1973: Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid

Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (1973, Peckinpah) 8/10

"This country's getting old and I aim to get old with it. Now, the Kid don't want it that way. He might be a better man for it. I ain't judging. But I don't want you explaining nothin' to me. And I don't want you saying nothin' about the Kid and nobody else in my goddamn county."- Pat Garrett (James Coburn)

A leisurely paced final western from legendary director Sam Peckinpah about ideas of individual identity, the maintenance of one's own system of values, the evolution of the West and the process of aging and maturity, Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid is a bleak examination of the bonds of friendship and the ties that break them.Pat Garrett (James Coburn) a former outlaw turned sheriff has been assigned the duty of capturing his friend and ex-collegue Billy the Kid (Kris Kristofferson).

Whilst Garrett may now don fancy attire, live in a white picket fence home and enjoy the respect of the New Mexican business elite; he is in actuality torn and bitter inside. While the Kid is despised for his murderous thievery by the giant corporate cattle ranchers such as Chisum, he is envied by his former mentor Garrett who admires his sense of ideals and hopes to give Billy more time by continually avoiding to capture the man.

Instead Garrett pursues his own psychological journey meeting with former allies under the notion of finding Billy the Kid. Through this one gets the sense of Garrett trying to confront past elements, whilst being unable to relate or tackle the real problems that currently plague him such as his detached relationship with his wife and his inability to come to terms with his newfound respectability and consequential responsibilities.All the while, Billy continues to expand his mass popular support and gain new supporters such as his fidgety knife-wielding sidekick Alias (Bob Dylan). It is this type of power that Garrett envies as he is reduced to displaying his power through force and intimidation. No longer respected by his peers, family or the community, Garrett has become a puppet of the corporate state and has to decide between his loyalty to his friends or his employers.

In many ways this film is like Peckinpah's earlier masterpiece The Wild Bunch in its detailed account of two former allies now foes battling once another. Like The Wild Bunch's Deke Thornton, Garrett is now the employee of the artifice of the state; whilst Billy like William Holden's Pike is an organic rival to the ideas of state. Unlike The Wild Bunch, Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid tackles subjects such as aging more directly as two different values systems come to the forefront: Kid's vision of an open individualistic state versus the ideals of Chisum and the corporate state that attacks those who rebel against it.

Similar elements of companionship and brotherhood are explored, but at a much more visceral and personal level.This is assisted by Coburn's ultimately cool performance as Garrett, in which he is able to convey over time a maturing Garrett through the changes in his personality and his aging complexion. Similarly Kristofferson is able to offer a bubbly playfulness to contrast Garrett's seriousness. Dylan appears miscast and doesn't really add anything to the picture, while the stellar supporting line-up of western veterans such as Jason Robards, Katy Jurado and Slim Pickens rounds out the fine cast.

Peckinpah's lyrical gunplay and editing come to the forefront in the 2005 "Special Edition Cut" made by Peckinpah scholars based upon Peckinpah's writings and the supposed aesthetical intentions of the late director. Certainly, while this isn't a director's cut it does add something new to the process and provides something less extensive than the '88 Preview Version, which may be more in line with Peckinpah's vision. Ultimately, this is a splendidly bleak and grimy Western that tramples on the last remnants of the Western mythology with cold calculated precision and flair. It is at least a minor classic of American cinema and Westerns in general, rather than a fully fledged flawless work.

* Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid is released through Warner Home Video as part of the Sam Peckinpah: The Legendary Westerns Collection

Other Peckinpah Films Reviewed:
Junior Bonner (1972) 6/10

Copyright 2006 8 ½ Cinematheque.