MOVIE OF THE DAY: BRING ME THE HEAD OF ALFREDO GARCIA

Yeah i was gonna watch this soon. I might need to do it sooner.

It's amazing to me Alfredo Garcia continues to be overlooked by film fans. I certainly prefer Wild Bunch and Straw Dogs, but this one certainly sits in the same class.

Such a great film. Middle aged melancholy just drips off the frame (in between the acts of violence).

I don't think it's Peckinpah's best, but it is certainly his most.

Great movie. One that should be talked about more. Same for Oates. I feel like he is sorely forgotten by even a majority of film fans. I expected to hear him brought up in at least one PUBLIC ENEMIES review (his Dillinger in Milius' DILLINGER was much more lived in than Depp's). Glad to see him championed here.

SPOILER ALERT


I think the picnic scene is the heart of this film.

I see BRING ME THE HEAD OF ALFREDO GARCIA as a movie about constructs. More specifically, I see it as a movie about the constructs we use to give shape to our lives, and the ways in which he hold fast to those constructs even in the face of their absurdity. During the picnic, I saw two deeply damaged people trying to love each other; two people aware that a relationship was impossible, yet willing to believe in their hopes (if only for a little while).

Elita knows that Bennie knows that Garcia is her true love, and she knows that Bennie's trying to find Garcia for some malevolent purpose. Further, she knows that Bennie's no good -that no matter how much money he makes, it's all going to pass through his hands anyway. Still, she pressures him to propose to her, and she chooses to believe in her future by accepting his proposal. Later, when they're in Garcia's town, she points out that there's a church there. When Bennie doesn't so much refuse to follow through on his commitment as let it slide by him, Elita still chooses to believe.

Only when the construct is safely unattainable does Benny fully invest himself in it. When he does, he finds that the construct gives him something to live for and, perhaps more importantly, something to die for. We see this first glimmer of this fuller Bennie in the picnic scene, as he takes the first steps from nihilism to belief. Elita knows that belief will probably not end well, but she's willing to believe anyway. This is her wisdom and her strength.

For me the best bit was when Elita is dead, and Bennie reacts in pure jealousy because she gets to die and share a grave with Alfredo. His feelings and hatred towards the head of Alfredo from that point on were just great. You almost think he's gonna make it at the end. Though he should have just taken the money.

And of course, the movie total had me at this

Bumping for awesomeness:

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/200712802003