a5c7b9f00b When rich rancher El Jefe learns that his unmarried daughter is pregnant, he offers $1 million to anyone who brings him the head of the man responsible - Alfredo Garcia. Two of the bounty hunters, Quill and Sappensly, hire various people to go out and find Garcia for which they are offering a few thousand dollars. Piano player Bennie is one of those andhis prostitute girlfriend Elita knows Garcia, they set off to find him. When they learn Garcia is already dead, Bennie digs him up to get the head but only death and misery follows for everyone concerned. An American barroom pianist and his prostitute girlfriend go on a road trip through the Mexican underworld to collect a $1 million bounty on the head of a dead gigolo. It is my humble opinion that Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia comesclose to capturing the maddening drive of manany movie. That is to say that it sits at the same tablethe greats, perhaps across the way from Citizen Kane or Raging Bull. If you contest this it is perhaps only because the film is notbeautiful, notmagnificent,the rest of its ballpark. I would argue that that is partially the point.<br/><br/>Bennie&#39;s quest is stripped to its core so that the brutality of the film is expressive of Bernie himself. There is not a violent film with more validity for its actions than this one, it is the maddening human mind which causes deaths here. Peckinpah shows us everything that is important in this man&#39;s life and then shows us what a man is capable of doing once all that is taken away. The difference between this film and other similar films is perhaps that the movie has such humble beginnings. We build ourselves inside of Bennie. When we first meet him he is casually and happily playing the piano, quietly dreaming of settling into a different kind of love. We share a quiet picnic with him, witness his wedding proposal.<br/><br/>Perhaps also there has never been a chaotic killing spree that has seemed this environmental. While usually the hero goes on a rampage in a way that is appropriately heroic itself, Bennie is no hero. He is a man forced into a situation by the world around him,it seems he is always forced into situations. Since he is never the man he wants to be it seems natural that he would become the kind of man that is the amalgamation of love and hate.<br/><br/>All the emotion a movie in this genre could handle. I&#39;d like to think there&#39;s a lot to this movie that I&#39;m missing, but I suspect this is not the case. I certainly do understand the relevance of this film. It clearly was a major inspiration for Scorcese and Tarantino, with its portrayal of a tragic, but seedy, protagonist trying to deal with his waning goodness in a disgusting world.<br/><br/>It is interesting that the locale only portrays the seedy underbelly of Mexican culture: poor farms, crappy hotels, mafioso ranches, shady bars, etc. The story takes place almost exclusively against these dangerous, sometimes violent, backdrops. The action in this movie is quite harrowing. Peckinpah was well known for his ability to direct action films with pizzaz, and the action is where the film really shines. The last third of the film is quite gripping.<br/><br/>The title refers to a million-dollar death note put on the head of a man named Alfredo Garcia for impregnating the daughter of a Mexican mob boss. The main character, Bennie, gets caught in the middle of the search for Garcia, being acquainted with him indirectly through a romantic interest. His goal is to make money for himself and his sweetheart by bringing Garcia&#39;s head to American hit men out on the job. But Bennie&#39;s romance is complicated and so his is mental state. Things end up kinda crazy.<br/><br/>The American hit men are pretty interesting characters. The sinister integrity of their organization was pretty interesting but not developed particularly deeply. That was a bit disappointing but maybe adds to their mystique…? I must say I was not too impressed or interested with Kris Kristofferson&#39;s (relatively minor) role, especially considering he&#39;s taggeda notable appearance in the film.<br/><br/>My main problem here was the drawn-out pacing of the first half of the film. It is so freakin&#39; slow, and the characters so… pathetic, it starts to make you pretty depressed. Make no mistake – this is a depressing movie. What must have influenced the aforementioned directors so much is the fact that it is not really an action film or a western (despite how it may appear on the surface), but a character study about a really damaged loser who loses/sacrifices whatever goodness or hope he was holding out.<br/><br/>I found it to be on par with Taxi Driver, a flick clearly modeled after this. The acting is good, the characters pathetically disgusting, and the story is tragic in a way that is pitiful and gross. Its influence on modern crime cinema is unmistakable and if you&#39;re a Tarantino or Scorcese buff you should definitely see this. But be forewarned – it is not heroic, glorious, consistently action-packed or lucid. It is about anti-heroes and being broken. It is like &quot;Fear and Loathing&quot;, but for real.
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