GUNHAND
America, 1873.
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​Deputy Marshal Daniel Goodnight carries a secret as he searches for a killer. When the young Marshal is
wounded in a gunfight he falls into the care of homesteader Joseph Hand and his wife Kate. Marshal Daniel's
assailants work for a Mining Company which suspects Hand's land of containing precious copper ore.
A violent confrontation seems inevitable as the gang of hired guns arrive to claim it. The pacifist Joseph Hand must shelter the wounded Marshal and decide whether to abandon his ranch or fight to keep it. However, Joseph Hand also carries a secret; one that could help save the Marshal - or lead him into even greater peril.
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HISTORICAL RESEARCH
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"...GUNHAND will look and feel as if a Victorian BBC costume drama was dropped in the rugged red sand of an alien planet...that's what it must have been like for those early settlers. Living at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution their sense of fashion, language, literature and their social customs were of the Victorians. It's the clash between that Victorian "civilisation" and the isolated pristine beauty of a rugged and downright deadly environment that makes for such interesting storytelling. Such extreme conditions bring out the best and the worst in humans, to me that's the essence of a "Western" and the reason they should continue to be made..."
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"...The "Real" Old West was fascinatingly different from the way Hollywood has been presenting it for over a 100 years. Many "Cowboys" were Afro Americans and Hispanics and most people wore their city hats out west instead of "10 gallon" hats which became popular in the late 19th Century when the Old West was already slipping into myth. The people populating the American west from the 1850's onwards were above all "Victorians", moving from urban areas in the Eastern states and emigrating from all over Europe to live in extremely harsh conditions. Many would die from famine or some disease and infection before ever having seen a real live Native American Indian..."
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GUN VIOLENCE
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"...GUNHAND is a revenge tale at it's core but it also explores the roots of American gun culture from a historical angle. It's interesting to note that in a study of U.S. court records and newspapers before 1860 very few firearms were used in incidents of violence. So prior to the Civil war, violence was carried out with knives, clubs or old fashioned "fista-cuffs". After 1865 records and newspapers show a dramatic increase the use of firearms when committing violent acts.
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...The Civil War was a catalyst for westward expansion and many disillusioned Civil war veterans (from both sides) made the journey west. These were young men trained in the use of firearms, having been subjected to horrific battle experiences and many were undoubtedly suffering from PTSD.
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While Gunhand is fiction and meant to be viewed as entertainment we hope this film will have some viewers thinking and talking about gun control, but from a perspective of understanding the origins and complexities when it comes to America and it's guns.
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Rey Agaoglu
Writer/Director
Gunhand
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