''Men with Guns'' ( es, Hombres armados) is a 1997 American
political
Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that stud ...
drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...
written and directed by
John Sayles
John Thomas Sayles (born September 28, 1950) is an American independent film director, screenwriter, editor, actor, and novelist. He has twice been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, for ''Passion Fish'' (1992) and '' ...
, inspired by the 1992 novel ''The Long Night of White Chickens'' by
Francisco Goldman
Francisco Goldman (born 1954) is an American novelist, journalist, and Allen K. Smith Professor of Literature and Creative Writing, Trinity College. His most recent novel, ''Monkey Boy'' (2021), was a finalist for the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Fi ...
. It stars
Federico Luppi
Federico Luppi (; February 23, 1936 – October 20, 2017) was an Argentine-Spanish film, TV, radio and theatre actor. He won numerous awards throughout his acting career, including a Concha de Plata at the San Sebastian International Film Fest ...
,
Damián Delgado,
Damián Alcázar
Damián Alcázar (born January 8, 1953) is a Mexican actor and politician, who is best known outside of Mexico as Lord Sopespian in '' The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian''. He was a deputy in the Constituent Assembly of Mexico City.
Caree ...
and
Mandy Patinkin
Mandel Bruce Patinkin (; born November 30, 1952) is an American actor and singer, known for his work in musical theatre, television and film. He is a critically acclaimed Broadway performer, having received three Tony Award nominations, winning ...
. The executive producers were
Lou Gonda and
Jody Patton.
Set in an unnamed
Latin America
Latin America or
* french: Amérique Latine, link=no
* ht, Amerik Latin, link=no
* pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...
n country, it is the story of one man's discovery of what actually happened in the political history of his nation as well as his students. It was filmed in
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
and most of the crew were Mexican.
Plot synopsis
Dr. Fuentes is a medical professor/doctor near his retirement and his wife has recently died. He taught a group of seven - he views this as one of his greatest accomplishments - that trains young people to provide health care to impoverished citizens in the outlying hill country, where small agricultural communities struggle to survive.
Fuentes has recently heard rumors that his former students are lost and possibly dead, so he musters up the courage and travels into the outlands to investigate. It is not until he begins his journey that he discovers a world much different than the one he had imagined existing for his students as he finds himself encountering guerrillas and soldiers. As Fuentes digs into the jungle in search of his students, he discovers that men with guns have reached them first, his students being menaced by many ''men with guns'' (Hombres Armados). This indicates military forces who use torture and execution to intimidate people. He discovers that the guerillas from opposition political groups are only marginally less aggressive.
On his journey he accumulates a few travelling companions: Padre Portillo, a fallen priest who has lost his faith; Domingo, a deserter from the Army without a country; Conejo, an orphan who survives by stealing; and Graciela, a woman who has turned mute after she was raped by the military. Fuentes finds that his journey is revealing but also perilous the deeper he ventures. He ends up travelling into the hill country, looking for his last student, who is rumored to be living in an
Edenic village high in the mountains, safe from the violence which has engulfed the countryside. As the doctor and his companions get closer to this half-mythical place, the journey becomes a quest for both safety and an assurance for Fuentes that his life has had some meaning.
Cast
* Don Francisco García as a man walking
*
Federico Luppi
Federico Luppi (; February 23, 1936 – October 20, 2017) was an Argentine-Spanish film, TV, radio and theatre actor. He won numerous awards throughout his acting career, including a Concha de Plata at the San Sebastian International Film Fest ...
as Dr. Fuentes
*
Damián Delgado as Domingo, the soldier
* Dan Rivera Gonzalez as Conejo, the boy
* Tania Cruz as Graciela, the mute girl
*
Damián Alcázar
Damián Alcázar (born January 8, 1953) is a Mexican actor and politician, who is best known outside of Mexico as Lord Sopespian in '' The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian''. He was a deputy in the Constituent Assembly of Mexico City.
Caree ...
as Padre Portillo, the priest
*
Mandy Patinkin
Mandel Bruce Patinkin (; born November 30, 1952) is an American actor and singer, known for his work in musical theatre, television and film. He is a critically acclaimed Broadway performer, having received three Tony Award nominations, winning ...
as Andrew
*
Kathryn Grody
Kathryn Janis Grody is an American actress and writer.
Early life and education
Grody was born in Los Angeles, California. She studied acting at HB Studio in New York City.
Career
Grody wrote, and acted in, the autobiographical play ''Mom's Lif ...
as Harriet
* Roverto Sosa as Bravo
* Carmen Madrid as Angela, Dr. Fuentes's daughter
* Esteban Soberanes as Raúl, Angela's fiancé
*
Alejandro Springall as Carlos, Dr. Fuentes's son
Background
Principal photography was done in thirty-seven shooting days in January and February 1997 and filmed in over forty locations.
John Sayles' films tend to be politically aware and social concerns are a theme running through most of his work. This film's idea came from his friends, one of whom was the novelist
Francisco Goldman
Francisco Goldman (born 1954) is an American novelist, journalist, and Allen K. Smith Professor of Literature and Creative Writing, Trinity College. His most recent novel, ''Monkey Boy'' (2021), was a finalist for the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Fi ...
. He had an uncle who was a doctor in
Guatemala and was involved in an international health program. A few years later he came to find out that most of his students, whom he had sent off to serve as rural doctors, had been murdered by the government that supported the program.
Sayles does not name the country in the film, and the music he uses is quite eclectic and not tied to any specific Latin American country. This is because Sayles did not want people to think that it can "only happen in
El Salvador, that can only happen in Guatemala or Mexico". He felt the film has universal overtones and the events portrayed in the story could have happened anywhere on the planet.
Filming locations
The movie was filmed entirely in
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
, in 40 locations, including:
Mexico City
Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...
;
Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl
Nezahualcóyotl (), or more commonly Neza, is a city and municipal seat of the municipality of Nezahualcóyotl in Mexico. It is located in the state of Mexico, adjacent to the east side of Mexico City. The municipality comprises its own intrast ...
; Pueblo Naranjal, Xonotzintla, Soledad Atzompa, Soledad de Doblado, Zongolica, and Jalapilla, all in
Veracruz
Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...
;
Palenque
Palenque (; Yucatec Maya: ), also anciently known in the Itza Language as Lakamhaʼ ("Big Water or Big Waters"), was a Maya city state in southern Mexico that perished in the 8th century. The Palenque ruins date from ca. 226 BC to ca. 799 AD. ...
and San José Babilonia, both in
Chiapas.
Release
''Men with Guns'' was first presented at the
Telluride Film Festival
The Telluride Film Festival (TFF) is a film festival held annually in Telluride, Colorado during Labor Day weekend (the first Monday in September). The 49th edition took place on September 2 -6, 2022.
History
First held on 30 August 1974, t ...
,
Colorado
Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...
, on August 30, 1997. A few days later its international debut was at the
1997 Toronto International Film Festival on September 5, 1997, which caused a small amount of confusion as
Kari Skogland
Kari Skogland is a Canadian filmmaker. In 2016, she co-founded independent production company Mad Rabbit. Her most recent project is the '' Falcon and the Winter Soldier'' television series for Marvel Studios.
Career
Skogland started as an edito ...
's film ''
Men with Guns'' also debuted four days later at the same festival.
It opened in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
on March 27, 1998.
The film was featured at various international film festivals, including: the
Deauville Film Festival
The Deauville American Film Festival (french: Festival du cinéma américain de Deauville, link=no) is a yearly film festival devoted to American cinema, which has taken place since 1975 in Deauville, France.
It was established by Lionel Cho ...
,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
; the
Donostia-San Sebastián International Film Festival,
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
; the
Edinburgh International Film Festival
The Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) is a film festival that runs for two weeks in June each year. Established in 1947, it is the world's oldest continually running film festival. EIFF presents both UK and international films (all ti ...
,
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
; the
Helsinki International Film Festival The Helsinki International Film Festival – Love & Anarchy ( fi, Rakkautta & Anarkiaa) is a non-competitive film festival held since 1988 in Helsinki, Finland, yearly in September. The festival promotes the artistry of filmmaking, the inventive, vi ...
,
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
; the Reykjavik Film Festival,
Iceland
Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...
; and others.
Reception
Critical response
Roger Ebert, film critic writing for the ''
Chicago Sun-Times
The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago ...
,'' liked the film, and wrote, "''Men With Guns'' is immensely moving and sad, and yet because it dares so much, it is an exhilarating film. It frees itself from specific stories about this villain or that strategy, to stand back and look at the big picture: at societies in collapse because power has been concentrated in the hands of small men made big with guns."
Critic Jack Mathews liked Sayles' straightforward unadorned style, and he wrote, "''Men With Guns'' is a slow-paced trip, with a lot of translated conversation, and Sayles keeps it pure. The actors are said to be speaking in four dialects, and there's nothing about the film, other than the ill-conceived couple (Mandy Patinkin and Kathryn Grody) used as comic relief, to give away its American origin. Sayles has never been a visual stylist, and his latest film is as straightforward and plot-bound as any of the earlier ones."
Andrew Johnston wrote in ''
Time Out New York
''Time Out'' is a global magazine published by Time Out Group. ''Time Out'' started as a London-only publication in 1968 and has expanded its editorial recommendations to 328 cities in 58 countries worldwide.
In 2012, the London edition becam ...
'', "The title of John Sayles's latest film suggests a Tarentinoesque lark, but don't be fooled: There are no wise-cracking hit men to be found here. ''Men with Guns'' is a somber rumination on the nature of violence and the sometimes disastrous effects of good intentions. While not as epic as his last film, the masterful ''Lone Star'', it's still another bold triumph for one of America's most independent-minded filmmakers."
The review aggregator
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
reported that 89% of critics gave the film a positive review, based on twenty-seven reviews.
Awards
Wins
*
Donostia-San Sebastián International Film Festival: FIPRESCI Prize, for expressing with sensitivity and efficiency one of the essential problems of our time; International Catholic Film Association (OCIC) ''Grand Prix'' Award; Solidarity Award; all for John Sayles, 1997.
Nominated
* Donostia-San Sebastián International Film Festival: Golden Seashell, John Sayles, 1997.
*
British Independent Film Awards
The British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) is an organisation that celebrates, supports and promotes British independent cinema and filmmaking talent in United Kingdom. Nominations for the annual awards ceremony are announced in early November, ...
: Best Foreign Independent Film Award, Foreign Language, 1998.
*
British Independent Film Awards
The British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) is an organisation that celebrates, supports and promotes British independent cinema and filmmaking talent in United Kingdom. Nominations for the annual awards ceremony are announced in early November, ...
: Best Foreign Language Film, 1998.
*
Golden Globes
The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of ...
: Best Foreign Language Film, 1999.
* Political Film Society, Peace Award, 1999.
Soundtrack
An original motion picture soundtrack was released by Rykodisc on February 24, 1998. The
CD contains twenty-three tracks (00:43:10), and includes songs heard in the film and the film score written by
Mason Daring.
The music is universally
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
in flavor. The various styles include: ''
cumbia
Cumbia refers to a number of musical rhythms and folk dance traditions of Latin America, generally involving musical and cultural elements from American Indigenous peoples, enslaved Africans during colonial times, and Europeans. Examples include:
...
s,'' the
Colombian dance music; a brass band; an ''orquestra,'' of Mayan culture;
Peru
, image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg
, image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg
, other_symbol = Great Seal of the State
, other_symbol_type = National seal
, national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...
vian
Susana Baca Susana may refer to:
* Sustainable Sanitation Alliance (SuSanA), a network of organizations active in the field of sustainable sanitation
* Susana (given name), a feminine given name (including a list of people with the name)
* ''Susana'' (magazine) ...
singing
a cappella;
El General's funky hip-hop; and Mason Daring's bass marimba and Spanish guitar-driven score.
[Moerer, Keith. ]Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential econo ...
, Editorial Review.
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Men With Guns
1997 films
1997 drama films
1997 independent films
1990s American films
1990s political drama films
1990s Spanish-language films
American independent films
American political drama films
Films about educators
Films about Latin American military dictatorships
Films based on American novels
Films directed by John Sayles
Films scored by Mason Daring
Films set in South America
Films shot in Mexico
Films with screenplays by John Sayles
Indigenous cinema in Latin America
Mayan-language films
Nahuatl-language films
Sony Pictures Classics films
Tzotzil-language films