1974
Directed by Sam Peckinpah
Oh great, Sam Peckinpah again. I wonder how long it will take for the sexual violence against women to hap-oh three minutes? New record.
Obviously, I am not one of his biggest fans. I found this movie even duller than the previous entries on our List. Everybody just goes around shooting each other for two hours. There is not exactly a lot to dig through here.
A character referred to only as "El Jefe" summons his pregnant daughter. He questions her about who the father of her child is. When she refuses to answer, his henchmen rip off her shirt (because of course) and break her arms. She finally reveals that the father is Alfredo Garcia. Her father then puts a bounty on his head. Quite a few people try to find Garcia, including our unlikable hero Bennie and his even more unlikable prostitute girlfriend.
So like I said, this movie is exceptionally violent. This doesn't upset me unless the violence is sexual, which it generally isn't in this film (although there is some attempted rape; hey, it wouldn't be Peckinpah without it). It frankly just bored me. A man pulling out a gun can only be excited so many times before it just gets repetitive. Definitely skippable.
RATING: **---
Interesting Facts:
Sam Peckinpah had the final cut on this film, unlike in his previous movies.
Roger Ebert praised this film, but it was generally panned by critics.
OK, let's start with something nice and safe that we can both happily agree about.
ReplyDeleteYawn, more snarling, grunting, dirty sweaty macho men being sexist and violent. Ho hum... Such movies exist, we can't ignore them .. they have an audience. As do cute pink rom-coms with Jennifer Aniston and a cute puppy that involve 'going shopping'. People flock to see them. And we wonder why we still have a rather sexist world. In fact what is perhaps a greatest wonder is that men and women ever get together. .. Or rather it WOULD be if those two extremes were the only thing out there. Fortunately there is other stuff, as there are other attitudes to gender.
I agree Ray! Of course, the cute pink romcoms you are talking about are generally considered trash while these films are critically acclaimed.
DeleteDepressing as hell. This guy really didn't like anything, women, life, himself...
ReplyDelete