It is one of the few traditions I follow, to watch a movie when everyone is gone to bed in New Year’s Eve. The first film of the year. It is a bit of a ritual: sit down for the first hours of the year and immerse myself in a good story, great cinematography or great acting. Only a few movies make it to earn this accolade. They only have to fulfil a couple of requirements: it has to be a visual feast and it has to set me up to a great start of the year. Not too much to ask.

This year’s honour falls on one of those movies that became a classic the moment it came out back in 1985. It is up there with The Searchers, The Wild Bunch, Bend of the River or My Darling Clementine. Pale Rider is the canonical version of the no-name hero that performs the miracle all oppressed people pray for. I love how Eastwood always manages to layer his films with meaning. I don’t know how much of it was intended but the film stays current by portraying strong female characters or denouncing the damage of industrial exploitation does to nature, to name two of its subplots. Some other of his films show a more controversial view on other social or political issues and it shows (in a very bad way) when you watch them again. Pale Rider stays non-preachy by sticking to the main plot and its subsequent actions. There are so many memorable moments, you easily find yourself reciting the lines as if you were in some sort of liturgy.

So here it is: Pale Raider. Welcome 2024!