Year: 1969
Director: Sam Pekinpah
Country: US
Language: English
American Director Sam Pekinpah Peckinpah once said, “The whole underside of our society has always been violence and still is. Churches, laws—everybody seems to think that man is a noble savage. But he’s only an animal, a meat-eating, talking animal. Recognize it. He also has grace, and love, and beauty. But don’t say to me we’re not violent. Because we are. It’s one of the greatest brainwashes of all times to say we’re not." With that philosophy in mind, he set to dispel the myths of the American West.
In this, an aging group of outlaws look for one last big score as the "traditional" American West is disappearing around them.
The Wild Bunch confronts its audience, knowing they've been fed lies about the frontier, and gives us an honest representation of a brutal time. Pekinpah's characters are defined by their sadness and regret, lacking any sense of decency or real code of honour. Its a far cry from the John Wayne films of the 1940's. Brutally violent, any sense of romanticism of the past is dropped and instead stark unforgiving reality fills the screen.
A controversial film for the time, another notable theme in The Wild Bunch is the spiritual bankruptcy that shrouds each and every character. Their pointless, fruitless existence only leads to a finale that leads any surviving character completely empty. To see beyond the violence is the great challenge of The Wild Bunch, but once you do you'll find great introspection is to be had. Pekinpah not only asks you to be critical of the American West, but to be critical of what you are taught about humanity in general.
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