Blackthorn
Blackthorn
One of my favorite films is Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The film to me is nearly flawless, with Paul Newman and Robert Redford perfect in the first real buddy picture, a film that starts out light and funny and gradually grows darker as reality catches up with these two characters, based on the real life outlaws of the early 20th century. At the end of the film (Spoiler Alert-skip the rest of the paragraph if you haven’t seen it) the two, who have been hiding in South America for eight years, are surrounded by Bolivian Army and charge them, (the screen freezes mid charge but the shots are heard implicating they were shot down. This was a dramatization of the true event, which was a shootout in 1908 in a house but included no charge.
Blackthorn assumes that Butch somehow survived that shootout due to a case of mistaken identity, and in 1927 is in his sixties living under the name “James Blackthorn” raising horses in another part of Bolivia. Sam Shepard plays Cassidy as a weathered man who, although well settled due in part to his affable nature, wants to get back home to meet Etta Place’s son (Etta had been Sundance’s girlfriend who had gone back to the U.S in 1906). He withdraws his money from a bank for the trip, which leads to a good line given his history as a thief, and then loses his savings when he is ambushed by a Spaniard, named Eduardo Apodaca (played by Eduardo Noriega). Blackthorn manages to overcome him and the Spaniard leads him to a mine where there is a lot of money buried. Following this, complications, both personal, and professional ensue.
I loved both the idea behind this film and the execution. It is not supposed to be a sequel to Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, though the film does rely a bit on audience familiarity with that film, but a follow-up to the real life story. Butch and Sundance are both seen in flashbacks in earlier years played by different actors. These flashbacks show when they decide to leave the U.S. and also some of their efforts to evade the Pinkertons. I also really enjoyed the cinematography, making beautiful use of the Bolivian locations, which are largely unfamiliar to American audiences. We get to see the Uyuni Salt Flat, Andes Mountains and Potosi,
Shepard, in a performance that is all his own, not drawing on Paul Newman's expertly convey’s Butch’s charm, sharpness in a gunfight, and his loneliness (especially for a buddy). I liked that he had learned to speak Spanish but with a very American accent. When his friendship eventually develops with the Spaniard it seems to fulfill him. I particularly liked the sequence in which they are riding and he plays a cuatro and sings an old song called Sam Hall.
Toward the end of the second act there is an extended chase across the salt flat which reminded me of a similar sequence in Seraphin Falls. At one point the two men are nearly surrounded and Butch’s experience running away from posses come in very handy.
The gunfights, while well directed, are also violent and watching them I was more worried for Butch’s safety than enjoying the action. When people get shot there is a lot of blood and at one point when Butch is wounded it is clear how painful the wound is for a man his age. This film is rated R for a good reason.
Spoilers abound for the next four paragraphs:
There was one area of the film that did not work well for me. It is established there is an Irish Pinkerton detective named McKinley (played by Stephen Rea) who nearly captured Butch and Sundance over twenty years earlier. After Butch comes out of the Uynuni flats he is weakened and while recovering at a doctor’s office it is revealed that McKinley remained in Bolivia after the shootout helping ex patriots and he finds Butch in the doctor’s office but after alerting the Bolivian army as to his whereabouts, then decides to let him go. I did not believe that he would have done so even if he recognizes the futility of spending so much of his life chasing after one outlaw. The film does try to explain this to some degree since he is no longer a Pinkerton and has become a drunk without any love for the chase anymore. The scene where Butch wakes up and sees McKinley there is pretty funny as Butch’s first reaction is to ask he is still doing in Bolivia, implying that he has wasted his life. But I think it would have worked better had Butch found a way to escape.
The film also adds a complication with Etta Place. She had been Sundance’s girlfriend but in the flashbacks when she leaves Bolivia, she is carrying Butch’s son. Out of respect for Sundance, the older Butch addresses him in letters as his uncle. Etta has just died of tubercolosis and Butch’s entire drive in the film is to get the money to return to the U.S. to meet his son. When he loses his money early the money from the mine gives him the opportunity to get back home. While he is in a casual relationship with a woman who works for him it is clear that while there is affection between them, neither are in love with the other. Butch’s true love appears to be Etta.
Butch ultimately finds out the Spaniard tricked him into robbing the mine from poor people who had been awarded the mine instead of from the original owner who was a rich man who exploited the poor. The Spaniard’s initial appearance, as a thief trying to steal Butch’s horse, is much more indicative of his true character. Butch has a touching flashback that reveals the he put a wounded Sundance out of his misery after the shootout in 1908. Then the scene immediately cuts to him confronting the Spaniard, the man he thought could be another special friend but in turn was a lower crook than any he ever dealt with, especially since he appeared to be more of a gentleman. The cut is effective as it underscores all the pain Butch has had to face since coming to Bolivia.
At the end of the film Butch is on the run from the army, armed but without money (having returned it to the miners) and he heads into the Andes Mountains. It is unclear if he is ultimately captured, shot, or if he actually escapes and if he does escape, if he is able to get home. The viewer is left to decide, although the feeling I had is that if anyone can make it, Butch could. I thought it was a perfect ending and it ties in with suspected rumors that Butch did really make it out of Bolivia and came back to the U.S. as an older man.
In summation this film is both a neat adventure and a look at the life of an older Butch Cassidy as he faces the consequences of some of the choices he made as a younger man. Crime does not pay but it does make for some good stories. ****
One of my favorite films is Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The film to me is nearly flawless, with Paul Newman and Robert Redford perfect in the first real buddy picture, a film that starts out light and funny and gradually grows darker as reality catches up with these two characters, based on the real life outlaws of the early 20th century. At the end of the film (Spoiler Alert-skip the rest of the paragraph if you haven’t seen it) the two, who have been hiding in South America for eight years, are surrounded by Bolivian Army and charge them, (the screen freezes mid charge but the shots are heard implicating they were shot down. This was a dramatization of the true event, which was a shootout in 1908 in a house but included no charge.
Blackthorn assumes that Butch somehow survived that shootout due to a case of mistaken identity, and in 1927 is in his sixties living under the name “James Blackthorn” raising horses in another part of Bolivia. Sam Shepard plays Cassidy as a weathered man who, although well settled due in part to his affable nature, wants to get back home to meet Etta Place’s son (Etta had been Sundance’s girlfriend who had gone back to the U.S in 1906). He withdraws his money from a bank for the trip, which leads to a good line given his history as a thief, and then loses his savings when he is ambushed by a Spaniard, named Eduardo Apodaca (played by Eduardo Noriega). Blackthorn manages to overcome him and the Spaniard leads him to a mine where there is a lot of money buried. Following this, complications, both personal, and professional ensue.
I loved both the idea behind this film and the execution. It is not supposed to be a sequel to Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, though the film does rely a bit on audience familiarity with that film, but a follow-up to the real life story. Butch and Sundance are both seen in flashbacks in earlier years played by different actors. These flashbacks show when they decide to leave the U.S. and also some of their efforts to evade the Pinkertons. I also really enjoyed the cinematography, making beautiful use of the Bolivian locations, which are largely unfamiliar to American audiences. We get to see the Uyuni Salt Flat, Andes Mountains and Potosi,
Shepard, in a performance that is all his own, not drawing on Paul Newman's expertly convey’s Butch’s charm, sharpness in a gunfight, and his loneliness (especially for a buddy). I liked that he had learned to speak Spanish but with a very American accent. When his friendship eventually develops with the Spaniard it seems to fulfill him. I particularly liked the sequence in which they are riding and he plays a cuatro and sings an old song called Sam Hall.
Toward the end of the second act there is an extended chase across the salt flat which reminded me of a similar sequence in Seraphin Falls. At one point the two men are nearly surrounded and Butch’s experience running away from posses come in very handy.
The gunfights, while well directed, are also violent and watching them I was more worried for Butch’s safety than enjoying the action. When people get shot there is a lot of blood and at one point when Butch is wounded it is clear how painful the wound is for a man his age. This film is rated R for a good reason.
Spoilers abound for the next four paragraphs:
There was one area of the film that did not work well for me. It is established there is an Irish Pinkerton detective named McKinley (played by Stephen Rea) who nearly captured Butch and Sundance over twenty years earlier. After Butch comes out of the Uynuni flats he is weakened and while recovering at a doctor’s office it is revealed that McKinley remained in Bolivia after the shootout helping ex patriots and he finds Butch in the doctor’s office but after alerting the Bolivian army as to his whereabouts, then decides to let him go. I did not believe that he would have done so even if he recognizes the futility of spending so much of his life chasing after one outlaw. The film does try to explain this to some degree since he is no longer a Pinkerton and has become a drunk without any love for the chase anymore. The scene where Butch wakes up and sees McKinley there is pretty funny as Butch’s first reaction is to ask he is still doing in Bolivia, implying that he has wasted his life. But I think it would have worked better had Butch found a way to escape.
The film also adds a complication with Etta Place. She had been Sundance’s girlfriend but in the flashbacks when she leaves Bolivia, she is carrying Butch’s son. Out of respect for Sundance, the older Butch addresses him in letters as his uncle. Etta has just died of tubercolosis and Butch’s entire drive in the film is to get the money to return to the U.S. to meet his son. When he loses his money early the money from the mine gives him the opportunity to get back home. While he is in a casual relationship with a woman who works for him it is clear that while there is affection between them, neither are in love with the other. Butch’s true love appears to be Etta.
Butch ultimately finds out the Spaniard tricked him into robbing the mine from poor people who had been awarded the mine instead of from the original owner who was a rich man who exploited the poor. The Spaniard’s initial appearance, as a thief trying to steal Butch’s horse, is much more indicative of his true character. Butch has a touching flashback that reveals the he put a wounded Sundance out of his misery after the shootout in 1908. Then the scene immediately cuts to him confronting the Spaniard, the man he thought could be another special friend but in turn was a lower crook than any he ever dealt with, especially since he appeared to be more of a gentleman. The cut is effective as it underscores all the pain Butch has had to face since coming to Bolivia.
At the end of the film Butch is on the run from the army, armed but without money (having returned it to the miners) and he heads into the Andes Mountains. It is unclear if he is ultimately captured, shot, or if he actually escapes and if he does escape, if he is able to get home. The viewer is left to decide, although the feeling I had is that if anyone can make it, Butch could. I thought it was a perfect ending and it ties in with suspected rumors that Butch did really make it out of Bolivia and came back to the U.S. as an older man.
In summation this film is both a neat adventure and a look at the life of an older Butch Cassidy as he faces the consequences of some of the choices he made as a younger man. Crime does not pay but it does make for some good stories. ****
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