Well that cinema treasure conquistador Aguirre is at it again, this time tracking down MEN WITH GUNS. Sounds like he loved it something fierce. I'm dying to see this film, the project is... well read on. And beware there are spoilers ahead...
Hey, it's Aguirre, had the pleasure of seeing the new John Sayles movie Men With Guns the other day. What a great film. Every geek out there who is filled with admiration when they hear of filmmakers who do the story they want, say what they have to say and pull absolutely no punches in doing it should see this film. Men With Guns is hard to watch at times and at times very taxing. A film about this subject matter, though, should be exactly that.
Men With Guns takes place in an unnamed Latin American country (although the events of the story are very reminicient of Guatemala's situation). Federico Luppi (who was great in Cronos and absolutely brilliant here) plays a wealthy doctor named, I think, Humberto Fuentes. He has trained a group of students to live the with the Indians and be their doctors. The film revolves around his vacation to visit them and the horrific situations he discovers, most of which involve people the natives call the "men with guns."
Sayles last movie Lonestar was a really, really cool movie. Men With Guns might even be better. It's definitley a more important film. The filmmaking itself really shows Sayles at the best he's ever been. There's no bullshit here whatsoever. Aside from some two scenes that are a bit long, the film moves along at the perfect pace. There's always something interesting going on, there's always something important being said. I was sick as hell before going into the theater and had to go to the bathroom like you wouldn't believe for the last hour and a half of the film but I could not make myself get up.
These characters are so damn real it's frightening. I will not give away any more of the story, but at first the actions of some of the characters won't make much sense. Basically because, as a whole, we're accustomed to seeing certain actions result in certain emotions in movies. "I killed a man, I know I was wrong, now I'll be sad or reflective." Well, people aren't always like that, and Sayles captures the complexities of what it must be like to be in this doctor's situtaion amazingly. There is a whole cast of other characters who go through the same journey, both literally through the mountains and on a more personal level, and their development through the film...man, it just makes me jealous as hell of Sayles because the man is a great writer.
It's gonna turn off a lot of people because most of the dialouge is in Mexican (with subtitles, of course). DON'T LET THAT SCARE YOU OFF!!! Sayles is smart enough to keep the sentences short and simple and doesn't ever come close to bogging down the viewer with too much to read at once. In fact, the simplicity of the written words on the screen plays into one of the film's themes- the whole idea of ignorance versus innocence and how morally responsible one is when they've been under the influence of propaganda and lies their entire life. Luppi's character becomes like a child, completely at a loss when he sees the reality that has been hidden from him and the rest of society, one that conflicts direcly with the lies he's always beleived.
Again, all the actors are very, very good. Luppi reminds me of a Mexican Kirk Douglas- maybe just how he looks- but he's a great actor to boot. The actors portraying the little kid and the soldier who on the run are also very good. Most of the cast is fairly unknown in America, save for Mandy Patinkin in a very funny role as an American tourist and his wife, Kathryn Grody.
The music is very good. I don't know what to call it, I'm stupid, I don't know the name of the genre or whatever. You know, the stuff with the hoots of "Eye eye eyeeeee" and the merengie (ha, spelling) beat. Pretty cool, but in some parts I thought it didn't fit too well.
If you've never heard about the situation in some Latin America countries, of death squads and extreme terror that engulfs the many of the natives lives, then you need to see this film. Although the characters in the film are fictional, the basic story of extreme human rights violations is true to life. Romero was a true story. Men With Guns hit me on the same emotional level as that film.
This is a tough movie, one that demands a lot from the audience and makes absolutely no qualms about its very brutal, very depressing but very important subject matter. Please, don't let the language barrier turn you off. This is a great movie, and possibly Sayles at his best.
