I Walk the Line

John Frankenheimer's 1970 film is about a sheriff in rural Tennessee. Henry Tawes is charged with policing other people's behaviour and takes it seriously; his marriage is long over and his life is monotonous. Meeting Alma, the daughter of a family running illegal stills, undoes him completely; knowing her age and her situation he continues the relationship, begins protecting her family and uses his office to cover the crime. The film does not present this as a story of passion; it shows the way he deceives himself, and the fact that those around him can see it, from a cold distance. The landscape and the silence set the tone, the songs are by Johnny Cash and the film takes its title from one of them. Gregory Peck inverts his familiar image as a moral hero. Who it's for: viewers who like American drama of the seventies. Who it's not for: anyone expecting the protagonist to be vindicated; the film does not allow it.