Plot: What’s it about?
Sam Peckinpah had a long career in television before he broke through in 1969 with his rough western masterpiece, The Wild Bunch. From there he directed Straw Dogs, which has as many detractors as fans (I personally am a fan.) With the success of those films he directed Steve McQueen in two films, The Getaway and Junior Bonner. The success of those two films allowed him to pursue a couple films that would not be nearly as successful, Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid and Bring Me The Head of Alfredo Garcia. Although not received well upon release, Bring Me The Head of Alfredo Garcia has developed a cult following and some consider it to be his masterpiece.
The film begins with a wealthy gangster in South America finding that his daughter has become pregnant outside of wedlock. He demands the name of the man who has impregnated her. When she reveals that it was a man by the name of Alfredo Garcia, he puts a million dollar bounty on his head. For proof, he demands that the head be brought to him. Two of the assassins that work for him, white men in suits named Sappensly and Quill, head out to try to locate the man. In their search they enlist a lounge-singer/pianist named Bennie (Warren Oates.) Bennie knows the ins and outs and they offer him $10,000 to bring them the head of Alfredo. Bennie also has a personal connection to Alfredo, his girlfriend Elisa (Isela Vega) had been sleeping with him just a week before. Bennie sees a future where his whole life could change and he could be together with Elita. After questioning Elita, he finds out that Alfedo had actually perished a few days before in an accident. They head out together, him carrying a bottle of liquor and her carrying a guitar, to redeem the bounty on Alfredo’s head.
Bring Me The Head of Alfredo Garcia is going to be a divisive film. Tonally it shifts constantly, sometimes feeling like a strange dark comedy and sometimes feeling like a deadly serious revenge drama. This will aggravate some viewers, but I was excited that the film seemed like it could go in any direction it chose. The overall storyline of the film is engaging, but certain aspects of it do not work completely. That said, I still found myself enjoying the movie immensely. More than likely that is because of the central performance by Warren Oates. He is great in the movie and it was great to see him given such a large role after years in smaller parts.
The film has a similar vibe to another film, Under The Volcano which has a few problems in tone that are similar. I personally love that movie also. It is quite possible that I just really love films where character actors drink large amounts of alcohol in Spanish speaking countries while facing abject danger. This film also has the benefit of some of the strangest sequences of actions that one could get away with in a film, including a man carrying around a dis-embowled head for half of the screen time.
Taken all together, I can not quite explain why I live this movie so much. Probably it is just the combination of Sam Peckinpah and Warren Oates. Regardless, I would recommend checking this out if you like the work of either. It is a truly original film.
Video: How’s it look?
It’s been several years since this film was released on Blu-ray and the now defunct Twilight Time label has given way to a new 4K HEVC encode courtesy of Shout! Factory. The older Blu-ray looked…good at best. But this new transfer has made some major improvements in the video department, notably giving us a new 4K image that’s sleeker, eliminates grain and dirt and some of those troublesome “white blips” that so plagued the earlier version. Granted, this isn’t a film that’ll ever look pristine, not in any format and even if it did – I don’t think it’d fit in context with the film. It simply has to have some “grit” to it. It just “fits.” An improvement, to be sure, but far from perfect and that’s fine by me.
Audio: How’s it sound?
The audio treatment of Bring Me The He’d of Alfredo Garcia was incredibly competent. Being a DTS-HD Master Audio Mono track, it can be expected that range is severely limited, but Twilight Time delivers on the most important aspect: clarity. Dialogue is extremely clear. That said there is the occasional instance of hiss, and sometimes the audio can seem like it has slightly warped, but the majority of the audio sounds great. I was happy in this department with minor caveats.
Supplements: What are the extras?
We lose some supplements found on the Twilight Time Blu-ray, so if you’re a die-hard fan of the film, it’s best you keep that but add this as well.
- A Killer’s Rhapsody: Revisiting Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia – We find a brand new supplement with film historian and writer Julie Kirgo. It’s a look back at the film with some rather insightful anecdotes that’s sure to please. Of note, we had the opportunity to interview Julie Kirgo a few years ago – check that out here.
- Audio Commentary – Gordon Dawson and Nick Redman.- Dawson co-wrote the film and was close friends with Peckinpah. This is the track to listen to first. Great stuff.
- Audio Commentary – Paul Seydor, Garner Simmons, David Weddle and Nick Redman. – another solid track with some of Peckinpah’s biographers.
- U.S. TV Spots
- Image Gallery
- Theatrical Trailer
The Bottom Line
Bring Me The Head of Alfredo Garcia is a film that will not make everybody happy. It was divisive when it came out, but has gained a following over the years. It’s finally gotten a proper 4K release and though it still has a few issues, it’s a vast improvement over the previous versions. We even get a new supplement to boot.
