Bring Me The Head Of Alfredo Garcia

Sam Peckinpah, USA 1974, 112 minutes

The film begins with El Jepe (Emilio Fernandez), a local wealthy landowner, discovering his daughter is pregnant having being seduced by one Alfredo Garcia. El Jepe then takes out a million dollar contract (yep, he is plenty pissed off) with two homosexual hitmen (Gig Young and Robert Webber) to ... bring back the head of Alfredo Garcia, attached to his body or otherwise.

The two hitmen enlist the help of Bernie (Warren Oates) a sleazy but good bar owner and pianist. Bernie's hooker girlfriend, Elita, (Isela Vega) reveals Garcia died recently and knows where he is buried. They decide on a jaunt to retrieve the head and receive a juicy paycheck.

As they head off across the countryside, Bernie is attacked while Elita raped by a gang of Mexican Hell's Angels led by Pablo (played by "the Cliff Richard of Country Music" himself, Kris Kristofferson). Bernie manages to kill the bikers and retrieve the head, but a crazed Mexican gang kill Elita and steal the head (rather than a wallet or ring I guess).

Bernie has to re-enlist the help of the gay hitmen to help him kill the gang who've stolen the head, before knocking off the hit-men and returning the head (having lost everything) for a pay-off from El Jepe.

The film is seen by many as one of Peckinpah's best movies (after this, in the last decade of his life, Peckinpah went on to make the dire Cross of Iron and even direr Convoy!). It deals with Bernie's self redemption when he (believe it or not) re-discovers meaning in life and regains his self respect while having a conversation with Garcia's de-capitated head (one of the more surreal scenes in the film).

The film is shot in Mexico, Peckinpah's favoured landscape, apparently symbolising both freedom and acceptance of death. Peckinpah said of Bring me the Head.., that it was the only film he ever had complete control over. This shows in the featured quest for redemption of a loser, looking for meaning in a brutal world. Equally, the film features trademark Peckinpah slow motion choreographed violence (which shows up Tarantino for the pissant amateur he actually is).

Although not a Western, this is perhaps the viewers definitive and perhaps only chance to see a Peckinpah movie without the interference of the studios, the way the man wanted his movies to be shown... Compulsive viewing.

Review by Stephen J Brennan
Taken from EUFS Programme 1997-98