CINEMATINEE OCTOBER 2008?
A unique blend of movies, past and present, often with an emphasis on life in the west - which could mean the new west, the old west, or anything in between—and “movies that missed us”—films that are notable but never had a lot of publicity- the CineMatinee series is designed to show area residents that film is a form of art as well as entertainment! At least one film a month for this series has a ‘New Mexico Connection’, drawing from the vast pool of movies made in the state or perhaps featuring a star/story from New Mexico talent.?
Unless otherwise noted, screening time is 1.30 PM, and admission is $4 for everyone except film society members who are admitted for $1. The theatre is located one half block of the Mesilla Plaza. For more information, please call 524-8287 or 522-0286.??
Oct 18- The Wild Bunch (1969, 145 minutes, rated R, director’s cut) Please note- The Wild Bunch has strong violence! ?
It's astonishing how harrowing “The Wild Bunch'' is, nearly 40 years after it blasted its way onto the big screen to become maybe the best Western ever made, the one that turned meanness into a haunting pictorial poetry and summed up the corruption of guilt, old age and death in the American fantasy of the Old West. ?
“The Wild Bunch” is generally regarded as director Sam Peckinpah’s greatest achievement, this Western that is more of an anti-Western. Though many other Westerns have sided with "noble" outlaws, this film totally defies any typical definition of the genre, giving us outlaws and lawmen alike who demonstrate only casual awareness of any "Code of the West." ?
Pike Bishop (William Holden) is an outlaw who wants one last score. Dutch Engstrom (Ernest Borgnine) is the loyal second-in-command, with Warren Oates and Ben Johnson as quarrelsome brothers Lyle and Tector Gorch. Edmond O’ Brien as Sykes is the oldest member of the crew, while Angel (Jaime Sanchez) is on his first ride with the Bunch. This is a bunch, not a gang, with only fitful loyalties or purpose. ?
The law is no better. The railroad has pressed into service Deke Thornton (Robert Ryan), a former partner of Pike, who with the Sykes are strangely the only "moral men" on either side. Following Thornton for the bounty--and whatever they can pick off dead bodies--are a bunch (not a posse) of ill-trained "peckerwoods," most notably Strother Martin and L.Q. Jones, who give performances of a lifetime. ?
Not only is the doctrine of loyalty constantly strained in this film, but so is the Western’s usual deference to woman and children: they are not protected and they are portrayed as unworthy of protection. The film opens with children curiously pitting ants against scorpions. The ambush of the opening robbery catches a temperance parade in the cross-fire, leaving several citizens wounded and trampled. When Angel sees the woman he idealized as the mistress of General Mapache (Emilio Fernandez), he shoots her, compromising the lives and livelihood of the Bunch. The Western has generally been interested in preserving and/or restoring order to society–which is generally associated with the domestic world of women and children. However “The Wild Bunch” neither seeks to improve society nor does it yearn for a "better world." Though Pike and the Torch brothers both are looking for a last score that will allow them to retire, they have no idea what kind of retirement that will be. ?
Certainly, the historical context of the Vietnam conflict is an essential subtext of the film. The only fully honorable characters of the film are the Mexican villagers and resistance fighters, and when the Bunch makes their final stand it is prompted by malaise as much as honor. ?
