This would be the restored director's cut, which as far as I know is the only version in circulation any more. I've never seen the original studio release but I'm told amongst other key scenes cut, the positively stunning title sequence was removed.
I'm not a big fan of movies that incorporate meaning into their titles--give me Bergman/Woody Allen white letters on a black background and let's move on--but this may be the finest of its kind. Stealing the opening three minutes of this film from James Coburn is equivalent to snatching Chaplin's cane and asking him to play the Little Tramp.
By revealing the consequences of Pat Garrett's actions from the beginning, Peckinpah and writer Wurlitzer ask the audience to pay attention to the "why" rather than the "how."
Most of the complaints about the film stem from its lackadaisacal pace, but the structure of the film seems clearly reflective of its main character, Garrett. He tries to act quickly and fails. Garrett is a deliberate man, an idle man, more apt to let things come to him than the other way around. What makes him interesting and watchable is that while most characters of this ilk are passive, Pat Garrett has a killer's temper. He's a praying mantis, sitting on a window for hours without moving a muscle and then completely annhilating the first poor insect that violates his personal space.
The mood of the entire film is summed up in a simple scene in which Garrett passes on instructions to a small boy at a barber shop. A classic Hollywood myth, the ability of minor characters to memorize and deliver huge lists of instructions barked to them is debunked here. The kid actually takes the time to repeat the instructions in his head, then aloud, before running off. Garrett sits there watching him, shocked at the state of youth today.
It's a great metaphor for this movie, and all films that use old stories to which everyone knows the end. Yes, this is the story of how Pat Garrett came to shoot William Bonny--but what's the message? Slow things down, take a deep breath, and understand that it is not the director's intention to tell you something you already know. It's the key line of the film: "What you want and what you get, are two different things."
Go To Page: 1 2
