Brad Pitt plays the fabled U.S. outlaw Jesse James in a new film, presented yesterday at 64.Venice Film Festival, based on the days leading to his death at the hands of young protege Robert Ford.

“The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford” has a long title and, at 155 minutes, is a long movie which is in the main competition at the Venice film festival and has its world premiere on Sunday.

The Hollywood star portrays James — a bandit and heroic Robin Hood figure to many during his life and long after his demise — as a man tired of life on the run, who foresees his end is nigh and appears to hasten his death as a way of escape.

“I saw it … as a guy who sensed impending doom, the inevitable end, who had been trapped in a facade and living an alias for so long and didn’t know a way around it,” Pitt told a news conference after a press screening.

“I find that more interesting, because it’s more human to me than this black and white characterization.”