talkin' about,

but I figured he'd
like 'em just the same.

- I know if you help yourself
again, I'm gonna shoot you.

- Hey Paco, you know
there's a little Indian boy

sittin' at your table, right?

- What?

- Okay, that's.
- Who?

- I watched him go home.

- He didn't
do a very good job of it.

- Very funny.

- What do you
think you're doin'?

- How's that?

- Don't serve his kind here.

- You do this mornin'.

- If you read the
sign out front,

it said, "No Indians allowed."

- Just 'cause you write it
down, don't make it right.

I want an order of
flapjacks and eggs, bacon,

crisp bacon and coffee.

- Get up, boy.
- Let go of that boy!

- Broke my nose!

- Yeah, now go get
me my flapjacks.

Anybody got somethin'
to say 'bout that?

- Let's go tell the sheriff.
- Yeah.

- I tell ya, I'm running
outta room at the school.

New students arrive every day

and the dormitories
are cholk full.

- You have a good contract
with the government.

You're gonna make a lotta money.

- We're gonna make a lotta
money, but I need more room.

- I'm workin' on it.

- Sheriff, sheriff.

There's this guy that
came into Paco's bar.

- Hold on, hold
on, just slow down.

- Sorry.

Hey, Mrs. Braxton.

- Hi.

- There's this guy that
came into Paco's bar

with a little Indian boy.

He broke Paco's nose
and ordered flapjacks.

- What?

- That's what happened, sheriff.

- Oh my.

- Roy, gather up
some more of the boys

and meet me at Paco's.

- Okay.

- I'll be along in a minute.

- I guess lunch is over.

- Yeah, but I'll
see you for dinner.

- Told ya they were good.

- Don't you move or my
boys'll fill you with holes.

- Nobody here's movin'.

Just gettin' ready to go.

- Who do you think you are
comin' in here insulting people?

- Did you bring
enough help, sheriff?

- This is my town.

Look at me.

You don't bring an Indian boy
in here, not in my Saloon.

Get him up

and bring him too.

He goes to the Indian school.

- Sheriff, you gon'
wanna look at this.

- You hurt that
boy, I'll kill ya!

- Well who do we have here?

- Sheriff sent him over, don't
know much else about him.

- Let's have a look at him.

Hiram, let's get
this young man--

- I didn't know it at the time,

but I was at one of those
Indian boarding school

the US government set up for
us to be no longer Indians.

- You're gonna like it here.

- Millions
of Indian children

were sent to these schools
against their own will

and many have died there.

- First a noose around
my neck and now a jail cell.

It didn't seem right.

- Judge wants to see you.

- Where's your posse, sheriff?

Aren't you afraid I'ma rise
up and strike you down?

- Man can't be too careful.

- No cheap shot today, sheriff?

- I'm sorry 'bout that.

I didn't know you
were a marshall.

- Yeah.

- You're my new marshall.

Quite an auspicious entrance

bringing a savage to a dining
hall for flapjacks and eggs.

- I was hungry, what was
I supposed to do with him?

- Your only job was and is to
track down the outlaw Chacon

and either bring him to face
justice or shoot him down.

The question is
what were you doin'

travelin' with a
mongrel Indian boy?

- He was all alone.

Chacon had killed his family.
- The question was rhetorical.

I don't care.

Wait a minute, you are
Marshall John Towne

of Colorado, are you not?

Are you not?

- You know I am.

- I don't know what
I know this morning.

Let's start over, shall we?

How was your journey, marshall?

What can you report
about Chacon?

These are the questions we
should be discussing in earnest

and not why you are bringing

a hostile, savage
mongrel to breakfast.

- He's hardly a hostile.

He's just a boy.

- They're all hostiles and
savages or haven't you heard?

You are very curious to me, sir.

Very curious, indeed.

Next you'll be tellin' me you
think women should vote, ha!

Well the boy, as you call him,

is no longer your
responsibility.

You are to get back on the
trail and do what you do best.

I don't wanna hear anymore
about Indian affairs from you.

Is there something else?

- What did you do with him?

- You are really starting
to annoy me, sir.

The little savage has been taken

to Mrs. Braxton's Indian school

where they know how to
take the starch out of 'em.

But that's no longer
your affair, is it?

Now I strongly suggest you
pick up your gun and badge

and quickly leave my office
before I take them from you.

You are a disgrace, sir.

As a US Marshall, you
represent this great republic.

To speak as you do,
it's reprehensible.

This great nation
will visit the Indian

with fire and sword until
there are none left.

For the ones that are
will beg for mercy.

It's people like
you are standing

in the way of that progress.

Had no idea had one of
your kind working for me.

- How 'bout I remove
myself from your employ?

- I see.

You know Marshall,
man of your age,

you don't have many years
of being a feared left.

Then what?

It'd be a shame to lose your
pension, don't ya think?

Be lucky to get a bed in
an old soldier's home.

You can't stop manifest
destiny; no one can.

And you can't save the Indians
as much as you would dream to.

- I can save this one boy.

- You so much as go
near that little savage

and I'll have you
back in chains.

- Here it is.

Isn't it beautiful?

It's straight from France.

- Thank you so much.
- You're welcome.

- Maggie Butler
was the real reason

I was in the Arizona territory.

Lately she was all
I thought about.

- I had always hoped he
would come back to me.

But when he walked
into my store,

I guess I wasn't truly prepared.

John?

- Hello, Maggie.

- You need a bath.

- That's a fine how do you
do after all these years.

- Years?

Going on 14 years.

- Yeah, 'bout that.

I'm sorry.
- For what?

For leavin' me?

- I heard your husband died.

- You leave him outta this.

He was a good man.

- I just meant--

- Why am I even talkin'
to you about this?

You waltz in here
after all this time

just to let me know you're
sorry that my husband died?

- This isn't goin' as planned.

- What'd you expect?
- I don't know.

Maybe I should go.

- Is that all you
know how to do?

- I'm here, ain't I?

Look I'm sorry for
leavin' you, Maggie.

You reach a point in
life and ya look back

what you did and didn't do.

And my biggest regret
is not marryin' you.

There's not a day goes
by I don't think of you.

- I see you still have
the ring I bought you.

- My prized possession.

- I knew you'd never be a
shopkeeper or a businessman.

I knew that.

- A lawman's wife
ain't much of a life.

- It shoulda been
my decision, John.

- I know that now.

I also know I'm doin'
a bad job at this.

I rehearsed this so many times.

- You're doin' just fine.

- It's good to see you, Maggie.

- It's good to see you.

Love is a funny thing.

When you have it, there is
no beginning and no end.

It just is.

- Now you wait
for me here, okay?

♪ Q, R, S ♪

♪ T, U, V ♪

♪ W, X, Y and Z ♪

♪ Now I know my ABCs ♪

♪ A, B, C, D ♪

♪ E, F, G ♪

♪ H, I, J, K ♪

♪ L, M, N, O, P ♪

- I never
knew her name,

but she was the first
girl I ever loved.

I remember her
face 'til this day.

- Hey, you sit!

- Come in, Hiram.

What are we gonna call him?

He looks like a Silas

or a Simon.

What do you think, Hiram?

- We already have a Simon.

- That's right.

Silas it is.

Silas, I am Mrs. Braxton.

This is Mr. Hiram.

There you go,
let's get this off.

Oh, look at this hair.

- He had this knife on him.

- He did, did he?

My little Indian warrior.

D'you bring the scissors?

- Ma'am, I forgot them.

- Well?

Stand still, Silas.

Let the burdens be upon
the Lord.

♪ Jesus loves you yes indeed ♪

♪ For the Bible tells you so ♪

♪ Jesus loves you yes indeed ♪

♪ For the Bible tells you so ♪

♪ Jesus loves you yes indeed ♪

♪ For the Bible tells you so ♪

♪ Jesus loves you yes indeed ♪

You wanna sing,
you wanna try it?

♪ Jesus loves you yes indeed ♪

♪ For the Bible tells you so ♪

- Sometimes I ask the Lord

where all the goodness
is in this world.

That's what I always
admired in you, John Towne;

your goodness.

You have a kind heart.

One day I think people
will look back in shame

at how we treated the Indians.

Now you go get that boy
and you take him home.

You just make sure
you come back to me.

- I will.

- I'll be waitin'.

- I felt whole again.

I wondered why I had wasted
a lifetime without her.

That was behind me now.

I would spend the rest of
my days with Maggie Butler.

- As I
watched him ride off,

this time I knew he
would come back for me.

- He ain't dead.

- You just said he was dead.

- No, O'Toole is dead.

Talkin' about the marshall.

- What marshall?

- The marshall we hung.

He's in town right now walkin'
around with some Indian kid.

- You look so smart.

Come in.

All we have left
is to cut the hair.

When you're done, bring
him to the classroom.

- Yes, ma'am.

Don't you resist me, little boy.

You will do as I say.

I am Hiram and I run this place.

Lay down.

He stabbed me.

Come back here,
you lil' heathen!

- I don't
know how it happened,

but there he was on his
big horse and I ran to him.

Then I saw her running
like me to freedom

from the Indian boarding school.

She smiled as she ran.

Then I heard the
shot and she fell.

- How could you shoot a
little girl in the back?

I knew they would come for
us, so we rode hard all night.

In the mornin', we were
in the high country.

I could feel
somethin' around us,

but I couldn't see anything.

We found an old cabin and
we went inside to rest.

These Apaches were with
Chacon and they led 'em to us.

- I knew he wanted
me to stay in the cabin.

But when he fell asleep,
I slipped outside.

I just wanted to be a kid again.

Then it happened, I
was in the big arms

of the man that
murdered my father.

- I don't
know what woke me.

But when I awoke, I
had a sense of dread

and the little boy was
nowhere to be seen.

An arrow in the shoulder
is all I remember,

then the world went
dark very quickly.

- I remember thinking
that this truly was the end

as we rode into the forest.

That night, they were drinking

and more Apaches seeped
in from the darkness.

The man that murdered my
father was givin' them rifles.

They yell and scream and fought.

I couldn't stop looking at
my grandfather's necklace

around that big man's neck.

Then some of the Apaches
left with the rifles.

After the rest fell
asleep, he took me.

I thought to kill
me, but instead

we went into a dark mineshaft
where he hid his treasure.

- It was
dark when I woke.

I snapped the arrow and
pulled it outta my body.

Then I ran all night
followin' their tracks.

In the mornin', I found
'em camped in a meadow

with their horses nearby
huddled up together in a bunch.

It was an easy thing
to get them goin'.

- Where the horses run?

- You just won't die, will you?

You throw that
pistol over the edge

or I'll snap this boy's neck.

- I was too
weak from the arrow

to put up much of a fight.

- Marshall, think you can fly?

- Before
we left his place,

I showed him the mineshaft.

- Let's see what's in here.

Oh wow.

I had never been a rich
man until that moment.

- Is that them?
- Yeah.

Do what you want with the
boy, but the marshall's mine.

All mine.

- I'm gonna take that
little Indian boy's scalp

and feed it to my pups.

- I had my
pick as they rode in.

I shot Roy first.

I figured he would
be my biggest threat

since the sheriff
would be reckless

'cause he wanted revenge
for me shootin' his woman.

I shot Roy in the gut for how
he was rough with the boy.

- Oh god, my shoulder!

Ow, my shoulder!

God.

- Don't shoot no more.

Please don't shoot.
- Ow, my shoulder.

Help!

My shoulder.
- Don't shoot!

- My shoulder!
- Get up.

Where ya hit?
- My shoulder.

Help, my shoulder.

I'm shot.

Ow, my shoulder.
- Don't shoot, please.

- Come out here to
kill a boy, did you?

What's wrong with you?!

How 'bout I just blow you
to kingdom come right now?

Now you with your left hand,
you take that gun outta there

and you throw it over there.

You look at me now!
- My shoulder.

- You see me?

You throw it.

Now you, stand up son!

- Yes, sir.
- Be a man.

Now you stay here,
you understand me?

You don't move.

Say yes, sir!
- Yes, sir.

- You bastard.

- Look at me, sheriff.

Is he kin to you?

You tell me why I shouldn't
kill you right now.

Tell me why.

Speak up, son!

- We're young.
- Yeah, you're young.

- I tell you what,
get on 'em horses.

If I see you back
here, I will kill you.

You bring your uncle,
I'll kill your uncle.

You understand me?
- Yes, sir.

- Now git!

You better get, boy!

I gave the boy some gold,
and jewels and some green backs.

I figured it would set him
up right in the future.

It was the least I could do.

- It felt good to
be in my land, Navajo land.

- This Navajo land,
was beautiful country.

Some of the most beautiful
country I've ever seen.

We have been through
a lot together.

I was gonna miss this boy.

He was like a son to me now.

- It was hard
sayin' goodbye to this man.

I would always remember him
surrounded by the wind and sand.

Like in my grandfather's story,

this time it was a good wind.

I often wonder if my grandfather
had sent this man to me.

I guess I will never know,
but I'm glad I knew him.

- It gave me great
joy to see him home.

- I was home
in the arms of my mother.

I never saw him again.