Review of The Wild Bunch (1969) by Bryan C — 15 Apr 2011

"We're not gonna get rid of anybody! We're gonna stick together, just like it used to be! When you side with a man, you stay with him! And if you can't do that, you're like some animal, you're finished! *We're* finished! All of us!" - Pike Bishop.

A late hoorah from a dying genre, or at least one trying to find its place in a new world. The American Western had seen its peak in the 1940s and 50s and lost its will to continue until the Italians re-invigorated the genre in the 1960s. However by the dawn of the 1970s, the vast landscapes and soaring vistas were giving way to a less conventional arthouse cinema of stripped down emotions and everyday people. This too would not last as the mid to late 70s saw the summer blockbuster format start to dominate the screen. But in 1969 Sam Peckinpah's 'The Wild Bunch' opened to a stunned audience who were very divisive in their reactions. Having much the same effect as Tarantino's films about 25 years later, it was read as social comment by some and a glorification of violence, mayhem and lawlessness to others. The film was certainly more violent than much that had come before, albeit less overtly than the bloodbaths that would come later. The Bunch's violence lay in the pacing of the shots and the attitudes of the characters. Ironically, the shortened version of the film which first appeared in theatres in 1969 cut out much of the thoughtfulness of the film and made the violence more difficult for some to bear. The look of the film is superb. It's a dirty world these men inhabit. Browns and reds. Dust and Blood. If I have one complaint about the movie, and I do, it is the editing of the action scenes. While the slow motion is at times effective, it quickly tires and the fast jump cuts are ugly and uninventive. When characters throughout the film, especially Pike and Thornton, lament the changing of the guard and see the future filled with miscreants and dictators, they are pondering the motivations of their replacements. The future seems to be filled with people who are going through the motions but lack the talent and dedication to do it right. One has to wonder if Peckinpah was commenting on the state of Hollywood and the Studio systems of the time. The cast was filled with the likes of Holden, Borgnine and other capable veterens. Robert Ryan however was the standout performance here, as a man who can't find a place for himself in this new world, and is maybe more disenchanted than any other character in the film. The Wild Bunch is a classic and I highly recommend it.