Movies: Well-crafted western
Smart cowboy movie explores pride, revenge and racism
Ryan Hladun Volunteer Staff
If Clint Eastwood were to bring back The Man With No Name today, his ambiguous gaze would perhaps have a different meaning. In a year when the phrase “modern western” became synonymous with the “gay cowboy movie,” Clint’s trademark cigar might very well serve a whole other purpose. While Brokeback Mountain isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, another “modern western” might be. With The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, director and star Tommy Lee Jones returns the western to themes that the genre was built on: pride and revenge.
Burials has all the traits of a classic western but, like Brokeback, has developed the genre to match today’s culture and is much smarter than the traditional gun-slinging John Wayne film. And interestingly, the film deals with topics that have been splashed all over the media lately, namely illegal immigration and racism. Jones plays Pete Perkins, a rough-edged ranch worker in a small town near the Mexican border. When his best friend, and landed immigrant, Melquiades, is killed by ignorant, hot-headed border patrol officer Mike Norton (Barry Pepper), Pete sets off on a journey of revenge, and to fulfill a promise: bury Melquiades in his hometown — dragging his killer behind.
The fantastic script by talented 21 Grams scribe Guillermo Arriaga emphasizes the alienation of people in the small border town, and the dependence the isolated Pete had on his friendship with Melquiades (hmm, maybe not so different than Brokeback . . . ). They shared stories, women and booze. Typical of an Arriaga-penned film, the story jumps between different points of view in different moments in time. Like in 21 Grams and his 2000 gem Amores Perros, this narrative style is extremely effective at giving some insight into the characters and their situations, none of which are one-dimensional.
One scene has Pete and Melquiades taking a couple of women into a motel room. Interestingly, one of them is Norton’s wife, which doesn’t necessarily play into Norton’s motive for killing Melquiades, but does show the town’s inhabitants are lonely enough that they are all involved with each other. To a similar effect, another scene has the town sheriff, played superbly by Dwight Yoakam, hooking up with the local restaurant’s waitress (who was also once involved with Pete). To his frustration, however, he isn’t able to satisfy her. Led by Yoakam and Pepper, the film’s supporting cast of characters is its strongest point. Their behaviours are rarely stylized, and the reasons behind their actions are complex and unclear — in other words, they are human, and need an extra bit of attention.
Even the Mexicans are intricately treated — far different from the old spaghetti westerns where John Wayne shot up the Indians. One scene has a young Mexican woman, who had beaten by Norton during a border raid, tend to his wound, only to later kick him while he’s down.
With that said, Tommy Lee Jones is the film’s star. Directed like a veteran (even though it was his first theatrically directed picture), Jones captures the rough landscape of the deep South, and it reflects strongly in the characters. It seems his skin loses moisture as the land gets more barren. You may start to lick your lips as the journey goes on. His character (and performance) easily holds your attention even when the action slows down. His intentions with Norton are never revealed, and it becomes a captivating guessing game as to what he’ll do with him next.
