Reviews

Many of us believe that time heals everything. Memories fade. Oblivion arrives as a cushion to rest your weary soul. All is not lost even if or when love goes to pieces. Life goes on. We will find a new love, a better love. After war there must be peace. After badness there are goodness, forgiveness, humility and emotion. Mistakes are made and can be corrected. Pain is relieved. Wounds are healed. Bad luck is nothing of import. There will be good luck soon. Hostility turns into friendship. There are always hope, laughter, fun and happiness, even if or when times are horrible beyond the pale. We have a shoulder to cry on. A hand is given to us when we die. Not so in this film. Human machinations add up with the impulse of time to destroy the flicks of paradise sparkling and shimmering in human souls for futile moments. Lies prevail. Wounds fester physically and psychologically. The truths of death and perdition hang over lost souls of lovers, played excellently and unforgettably. A cathartic movie. A must to see!

As a teacher of English in Germany you always look for worthy material on the Latino immigration influx . This film is a valuable opener for such a series of lessons. It reveals the impact of the problem. It makes use of outstanding performances: Nicholson and Keitel are as cool as ever. Pellerine is the American woman. Her friends are that, too. The mafia ring consisting of policemen and coyotes is shown realistically. Violence is explicit but not overdone. Landscape and Latino immigrants are depicted in all their shades and lights. The strong American individual wins in the end - again. The good side beats the bad side. The Ry Cooder soundtrack is more than worth listening to. It is authentically reconstructed as always. Teachers: Pick up that video or DVD and use the movie for your lessons on the US Latino problem!

A Kammer film, a somewhat small but brilliantly produced flick about a professor of politics having arranged himself with his own mediocrity, two low-income-family students who get killed for a lost and wrong cause, a female star journalist whose love of truth does not keep her from being forced to lie to keep her wealthy status, a disenchanted youngster who cannot come to grips with the necessity of political awareness, a dumbfounded and shallow Neocon prankster who has made lies and propaganda his business. All this cooks well in a modest but stunning cinematographic comment on the obnoxious times of present US politics and policy. Watch it asap!

I have seen this movie in 1978 for the first time and it has moved and inspired me a lot. Its plain and simple authenticity, its well-structured plot, its reliance on Joseph's best oratory and the excellent performances of the players who mostly do without histrionics have struck me at first sight and still do so. I will show this movie again tonight to a course of my college students who study Native American history and Indian oratory and customs to deepen their cross-cultural understanding and I am sure that they will be amazed again as quite a lot of other courses before. I can truly recommend this movie to anyone who really cares about historical truth and high-quality cinematography. Dieter Seidensticker, Bielefeld, Germany