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Obediah
Mohicanland Statesman
USA
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
August 16 2006
Status: offline
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 Posted - October 06 2006 : 5:58:12 PM
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I just watched this movie today. I figured since Tommy Lee Jones directed as well as starred in it, it would be a great flick. Now I'm not so sure; it definitely is not a movie (for me) to watch a second time. For those of you who don't know about it, here's a short synopsis of the plot:
Pete (TLJ) is a rancher in modern day W Texas & Melquiades is a Mexican cowboy (illegal) who works for him & is also his best friend, who is shot to death while working one day. Pete discovers who the killer is, forces him to dig up the body, & they then go into Mexico to Melquiades' hometown to bury him there...
The acting is outstanding (Tommy Lee Jones, Barry Pepper, Dwight Yoakum, Levon Helm, Melissa Leo, January Jones, sorry no Eric Schweig), the scenery is awesome, BUT...it is also very brutal, extremely sad (on several levels), and very very WIERD. The portrait of life in a poor W Texas town are so real that it becomes difficult to even watch after a while. (Think poverty & dispair.)
Has anyone else here seen it? If so, what are your thoughts?
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caitlin
Bumppos Tavern Patron
USA
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
May 17 2002
Status: offline
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 Posted - October 07 2006 : 1:32:24 PM
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I haven't seen that one, but another Dwight Yoakam film is "South Of Heaven West Of Hell". Very weird and violent. Since I do Old West reenactment, I would have to say it's pretty authentic looking, though Dwight insisted on wearing his stupid modern hat throughout the movie. I mean, it stuck out like a sore thumb. It also stars: Peter Fonda, Bridget Fonda, Vince Vaugh, Paul Ruebens (Pee-Wee) and Billy Bob Thorton.
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Jack McCall: "Should we shake hands or something, relieve the atmosphere. I mean how stupid do you think I am?"
Wild Bill Hickok: "I don't know, I just met you."
"A nation with no regard to it's past will have little future worth remembering."
A.Lincoln
"Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize that they were the big things"
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Obediah
Mohicanland Statesman
USA
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
August 16 2006
Status: offline
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Posted - October 07 2006 : 7:22:22 PM
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DY wears a different modern 'cowboy' hat here. Unfortunately, he sometimes removes it, and you see...a really awful toupe!  |
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blueotter
Colonial Settler
USA
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
September 10 2004
Status: offline
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Posted - October 10 2006 : 11:32:20 PM
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I saw this movie via Netflix, and I thought it was wonderful! Of course, there was a lot of violence, and it was strange, strange, strange... but it was very beautiful, too, in the sense that Tommy Lee Jones' character has a great deal of respect for Melquiades... and by making sure his body is buried at his "home" -- no matter that the home is in ruins and his family has forgotten him -- it is his way of honoring a man who was hard working, kind and decent.
Since my mother died 3 years ago at the age of 93, I've been pondering quite a bit on the value of individual lives -- my mother was a teacher, and thankfully, she was able to help a lot of kids who had learning disabilities. She was able to get to know her little great-granddaughter and spend time with her loved ones before her death. Her life was not meaningless. It scared me, however, to think that we spend so much time regretting our pasts, or worrying about our futures, and don't actually Live Right Now. I'm very guilty of this, and I have promised myself to live in the Present as much as I can! I may not be famous or important, but I want to make my life count as much as I can.
To me, the movie declares, "This one person, Melquiades, was only a poor man away from home, but his life counted as much as any other person's life." Pete (TLJ) is the one who is making a commitment to this belief. He seems to be the only one who cares about Melquiades. Thank God he cares!
If it had been a pretty-pretty film, with Melquiades' family welcoming his body home, weeping over his grave, etc., I don't think it would have had much of an impact. There are too many "happy ending" stories that aren't true-to-life. The violence that TLJ's character portrayed as an Avenging Angel, was not only for the sake of Melquiades' life, but for his own - Who would be there to mourn him, and see to it that his body was laid to rest at home? It's just the raw fear in all of us that we won't leave this Earth without a trace! |
Rose Dupre
AKA/Órelindë Tinehtelë
AKA/Polly Gamwich
Gordon's 60th Royal Americans
Detroit French Marines |
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blueotter
Colonial Settler
USA
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
September 10 2004
Status: offline
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Posted - October 10 2006 : 11:54:50 PM
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While I'm on the subject, here are some photos pertinent to the movie:
Image Insert:
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Julio Cedillo, who playes Melquiades Estrada
(I think he's at least in the same league as Eric Schweig. Anyone else?)
Image Insert:
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Scene from movie where Melquiades is telling Pete about his children back in Mexico. |
Rose Dupre
AKA/Órelindë Tinehtelë
AKA/Polly Gamwich
Gordon's 60th Royal Americans
Detroit French Marines |
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Obediah
Mohicanland Statesman
USA
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
August 16 2006
Status: offline
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Posted - October 11 2006 : 11:02:05 AM
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The more I think about this movie, the better it gets. Actually, the original screenplay was completely written in Spanish, and TLJ translated it!
blueotter, you hit the nail on the head with your words about making our lives count for something. We do affect those around us and quite often we don't even realize it.  We will live in others' hearts and minds long after we've passed on.
Getting back to the movie, it leaves more questions than it answers; who really was Melquiades Estrada? No-one knew him the the town of El Toston; the woman and children in the photo weren't his wife or kids; there was no such place as Jimenez, and the ruins where they buried him were only that, ruins (for a least a century, by the looks of it); what happened to Pete & where did he go afterwards?; did Norton make it back to Texas? (oops, I almost slipped up & said 'civilization' there) The list goes on and on... |
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blueotter
Colonial Settler
USA
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
September 10 2004
Status: offline
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Posted - October 12 2006 : 5:21:18 PM
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The woman WAS his wife... but because it had been so long since he had seen his family, she had pretended Melquiades was dead and had remarried. She denied knowing him because it would have messed things up.
I didn't think the ruins were that old -- they had been very poor, and he was in Texas to make some money for his family, but was never quite able to. The house was just abandoned for all those years.
The movie moved all over the place, time-wise. Because I didn't like to think of that Mexican guy being killed, it took me a few minutes to realize that he was the one who was shot. That time-thing was confusing, but in the end it made the movie all the more interesting. It ended where it ended because the point of the whole story was reached. The guy who shot Melquiades was duly remorseful. He wasn't going to push TLJ farther. His wife needed to leave him anyway. It is one of those "gem" stories, where it is perfect within its own confines. |
Rose Dupre
AKA/Órelindë Tinehtelë
AKA/Polly Gamwich
Gordon's 60th Royal Americans
Detroit French Marines |
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The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada
