Sam Peckinpah's Bring Me The Head Of Alfredo Garcia is hailed by some as a masterpiece (I've even seen reviews which claim, absurdly, that it is better than his film The Wild Bunch). Others view the film somewhat less favourably, seeing it as a deeply unpleasant sleaze-fest unworthy of the director's ability. I'm a huge fan of Peckinpah's work, but I'm afraid on this occasion I've got to go along with those who label the film a disappointment. The only Peckinpah movie that I like less than this is his final one, The Osterman Weekend. Mainly, I find Bring Me The Head Of Alfredo Garcia too self-consciously grim. Peckinpah wants to give us a dirty, sweaty antihero totally unlike any other hero we've seen before, but he makes Warren Oates' character TOO disagreeable, so that he goes beyond a mere antihero and becomes something truly unappealing, even unappetising. Likewise, the plot deliberately focuses on unpleasant detail, and the locations chosen are presented as seedily and uninvitingly as possible (presumably to add to the film's themes of anti-every thingness). Ultimately, the film chokes itself to death by over-doing the ugliness to such an extent that it becomes a turn-off.
Latin American moneybags El Jefe (Emilio Fernandes) is enraged to learn that his daughter has been impregnated out of wedlock by ex-soldier Alfredo Garcia. El Jefe promises a million bucks to anyone who can kill Garcia for him, on the proviso that they bring Garcia's head to him to prove that the killing has been carried out properly. An alcoholic American pianist, Bennie (Warren Oates), learns of the bounty and is immediately interested in the idea. Bennie knows what everyone else doesn't:- that Garcia is dead and has been buried in a Mexican graveyard. Therefore, he sets off with his girlfriend Elita (Isela Vega) planning to dig up Garcia's corpse, saw off its head, and take the head to El Jefe in order to collect the reward. The plan backfires and Bennie finds himself pitted against a whole bunch of unscrupulous and murderous bounty hunters, all of whom want the blood-stained sack that holds Alfredo Garcia's head so that they can hand it over to El Jefe, thus laying their hands on the million dollar purse.
During the shoot, Peckinpah was allegedly in a perpetual haze of booze and drugs. The effect is certainly pretty disastrous on he film. It's a deeply personal film in which he director seems to be dangerously angry, but at no point does he get enough grip on the material to fashion it into something coherent and meaningful. From time to time, people have also interpreted it as some sort of black comedy, but I couldn't see any truth in that interpretation when I watched it. The pacing is rather slow too, and worse still the editing is awfully sloppy (unheard-of in most Peckinpah movies, as they usually make innovative use of editing techniques). On the whole, Bring Me The Head Of Alfredo Garcia is a very dismaying failure; particularly disappointing when one considers Peckinpah's talent and reflects on how scandalously it has been wasted here.
Latin American moneybags El Jefe (Emilio Fernandes) is enraged to learn that his daughter has been impregnated out of wedlock by ex-soldier Alfredo Garcia. El Jefe promises a million bucks to anyone who can kill Garcia for him, on the proviso that they bring Garcia's head to him to prove that the killing has been carried out properly. An alcoholic American pianist, Bennie (Warren Oates), learns of the bounty and is immediately interested in the idea. Bennie knows what everyone else doesn't:- that Garcia is dead and has been buried in a Mexican graveyard. Therefore, he sets off with his girlfriend Elita (Isela Vega) planning to dig up Garcia's corpse, saw off its head, and take the head to El Jefe in order to collect the reward. The plan backfires and Bennie finds himself pitted against a whole bunch of unscrupulous and murderous bounty hunters, all of whom want the blood-stained sack that holds Alfredo Garcia's head so that they can hand it over to El Jefe, thus laying their hands on the million dollar purse.
During the shoot, Peckinpah was allegedly in a perpetual haze of booze and drugs. The effect is certainly pretty disastrous on he film. It's a deeply personal film in which he director seems to be dangerously angry, but at no point does he get enough grip on the material to fashion it into something coherent and meaningful. From time to time, people have also interpreted it as some sort of black comedy, but I couldn't see any truth in that interpretation when I watched it. The pacing is rather slow too, and worse still the editing is awfully sloppy (unheard-of in most Peckinpah movies, as they usually make innovative use of editing techniques). On the whole, Bring Me The Head Of Alfredo Garcia is a very dismaying failure; particularly disappointing when one considers Peckinpah's talent and reflects on how scandalously it has been wasted here.