''Let's Go with Pancho Villa'' (Spanish: ''Vámonos con Pancho Villa'') is a Mexican

motion picture A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmospher ...

directed by

Fernando de Fuentes Fernando de Fuentes Carrau (December 12, 1894 – July 4, 1958) was a Mexican film director, considered a pioneer in the film industry worldwide. He is perhaps best known for directing the films ''El prisionero trece'', ''El compadre Mendoza'', an ...

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – George V of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India, dies at his Sandringham Estate. The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King E ...

, the last of the director's '' Revolution Trilogy'', besides ''

El prisionero trece ''Prisoner 13'' (Spanish: ''El prisionero trece'') is a 1933 Mexican film. It was directed by Fernando de Fuentes Fernando de Fuentes Carrau (December 12, 1894 – July 4, 1958) was a Mexican film director, considered a pioneer in the film indus ...

'' and ''

El compadre Mendoza ''Godfather Mendoza'' (Spanish: ''El compadre Mendoza'') is a 1934 Mexican film. It was directed by Fernando de Fuentes, and is the second of his '' Revolution Trilogy'', preceded by ''El prisionero trece'' and followed by '' Vámonos con Pancho ...

''. An anti-epic based on a

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

, it focuses on the cruelty of the Mexican Revolution and

Pancho Villa Francisco "Pancho" Villa (, Orozco rebelled in March 1912, both for Madero's continuing failure to enact land reform and because he felt insufficiently rewarded for his role in bringing the new president to power. At the request of Madero's c ...

himself, contrary to most of the Mexican movies about this national

hero A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or a main fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or strength. Like other formerly gender-specific terms (like ''actor''), ''hero ...

. The movie is thought to have been the first Mexican super-production and led to the bankruptcy of the film company that made it.

Plot

Villa was portrayed by

Domingo Soler Domingo Soler (born Domingo Díaz Pavia; 17 April 1901 – 13 June 1961) was a Mexican actor and occasional screenwriter of the Golden Age of Mexican cinema. He appeared in over 150 films and wrote the screenplays for 2 films. Soler won an Ariel ...

. Directed by

, the film tells the story of a group of friends who hear about the revolution and Villa and decide to join him, only to suffer the cruel reality of

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

under the command of a Villa who simply does not care about his men. The movie has two endings: the original ending shows the last surviving friend returning to his home, disenchanted with both Villa and the Revolution. The second ending, discovered many years later, returns to the same scene ten years later, when an old and weakened Villa tries to recruit the last survivor again; when the father hesitates as he does not want to leave his wife and daughter behind, Villa kills the wife and daughter. The angry father then tries to kill Villa, before another man shoots the father dead. Villa takes the sole survivor, the son, with him.

Background

A great failure when released, interest in the movie resurged many decades later, and today is considered one of the best movies of

Mexican cinema Mexican cinema dates to the late nineteenth century during the rule of President Porfirio Díaz. Seeing a demonstration of short films in 1896, Díaz immediately saw the importance of documenting his presidency in order to present an ideal ...

both for its approach to the theme and its technical merits. It stands apart among the many movies made about Villa in that it portrays the man and the Revolution in its cruelty; most other films, like those by

Ismael Rodríguez Ismael Rodríguez (October 19, 1917 – August 7, 2004) was a Mexican film director. Rodríguez rose to fame due to the movies he directed starring Pedro Infante, and directed many major stars, including Dolores del Río, María Félix, Tos ...

in the 1960s, take an almost idyllic view of both, following the official (government)

mythos Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrat ...

. The movie music was composed by

Silvestre Revueltas Silvestre Revueltas Sánchez (December 31, 1899 – October 5, 1940) was a Mexican composer of classical music, a violinist and a conducting, conductor. Life Revueltas was born in Santiago Papasquiaro in Durango, and studied at the National Co ...

, who makes a

cameo appearance A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly ei ...

External links

Movie review
. * 1936 films Mexican black-and-white films 1936 drama films Films shot in Mexico 1930s Spanish-language films Films about Pancho Villa Mexican Revolution films Films directed by Fernando de Fuentes Films scored by Silvestre Revueltas Mexican drama films 1930s Mexican films {{1930s-Mexico-film-stub

Plot

Background

See also

External links