The Gunslinger and the Man in Black, by Diego Betancort  A.K.A A gift for the fans of The Dark Tower series

First of all, let’s get one thing clear: this is not a traditional Dollar Baby, because it is not based upon a short story by Stephen King. So maybe it cannot even be called a Dollar Baby, at least in the way we are used to. But it is a really good thing, believe me. I assure you that it is one of the most beautiful short movies based upon King’s work that I have ever seen.

The Gunslinger and the Man in Black is based upon an entire chapter one of the most beloved works of King: it is based upon the last chapter of “The Gunslinger“, the first book of “The Dark Tower series“. And believe me when I say that this unique short movie from Argentina is way better than the long feature with Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey. But please, don’t get me wrong, I do like the long feature (don’t hate me either, guys), I do enjoy that movie! Cause I think that it has good things, such as the cast. But it is a shame how they used the story and made such a bad adaptation. because it really had such a perfect cast. McConaughey was a perfect Man in black, right? Idris Elba too, they both deserved a better screenplay.

But let’s get back to the short movie, because it also has a great cast. Diego Betancort, the director himself, gave life to Roland Deschain in “The Gunslinger and the Man in Black”. And I think it was his brother who played the Man in Black, because it was played by Adrien Betancort. Although they did not give us brilliant performances, it is pretty clear that they were a good choice for their roles, cause there is chemistry between them, there is an antagonism in every single frame that only two brothers and/or great actors can bring so obviously to the big screen. It is really good to watch this conversation between them, because it holds our attention at every single second of the movie, at every line they speak. And the movie is basically this: two enemies that hate each other just sitting there and talking. But don’t let the simplicity of it fool you guys, there are many hidden things between the lines in this conversation.

This chat between Roland and The Man in Black is the heart of the movie, not only because so many future things in Roland’s cast are mentioned in it, but also because they are talking about the grandeur of the universe and the idea of ​​infinite universes. It is all in the original story too, but in book it was written a way that I confess King almost lost me the first time (I was younger and more stupid back then) and even now, when I got back to read the book again to write this review, if I was not paying close attention and focused, I would just not care if I got the whole idea or not. But now that I am much older and got used to the idea of multiverse and infinite universes (thank you MCU and Dr. Who), that particular part of the book and in the short movie are even more interesting for me in a way it wasn’t when I first read The Dark Tower series. Now, in 2024, reading what King wrote when he was just 19 years old, man, this kind of blows my mind. And as King himself says in the book using Walter’s mouth “this is not the end, but the beginning of the end”. Meaning: there are so many things to understand yet, in the series and in the short movie too.

At this point, once again we need to congratulate Diego Betancort, now for his ability to write an adapter into a screenplay in such a great way this last chapter of such an important book for the fans. You see, it is not 100% faithful and I thank god for it, because there are some things that in a book are genius and perfect, but in a screenplay and later in a movie, well, the same genius thing could become boring on the big screen.

Diego shows us that he knows what he was doing as a writer by synthesizing long and important dialogues in a way that we see them transforming into something simpler and more direct for a different audience. A fair example is the way he synthesizes the whole infinite universe idea. I applaud him, because this is something hard to do , even harder when we are dealing with such an important concept in a conversation between such important characters in King’s work. And I assure you that Diego Betancort nailed it. Argentine movies are known for their perfect screenplays and “The Gunslinger and the Man in Black” is no different. Diego wrote a screenplay that really made me think “man, I wish I was that good”. (Gracias , Diego)

The changes that Diego Betancort made to the story, small and subtle, (but noticeable) are also welcome. For instance, in the book King’s Man in Black takes off the hood right at the beginning of the chat, no suspense. And later we understand that Walter changes the way he looks whenever he wants. In the short movie Diego preferred the suspense, the Man in Black takes off his hood almost at the third part of the movie. And it is a good change, different and it also suits the character without the need to explain more of his background. Another change I noticed at the dialogue (and loved) was the way he used some words and names from Roman Mythology. For instance, he did not say Hell, he said Hades. And he named Janus “The Lady of the Shadows”. That was pretty cool, cause it avoids using only the Christian concepts and makes an even richer dialogue, because Walter says that the “Lady of the Shadows” looks like she has 2 faces, “A real Janus” and the fans from this series knows what that means…

Another great aspect in this movie is the art direction and the CGI. And this is something that we should really applaud Diego Betancort, cause if you think that it is an independent movie, low budget and from 2011, man… They did a really good job! It would be unfair not to point that out. There is a sequence where Roland is sleeping and Marten is explaining the whole infinite universes idea , and the images he shows us are so cool!!!! Besides that, they shooted the entire movie in a studio, but it doesn’t have that fake look, you know? The audience really believes the idea that these two characters are in the middle of the desert. I say this because I have proof: when I screened “The Gunslinger and the Man in Black” here in Brazil last month at the Dollar Baby film fest the audience really loved how beautiful the scenarios are: the sky, the stars and the sunset. And, of course , when we see “The Beast” , it is amazing! The way Diego just shows us the silhouette of “Man Spider Hybrid” walking, man… Diego, thank you so much for this.

The cinematography also works well with the CGI. There is a concept called “Justified cinematography” that explains that the light needs to have a reason in a scene, we cannot just light up where we need/want just to light up without an explanation. The light needs to have a source! It can be moon light, a candle or a campfire, you can choose and apply. A poor cinematography is the one that doesn’t think about that and just lights up the damn thing without explaining where the hell that damm light comes from. In this Argentine film, Diego Betancort chose the campfire for the night scenes and it just gave us such beautiful cinematography with a “Western feeling” that really suits a Dark Tower movie. When they are talking in the real world, we can see that fire burning and reflecting on their faces.

This “Western Feeling” is also in Roland’s costume: the hat and the poncho. By playing Roland Deschain, Diego Betancort really looked like a younger Clint Eastwood in a way most of the fans always imagine how Roland would look like. In the costume for the Man in Black on the other hand, we see a wizard’s costume that also reminds a monk and that is so good, because that is what the Dark Tower series is about, right? Magic and Guns side by side, magical and mundane, believable and impossible at the same page. The Crimson King’s Eye shaped pendant at Walter’s neck was also a nice touch, big like a cross.

Last, but not least, let me talk about the first and the last scene, related to Jake’s death. The movie’s first scene has the famous Jake’s line “Go then, there are other worlds than this!”. And we can see his fall. It is a beautiful scene, really important for the whole series. And the last line in the movie is Roland alone saying “I loved you, Jake”. It is hard to imagine a Constant Reader that does not get touched at this. And for someone who doesn’t know the series, it is also hard to imagine that he would not want to read it after such a good short movie, after all: ” …. it is not the end, but the beginning of the end”.

If one day you guys have the chance to watch this movie, go for it. It really is a gift for the fans of Stephen King’s work.

The short movie’s grade? Well, I could say that it is 5 fingers for the dead guy’s hand at every single universe from the infinite universes, but that would be kind of unfair to all the infinite Dollar Babies at these universes.

So the grade is 7 fingers from the dead guy’s hand. But, wait a minute: two of them do not match with the other five fingers. I think it belongs to some other guy’s hand. Would you guys know from whom these extra fingers belong?

See you guys next time.

Leonardo Granado