DVD Reviews

Bring Me The Head Of Alfredo Garcia

Is there a better title for a movie than Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia? I don’t think so. With a title like that coming from a director like Sam Peckinpah you know what you’re getting into before the movie even starts. Darkness, bloodshed, insanity, and men trying to uphold some mythical "manly man’s" code! After our title character, Alfredo Garcia, impregnates his daughter, a Mexican rancher offers a one million dollar bounty for his head. This information eventually trickles down to Bennie (Warren Oates), an American piano player in Mexico, who is looking for any chance to make a quick buck. Through blind luck he discovers that Alfredo Garcia is already dead, and along with his prostitute girlfriend Elita (Isela Vega) Bennie plans to visit the grave and collect the head!

Being a Sam Peckinpah film it’s pretty safe to say that this whole journey doesn’t work out quite as planned, as Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia turns into a bizarre nightmarish odyssey. The opening scenes are very slow paced as they spend the majority of time focusing on Bennie’s relationship with Elita. While these scenes are hard to sit through (they talk a whole lot) they are essential in showing Bennie’s more humane side. Without these moments the remarkable last hour would simply be a series of violent encounters. Now, the final acts show a man, destroying himself by sinking further into the depths of his own vicious greed. Peckinpah doesn’t sugarcoat anything in this movie and his most grotesque choice is to have Alfredo’s head take on an actual role in the movie. Succumbing to his own madness, Bennie begins to talk to the head, treating it as his one true confidant. This idea has the potential for unintentional laughs, but Warren Oates manages to pull it off with tragic conviction. And truly, why this film works as well as it does all comes down to Oates, an unconventional, but powerful leading man. He explores some pretty seedy parts of his own subconscious and isn’t afraid to make Bennie a despicable person. He’s a tough guy to spend two hours with, but his performance is courageous and he’s absolutely compelling to watch. Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia is not an easy movie, but for those who are willing, it’s worth sitting around for.

The image on the DVD is definitely grainy, although much of that I’m sure is how Peckinpah intended. The audio track is unspectacular - only mono - but nothing is distracting either. While there are not a lot of special features, what is included is interesting. Aside from the usual theatrical trailer, there are a group of Sam Peckinpah theorists who discuss the movie in an audio commentary. Since it’s a film with several possible meanings, it’s fascinating to hear them discuss many of the scenes.

Review By Rob Harding