The Wild Bunch (1969)

Note Générale:

8,2/10   

Réalisateur:

Sam Peckinpah

Scénaristes:

Walon Green (story) and
Roy N. Sickner (story) ...

Date de sortie:

7 août 1969 (Hong Kong)

Genre:

Action | Western

Accroche:

The land had changed. They hadn't. The earth had cooled. They couldn't.

Intrigue:

An aging group of outlaws look for one last big score as the "traditional" American West is disappearing around them.

Plot Keywords:

Mexico | Outlaw | Gun | Mexican | Frontier

Récompenses:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 5 wins & 2 nominations

Avis des utilisateurs:

The Wild Cinema of Peckinpah

Ensemble

William Holden	...	Pike Bishop
Ernest Borgnine	...	Dutch Engstrom
Robert Ryan	...	Deke Thornton
Edmond O'Brien	...	Freddie Sykes
Warren Oates	...	Lyle Gorch
Jaime Sánchez	...	Angel (as Jaime Sanchez)
Ben Johnson	...	Tector Gorch
Emilio Fernández	...	Gen. Mapache (as Emilio Fernandez)
Strother Martin	...	Coffer
L.Q. Jones	...	T.C
Albert Dekker	...	Pat Harrigan
Bo Hopkins	...	Clarence 'Crazy' Lee
Dub Taylor	...	Rev. Wainscoat
Paul Harper	...	Ross
Jorge Russek	...	Maj. Zamorra

Durée:

134 min | USA:145 min (1995 re-release)

Pays:

USA

Langue:

Allemand | Anglais | Espagnol

Couleur:

Couleur (Technicolor)

Rapport de forme:

2,20 : 1

Son:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | DTS (1995 re-release) | Dolby Digital (1995 re-release) | Mono (35 mm prints) | SDDS (1995 re-release)

Classification:

Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) (re-rating) (1995) | Canada:AA (Ontario) (re-rating) (1995) | Canada:R (Manitoba) | Canada:R (Nova Scotia/Ontario) (original rating) | UK:18 (re-rating) (1988) (also director's cut) | UK:X (original rating) (cut) | France:-18 (original rating) | Brazil:14 | Finland:K-16 (1998) (uncut) (director's cut) | Finland:K-16 (1988) (cut) | Finland:K-18 (1969) (uncut) | South Korea:18 | Iceland:16 | Malaysia:U (director's cut) | USA:R (re-rating on appeal) | Germany:16 (DVD rating) | Canada:18A (British Columbia) (1999) | Portugal:M/12 | Spain:13 | Australia:MA (director's cut) | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | France:-12 (director's cut) | Netherlands:12 | New Zealand:R16 (director's cut) | Norway:16 (cut) | Norway:18 | Singapore:NC-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:R (original rating) | West Germany:16 (w) | Ireland:18

Lieux de tournage:

Durango, Mexico

Société:

Warner Brothers/Seven Arts

Anecdotes:

The shootout/massacre in the end took 12 days to film. When completed, about 10,000 squibs (simulated bullet hits) had been used.

Goofs:

Divers: During the walk to get Angel, Ben Johnson gets too close to Warren Oates, and Oates slightly pushes Johnson out of the way.

Guillemet:

Lyle Gorch: All your fancy plannin' and talkin' damn near got us shot to pieces over a few lousy bags of washers. Well, this was goin' to be me and Tector's last job before we quit and headed south. We spent all our time and money a-gettin' ready for this!
Pike Bishop: You spent all your time and money runnin' whores in Hondo while I spent my stake settin' it up.
[throws down washer]
Pike Bishop: Hell, I should have been runnin' whores instead of stealin' Army horses.
Lyle Gorch: While you was doin' all that plannin', me and Tector was gettin' our bell rope pulled by two... two, mind you, Hondo whores!
[...]

Connexions:

Parodié dans 3000 Miles to Graceland (2001)

The Wild Cinema of Peckinpah

Peckinpah has a rep and this is the film which provided most of it. I had the privilege of actually seeing this on the big screen once, in the late seventies. As the beginning credits end, Pike (Holden) tells his bunch "If they move, Kill 'em!" Then Peckinpah's credit appears. A woman seated behind me gasped, whispering "oh, no..." Oh, my. It sounded like the lady didn't know she'd wandered into a Peckinpah film and she knew what she was in for. When you enter Peckinpah-land, you need to be prepared. There are no punches pulled, no sidestepping the unpleasant aspects of life. Peckinpah's characters are tough men; I mean, really tough, not phony-Hollywood tough. In this case, they are coarsened by what seems to be years on the trail, blasted by the sun, snapped at by rattlesnakes, and harassed by bandits. And at this point, they've pretty much had it.

Not that they're complaining, mind you. They've lived their lives how they saw fit, this bunch, and they make no apologies for any of it. I believe the actual year is around 1913, just before World War I begins. Most of the action takes place in Mexico, where the Bunch becomes involved with a local general (Fernandez) with the usual delusions of grandeur. If you go by the name of the character Angel, the general can be viewed as a version of the devil. That would make the Bunch avenging angels at the end. But heroes? No, not at all. They have their own code, they know instinctively they're stronger together than on each own, but they reason this concept out also - Peckinpah wants to make sure it's clear these are not unthinking savages. They're just men, who've reached a point in history where they must make a crucial turn. History, it seems, has no real use for them anymore. It's quite simple - they either fade slowly or go out quickly. In a film such as this, with its now insurmountable rep, you tend to wait for those big set pieces, especially the climactic battle. Wait for it, wait for it... here it is. Bam! - you're in Peckinpah territory. You're a part of history.