Let’s put this upfront: the cinematography by the late Halyna Hutchins is gorgeous. Hutchins died in a horrific accident on the set of the movie Rust, when a prop gun, improperly checked before it was given to star and producer Alec Baldwin, shot a real bullet – prompting the reasonable question of whether the movie itself should ever be finished and see the light of day. Regardless of the moral quandary, the movie is here, primarily showcasing how good Hutchins was at her job. The first few minutes of Rust quickly accumulates half a dozen gorgeous images in establishing shots, and remains great-looking throughout – visually worthy, at least, of moments that imitate famous shots from classics of the genre like The Searchers and the True Grit remake. (If Hutchins worked on about half of the movie, it seems to have been finished following her visual lead.)
It’s not unusual for a contemporary-made western to work primarily in dusty browns, beiges and blacks in depicting the past (in this case, the Wyoming of 1882), but this movie’s dark tones have impressive richness; much of the imagery looks as if it’s been painted in deep-black shadows. It’s not just silhouettes on magic-hour landscapes that show off Hutchins’ obvious talent, either; in an early prison-break scene, a rescuer emerges from darkness, and the camera slowly pans over to the dead body of a lawman, as if in fearful apprehension.
