Film influences: “The Wild Bunch”
The Prodigy director William Kaufman lists The Wild Bunch as one of the films which had an influence on him. In many ways, The Wild Bunch has a lot in common with Kaufman’s film, even though the first is a Western set in 1913 and the second is a crime thriller set amid scenes of urban sprawl. First, both films contain a shocking degree of violenceso much so that a Reader’s Digest reporter asked why it was ever made (according to Roger Ebert, who was an instant fan). Secondly, both center on men who are not heroes, or even good men, but still gain a certain amount of the viewer’s sympathies.The Wild Bunch was released in 1969 and directed by the famed Sam Peckinpah. The foundation for the film’s plot rests on the final robbery by a gang of outlawsthey are seeking to steal a cache of silver from a railroad office. However, the film is just as much about the changing setting of the American West in 1913 as it is about a robbery. Automobiles are replacing horses, and cowboys are going out of style.The violence of the film was included by Peckinpah for two very significant reasons. First, he rightfully felt that the sanitized Westerns regularly shown in films and on television were not indicative of true history. He also saw the violence he put onscreen as a symbol of America’s involvement in Vietnam at the time. The shocking violence of the film becomes even more of a talking point when placed against the theme of betrayal that winds through the film. As one character says, “When you side with a man, you stay with him. Otherwise you are just some animal.”In a third similarity between the two films, Kaufman’s The Prodigy also deals with the difference between humans and animals, and what people do to survive in the modern world. However, the most important point of similarity may be this: despite the heavy themes on the screen, both movies capture your attention and don’t let it go until the final credits roll. That’s especially impressive for The Wild Bunch, which has been released in a number of versions, the longest of which is 2 hours and 25 minutes long. In fact, when it was originally released, the movie included an intermission before the train robbery scene.The Wild Bunch is not Peckinpah’s only controversial film. Others that are recognized as classics but still debated include Straw Dogs (1971), Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973), and Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974).