blackthorn ( film )
the film does boast a very good performance from sam shepard as an old butch cassidy who now calls himself blackthorn. the cinematography is very good as well, but other than that, blackthorn is painfully average .
in place of a rousing adventure ,
blackthorn
is a haunting ode .
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it was the eighth most popular film of 1970 in france. [ 18 ]
in 2003, the film was selected for the united states national film registry by the library of congress as being
culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant
. the academy film archive preserved butch cassidy and the sundance kid in 1998. [ 22 ]
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“blackthorn” is rated r (under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian). guns and cussin’ .
looking for movie tickets? enter your location to see which movie theaters are playing blackthorn near you .
fantasia film festival reviews: ‘return to nuke ‘em high vol. 1, ’ ‘antisocial’ & ‘discopath’
newman and redford' s chemistry was praised as was the film' s charm and humor .
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the nine - week shoot took place in bolivia from april to june 5, 2010. the film was budgeted at five million euros. it premiered in the us at the tribeca film festival in april 2011 .
the film earned $ 15 million in rentals in north america during its first year of release. [ 16 ]
the film is at its best as blackthorn is forced to rethink things as a result of his uneasy alliance with eduardo, with noriega excellent as a reflection of the bandit' s earlier self. stephen rea turns up as mackinley, a pinkerton man and a javert to blackthorn' s butch, who never believed the last of the wild bunch died. he' s an old drunk, long disgraced, whose path once again crosses blackthorn' s, bringing with it the possibility of redemption .
the tomatometer score — based on the opinions of hundreds of film and television critics — is a trusted measurement of critical recommendation for millions of fans. it represents the percentage of professional critic reviews that are positive for a given film or television show .
fantasia film festival reviews:' return to nuke' em high vol. 1,'' antisocial' &' discopath'
in 2003, the film was selected for the united states national film registry by the library of congress as being
culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant .
the american film institute ranked butch cassidy and the sundance kid as the 49th - greatest american film on its
afi' s 100 years... 100 movies (10th anniversary edition )
list. butch cassidy and the sundance kid were ranked 20th greatest heroes on
afi' s 100 years... 100 heroes and villains
.
that allure of the old west is hard to resist. the film reminds just how arresting an actor shepard can be .
this list collects every film from the starting list that became they shoot pictures don' t they' s 1000 greatest films. this…
it' s a perfect part for shepard, and
blackthorn
provides considerable pleasure just in watching him ride a horse and bark around .
tesis has generated much critical analysis due to its study of the fascination of violence. film critic leora lev discusses angela' s ethical rejection and simultaneous attraction to violent images as this film' s primary conversation. lev states that angela' s psychosexual conflict with both the snuff film and the murderer, bosco, is emblematic of the culture that consumes violent films and reality television series. [ 2 ]
as film made by a film student about film students, much of tesis is metafilmic and comments on the spanish film industry, hollywood influence and the voyeuristic nature of the horror and snuff genres. following the aesthetic of the american horror genre, angela operates as the
final girl ,
or resourceful female protagonist that defies stereotypical feminine traits. [ 2 ] although tesis fits the suspenseful mold of a hollywood horror flick rather than its symbol - rich european counterpart, according to european film critic marguerite la caze, tesis has a thesis :
human beings, no matter how well - meaning, are attracted to violence and death in all its forms .
[ 3 ]
butch cassidy and the sundance kid also won numerous british academy film awards, including best film, best direction, best screenplay, best cinematography, best actor (won by redford though newman was also nominated), and best actress for katharine ross, among others. [ 20 ]
blackthorn
feels less like a proper sequel to
butch cassidy and the sundance kid ,
which it purports to be, than a coattail rider .
sam shepard gives one of his finest performances as the grizzled, reflective outlaw. one of the highlights of this year’s tribeca film festival .
ranks as the 34th top - grossing film of all time and the top 10 for its decade, due in part to subsequent re - releases .
the film inspired the television series alias smith and jones, starring pete duel and ben murphy as outlaws trying to earn an amnesty. [ 23 ]
still, there is that allure of the old west that is hard to resist, and there' s plenty of grist in the story worth milling and mulling. if nothing else, the film reminds just how arresting an actor shepard can be. like blackthorn, he' s only gotten better with age .
the ballad of narayama
is a japanese film of great beauty and elegant artifice, telling a story of startling cruelty. what a space it opens…
though gil is primarily known as a screenwriter, most often in collaboration with spanish director alejandro amenábar (
the sea inside
their best known work here) ,
blackthorn
is a film of few words. silence stretches across the movie like the plains and salt flats blackthorn crosses. he' s left his house and the girl behind, and is on his way to see the now - grown boy who was raised as sundance' s son but may be his own .
the film, blackthorn, is a spanish production with mostly english dialogue, written and directed by screenwriter mateo gil (open your eyes, the sea inside). much of it was shot 15, 000 feet above sea level in bolivia, which provided stunning landscapes. it was, shepard recalls, a unique experience .
the song that blackthorn sings when the two of them finally get horse, is the same song that clint eastwood sings in two mules for sister sara when he is drunk .
the role of sundance was offered to jack lemmon, whose production company, jml, had produced the film cool hand luke (1967) starring newman. lemmon, however, turned down the role; he did not like riding horses, and he felt he had already played too many aspects of the sundance kid' s character before. [ 8 ] other actors considered for the role of sundance were steve mcqueen and warren beatty, who both turned it down, with beatty claiming that the film was too similar to bonnie and clyde. according to goldman, mcqueen and newman both read the scripts at the same time and agreed to do the film. mcqueen eventually backed out of the film due to disagreements with newman. the two actors would eventually team up in the 1974 disaster film the towering inferno .
tesis (thesis) is a 1996 thriller spanish film. it is the feature debut of director alejandro amenábar, and was written by amenabar and mateo gil. the film was made while he was still studying at universidad complutense in madrid [ 1 ] the movie won seven 1996 goya awards (the spanish equivalent of an oscar), including the award for best film, best original screenplay, and best director. it stars spanish actors, ana torrent, fele martínez and eduardo noriega .
blackthorn follows the oft spoken myth that the legendary outlaw butch cassidy didn’t die at the hands of the bolivian army in 1908, but instead made it out alive to live out the remainder of his days in hiding. the film is set in 1927, almost twenty years after his outlaw days alongside the sundance kid (who did meet his maker in south america), and follows the traditional elegiac and somewhat revisionist path in its depiction of a folkhero of the west, his day long passed, now reaching the twilight of his years. but apart from that, blackthorn is a film which seems to be equally as much about how the western genre itself is a relic out of time in…
i am not quite sure why this movie has such a bad viewer rating. i looked at the poor reviews for this film and they are all written by people who lack any kind of film sense, because all they could say about it is that it was
boring
. let me apologize for the film makers for the lack of gratuitous violence, explosions, chase scenes, sex scenes, and all other kinds of plot fillers that in the end really do make an
awesome
movie (that was major sarcasm for those of you who didn' t smell what i was stepping in). this movie is non - fiction so for those complaining about its lack of historical accuracy need to learn to read a little about a film before watching. the plot was great, but like many have said it is a sobering, medium pace film. the acting was great, and so was the scenery. i truly do appreciate a film that makes it difficult for me to predict the plot or outcomes during the film, and this is one of those. it also does a fantastic job of provoking emotional attachment and sympathy / hatred for many of the characters .
“i thought the film might be different from other american westerns, especially as it was spanish and shot in bolivia. and i think it turned out that way. ”
a spiritual successor to butch cassidy and the sundance kid, blackthorn takes a look at where butch cassidy has been after the end of the first. the story follows the same general structure as the original film, and shares some of the musical scenes. this film is much more grim than the original as it lacks paul newman' s charisma and wit. sam shepard does a good job at portraying an old, grizzled version of the character. the dialogue is sometimes stiff, but isn' t enough to ruin the movie .
blackthorn is still another butch cassidy and sundance kid movie. it is very good because of the acting by sam shepard who is always good in all his films. the plot is alright .
time magazine said the film' s two male stars are
afflicted with cinematic schizophrenia. one moment they are sinewy, battered remnants of a discarded tradition. the next they are low comedians whose chaffing relationship—and dialogue—could have been lifted from a batman and robin episode .
[ 12 ] time also criticized the film' s score as absurd and anachronistic .
a classically minimalist western, mateo gil' s
blackthorn
proposes that butch cassidy did not die in bolivia in 1908, but instead spent the next 20 years there turning into sam shepard .
although shepard is perfectly cast as a world - weary outlaw reluctantly drawn into one more adventure, the movie doesn' t quite justify the resuscitation of classic film characters for another outing .
ty burr, boston globe :
playing the aging outlaw butch cassidy, sam shepard is the nominal star of' blackthorn,' and he’s fine - grizzled and laconic in the best western tradition .
blackthorn started out a little slow but paid off in the end. in this film, butch cassidy survived the gun fight where he famously died and is now known as james blackthorn. he is hiding in bolivia as a rancher. it is a good story, though a little slow as it builds but in the end caught me by surprise with how it ended. shepard was a good choice to play the lead role. he added a humble and believable quality to the outlaw. i also really liked the setting. from the scenery to the the bolivian people the location gives a different look to this otherwise traditional western .
in bolivia, butch cassidy (now calling himself james blackthorn) pines for one last sight of home, an adventure that aligns him with a young robber and makes the duo a target for gangs and lawmen alike .
a classic old - fashioned western, every bit as good as' butch cassidy and the sundance kid'. a beautiful and powerful film. sam shepard gives the performance of his career .
living under the alias james blackthorn, while sundance’s fate is detailed in wistful flashbacks, he is roped into one last escapade by young spanish prospector eduardo (eduardo noriega), on the lam after stealing from a magnate .
perhaps it’s the rich variety of his life that allows him to treat today’s film industry with scepticism: “i don’t do much screenwriting anymore, because everyone tries to tell you what to do. on every film, there are producers all over the place, and everyone’s got to have an opinion. i think the screenplay is a beautiful form with great potential, but the environment around it is awful for a writer .
matt singer, urltoken :
the simple but effective' blackthorn' casts playwright and actor sam shepard in the title role, and if ever a man deserved the nickname
butch ,
it' s sam shepard. gruff and silvered but still handsome at age 67, he looks every bit the badass cowboy in the autumn of his years. the film puts most of the dramatic load on shepard' s grizzled shoulders; his understated line readings carry most of the film while beautiful frontier cinematography by juan ruiz anchía does the rest. shepard' s worldweary performance and anchía' s stark camerawork elevate the material beyond your standard revisionist western fare .
dustin j trost, montgomery news :
the driving force behind “blackthorn” is definitely sam shepard. he brings to life the lonesome old man who is tired of living in solitude and is ready to come home... even with its minor flaws and disappointing ending,' blackthorn' delivers a western worthy of the genre. sam shepard delivers an award - worthy performance as the legendary butch cassidy late in life, and definitely lives up to the reputation .
a western in possession of a social conscience, but without lapsing into preaching or patronising, this is an unassuming film in some ways, but ultimately it' s self - assured, elegiac and sometimes strikingly beautiful .
the first - time director is mateo gil, known for the screenplays of
open your eyes ,
the sea inside
and
agora .
ironic, that the film' s weakness is its screenplay .
mark holcomb, village voice :
director mateo gil finds a good balance between understated drama and the grandiose bolivian landscape, but blackthorn’s real draw is shepard. he plays the aging rogue with a wily mix of restlessness and comic irascibility .
tony timpone, fantasia film festival :
shepard, never better, even sings his own raspy songs on the soundtrack... with his contemplative stare and sparse dialog, playwright shepard conveys all these subtle emotions beautifully .
butch cassidy and the sundance kid is a 1969 american western film directed by george roy hill and written by william goldman (who won the academy award for best original screenplay for the film). based loosely on fact, the film tells the story of wild west outlaws robert leroy parker, known as butch cassidy (paul newman), and his partner harry longabaugh, the
sundance kid
( robert redford), who are on the run from a crack us posse after a string of train robberies. the pair and sundance' s lover, etta place (katharine ross), flee to bolivia in search of a more successful criminal career, where they meet their end .
betsy sharkey, los angeles times :
in the opening scenes of' blackthorn,' the old desperado who gives this mostly satisfying western its name is bent over a letter, writing of coming back home to the u. s. though he' s grown gray, he remains split - rail hard, suffers no fools — he' s still plenty fiery too, if the girl in his bed is any indication. naturally, the character is played by sam shepard, who wears the dust, the boots, the bravado and the rest as if they were designed for him alone... the film reminds just how arresting an actor shepard can be. like blackthorn, he' s only gotten better with age .
sam shepard is great as blackthorn, his performance is wistful but there is an ever present glint in his eye harking back to his more playful and lively past. by a series of unfortunate events he teams with a young spanish robber and soon his old…
with: sam shepard (james blackthorn), eduardo noriega (eduardo apocada), stephen rea (mackinley), magaly solier (yana), nicolak coster - waldau (young james), padraic delaney (sundance) and dominique mcelligott (etta) .
bob fischbach, world herald :
one of the chief pleasures of' blackthorn,' a movie that supposes butch cassidy and the sundance kid did not die in bolivia in 1906, is seeing sam shepard on the big screen... shepard is a natural as the hardened loner, maybe slowed with age but able to summon up the smarts and the sudden moves we remember butch had so long ago. in a relatively taciturn role, he does a nice job of conveying blackthorn' s internal makeup .
colin covert, minneapolis star tribune :
butch cassidy rides again in' blackthorn,' but this time he' s grayer, warier, wiser. sam shepard steps into the iconic role, and he fills paul newman' s cowboy boots spectacularly .
what if butch cassidy didn’t die romantically in a hail of bullets in his paul newman prime? “blackthorn, ” an elegiac, old - man’s western, takes as its starting point another, equally romantic myth: that he survived and lived till a ripe old age in bolivia. it’s 1927 when the movie begins, and butch (sam shepard), who calls himself james blackthorn, decides to end his long exile and return home. on the way he becomes entangled with a hunted spaniard (eduardo noriega). adventures ensue .
, a self - consciously stylish western in which two notorious bandits were celebrated as forerunners of the outlaw sensibility of the 1960s. a decade later, richard lester, one of the film - makers credited for shaping the artistic expression of the 60s with
early reviews of the film were mediocre, and new york and national reviews were
mixed to terrible
though better elsewhere, screenwriter william goldman recalled in his book which lie did i tell? : more adventures in the screen trade. [ 11 ]
facebook - gefällt mir! urltoken youtube kanal: urltoken newsletter urltoken weitere infos: urltoken die legende lebt, und will nach hause! nach 20 jahren im bolivianischen exil zieht es butch cassidy alias james blackthorn zurück in die usa. doch ein schuss holt ihn vom pferd, das mitsamt seinen ganzen ersparnissen davon galoppiert. blackthorn ist nichts passiert, aber jetzt ist er pleite und würde den schützen am liebsten ins nirvana schicken. der junge ingenieur eduardo apodaca hat einen vorschlag: wenn blackthorn ihm hilft, die 50. 000 dollar, die er gestohlen hat, aus ihrem versteck zu holen, gehört die hälfte ihm. das ruhig gewordene leben des butch cassidy nimmt plötzlich eine drastische wendung, die die alten zeiten wieder auferstehen lässt, denn kein minenbesitzer lässt sich beklauen ohne den täter zu jagen. gemeinsam reiten die beiden in butch cassidys vielleicht letztes abenteuer .
mateo gil makes a solid english - language debut with this sublimely shot and well acted tale set in the remarkable landscapes of bolivia. sam shepard gives a riveting performance as the weathered, mysterious, and unsentimental blackthorn, gracefully revitalizing the legend of history' s favorite outlaw .
“the wonderful thing about writing for theatre is you can go anywhere you want with the language. there are no limits. with film, they frown on language – it’s always' too many words’. ” movies, he thinks, have suffered because of this tendency: “i recently did a film called safe house [ starring denzel washington ] and i counted the cuts [ between shots ]. i don’t think there’s a shot longer than three seconds. that doesn’t give you a chance to settle into the characters, it’s unbelievable .
marshall fine, hollywood and fine :
for a grittily entertaining and thoughtful example of just how good a western can be, look no further than mateo gil’s accomplished' blackthorn,' an outlaw tale that is at once exciting and elegiac, elegant and earthy. part of that has to do with gil’s vision, fleshed out by the ravishing bolivian locations where he filmed. but a good deal also has to do with the central performance – as good as he’s ever been – by sam shepard, one of our greatest playwrights who started out (and probably still remains) a cowboy at heart... . his cassidy isn’t a brooder, just laconic – but when he delivers an opinion, it comes with a sharp edge. there’s also a sadness and regret that cassidy works to suppress but which shepard allows to peek through nonetheless...' blackthorn' is a rousing and involving film, featuring what could serve as a terrific valedictory performance for sam shepard, if he were ready to quit acting. hopefully, he won’t; as' blackthorn shows', he still has a lot to offer .
the film was shot quickly, in five and a half weeks, preceded by a month of rehearsals, on a very low budget: € 721, 214. [ 7 ] it grossed €2, 646, 145 in spain by march in 1997. [ 8 ]
over time, major american movie reviewers have been widely favorable. rotten tomatoes, a film review aggregator, give 89 %
certified fresh
favorable score based on 46 reviews with an average score of 8. 2 / 10, the site' s critical consensus reads
replacing sundance kid in blackthorn is new sidekick eduardo apodaca (eduardo noriega). eduardo is a spanish engineer who has stolen a huge sum of money from the regional mining magnate and has not only a large bounty on his head, but a posse of extremely irritated tough guys on his tail .
it' s all coming together as planned until an ambush relieves him of his cash, his horse, and saddles him with eduardo (the charismatic eduardo noriega), a younger, slicker version of himself. the film swings between blackthorn' s memories — which sketch in the alternative history with nicolaj coster - waldau as young cassidy, padraic delaney as sundance and dominique mcelligott as etta, the woman they both loved but sundance won — and his current problems, resurrecting all the old tropes of the outlaw' s code or the ways justice can test an older, wiser man .
marc savlov, austin chronicle :
shepard has aged himself into a grizzled and laconic icon, and his cassidy / blackthorn is tough as leather and still handy with a six - shooter, but bone - weary and aching to be done with this decades - long game of hide - and - seek .
you can almost taste the grit, feel the heat as blackthorn and eduardo try to outride and outwit the bolivian posse tracking them. veteran cinematographer j. a. ruiz anchía (
glengarry glen ross
) captures all the harsh beauty that can be found in the vast stretches of desert and endless sky .
the movie has, however, briefly revived the moribund careers of sam shepard and stephen rea, two talented actors who do not receive very many scripts anymore. shepard has popped up in very small roles fairly recently in fair game and brothers while rea was more or less last seen in v for vendetta and a 2009 episode of law and order: special victims unit. it is a shame that not only does the blackthorn script severely let down its predecessor, but when two aging actors finally get the chance to show they still have what it takes to carry a film, they are saddled with this one .
it' s been said that butch cassidy and the sundance kid were killed in a standoff with the bolivian military in 1908. in blackthorn, cassidy (sam shepard) survived and is quietly living out his years under the name james blackthorn in a secluded bolivian village. tired of his long exile from the u. s. and hoping to see his family again before he dies, cassidy sets out on the long journey home. but when an unexpected encounter with an ambitious young criminal (eduardo noriega) derails his plans, he is thrust into one last adventure, the likes of which he hasn’t experienced since his glory days with the sundance kid .
it' s been said that butch cassidy and the sundance kid were killed in a standoff with the bolivian military in 1908. in blackthorn, cassidy (sam shepard) survived and is quietly living out his years under the name james blackthorn in a secluded bolivian village. tired of his long exile from the u. s. and hoping to see his family again before he dies, cassidy sets out on the long journey home. but when an unexpected encounter with an ambitious young criminal (eduardo noriega) derails his plans, he is thrust into one last adventure, the likes of which he hasn' t experienced since his glory days with the sundance kid .
just picked up by magnolia pictures and skedded for release later this year, “blackthorn” may have discovered the genre’s natural demographic. pic should appeal to aficionados of all ages and to older arthouse - goers who will be drawn to the grizzled, pulitzer prize - winning shepard as well as to the ravishing vistas of a cinematically undiscovered country .
“but that’s the style of popular film - making today. it’s cut so hard and so fast that it takes everyone’s breath away. they can’t catch up to it. so consequently you don’t get the language, you don’t understand the movie. and in the end it really doesn’t matter what’s going on. ”
it' s been said (but unsubstantiated) that butch cassidy and the sundance kid were killed in a standoff with the bolivian military in 1908. in
blackthorn ,
cassidy (sam shepard) survived, and is quietly living out his years under the name james blackthorn in a secluded bolivian village. tired of his long exile from the us and hoping to see his family again before he dies, cassidy sets out on the long journey home. but when an unexpected encounter with an ambitious young criminal (eduardo noriega) derails his plans, he is thrust into one last adventure, the likes of which he hasnâ€™t experienced since his glory days with the sundance kid .
once at bosco' s house, he helps angela feel at home. a crash is heard downstairs and bosco and angela discover that chema has followed her to the house. a struggle ensues and bosco beats chema to the ground. chema tells angela to look at bosco' s garage before falling unconscious. once in the garage, angela realizes that it is the same background from the original snuff film of vanessa. bosco appears and subdues angela, tying her up and explaining how he intends to torture and kill her. however, angela unties herself when bosco isn' t looking, steals his gun and shoots him. angela visits a recovering chema in the hospital and asks him out for coffee. as chema and angela leave, the news reporter announces that they will be showing footage from vanessa' s snuff film on air. the film ends as news reports covering the events play on television screens throughout madrid. patients in the hospital watch their televisions interestedly .
hill' s film ended with the death of butch and sundance at the hands of the bolivian police in 1908 after they' d been robbing banks in latin america for the previous decade. the event was recorded with a shot of the pair defiantly brandishing guns, now as celebrated as the freeze - frame of jean - pierre léaud on the beach that concludes truffaut' s les quatre cents coups. such a finale should preclude a sequel. but long before the 1969 picture it was believed that butch and sundance might have survived the shootout in san vicente and secretly returned to the states, just as some believe that fletcher christian, the leader of the mutiny on the bounty, returned to england from pitcairn island. there is little hard evidence for this, but then there is no specific proof of their deaths, and in blackthorn, mateo gil, the spanish film - maker best known for his screenplays for alejandro amenábar, offers a fascinating imaginary sequel to the story of butch and sundance .
it' s been said (but unsubstantiated) that butch cassidy and the sundance kid were killed in a standoff with the bolivian military in 1908. in blackthorn, cassidy (shepard) survived, and is quietly living out his years under the name james blackthorn in a secluded bolivian village. tired of his long exile from the us and hoping to see his family again before he dies, cassidy sets out on the long journey home. but when an unexpected encounter with an ambitious young criminal (eduardo noriega) derails his plans, he is thrust into one last adventure, the likes of which he hasn' t experienced since his glory days with the sundance kid. - - (c) official site
a classically minimalist western, mateo gil’s “blackthorn” proposes that butch cassidy did not die in bolivia in 1908, but instead spent the next 20 years there turning into sam shepard. the pic’s mythic dimension derives not from any quaintly quirky mannerisms or speech patterns, but rather from the bred - in - the - bone way the human figure inhabits the [ … ]
the film for the most part serves to increase the legend of butch cassidy. it is a film contains all the inherent staples of the western genre, and as such it has to be considered at least a minor success. of course, as in any western, the atmosphere has to at least be passable, and in this respect the south american landscape is more than capable. the story itself finds butch crossing paths with robber eduardo. it is through this relationship of with eduardo that butch' s nostalgic musings on the past can be found. it is also through eduardo that we see that while the times may have changed, the character of butch has stayed the same .
blackthorn is a thoroughly decent western that takes up where butch cassidy and the sundance kid left off. there' s no newman or redford, of course. instead, actor / playwright sam shepard is a grizzled, bewhiskered butch, who somehow escaped the bolivian shoot - out in which he was reportedly killed. twenty years later, he goes by the name of james blackthorn and is living quietly on a remote bolivian ranch. but he has to take up his guns again when he crosses paths with a sundance - style kid (eduardo noriega) with stolen money in his saddlebags, and half of bolivia hard on his heels to get hold of it. stephen rea plays a hangdog ex - pinkerton detective, and nicolaj coster - waldau, from tv' s game of thrones, portrays the young butch in brief flashbacks that link past with present. the film plods at times but, by and large, it' s a gripping watch. with westerns rarer than hen' s teeth, and decent westerns even rarer, this is certainly one that genre fans should seek out .
the engineer, however, is a devious charmer, treacherous and deceitful in ways that blackthorn cannot understand. and along the way there are violent encounters, deprivations and puzzling moral decisions that contrast with the playful flashbacks to the time blackthorn / cassidy was travelling with the sundance kid and their shared lover, the beautiful etta place (dominique mcelligott). it' s in the first of these flashbacks that we encounter mackinley (stephen rea), a pinkerton detective and stern upholder of the law who has come out of drunken local retirement to join in the pursuit of the newly notorious butch. the outlaw and the lawman realise there' s an ambiguous bond between them in this radically changed world. butch gradually discovers that, like the gang in peckinpah' s the wild bunch, he' s been lured into working with the wrong side in linking his fortunes to the engineer. his instinct for and trust in friendship has betrayed him. gil' s sinuous film is cleverly plotted, and it ends with a flashback and final freeze - frame of butch, sundance and etta in their happy, earlier days in america .
we meet in paris. he approaches me among the crowds on boulevard saint - germain, a celebrated man who has mastered the trick of going unnoticed in public. he walks alone, without a retinue. as a film actor, he excels at playing soft - spoken, self - contained men; after an hour in his company, one sees why .
james blackthorn is an old gringo living quietly in the green tropical valleys of bolivia. he breeds horses and has a romantic friendship with a native woman. he' s getting on in years and wants to die at home, in the united states. his real name is butch cassidy, one of the last and most famous outlaws from the far west. but the legend of his life has almost faded into oblivion as everyone believes him long dead. as he crosses the high plateau on his way home, james encounters another rider, far younger and inexperienced. a spanish mine engineer by the name of ernesto apodaca who is fleeing after having robbed a mine. remembering his past and in need of money, blackthorn decides to accompany the young man on his frantic flight across bolivia. during this time the two men, although very different, will become friends amongst the violence and the loneliness of the bolivian desert. but blackthorn is not the only one with a secret... in no man' s land and hounded by more and more armed men, both men will have no choice but to reveal their true intentions and face reality, once and for all .
joblo' s movie emporium :
sam shepard is one of the most genuine actors working in film today. when we first meet him as the fugitive, there is an unsettling fire within him. it is a sort of sadness that is worn and broken but he is not lost, his composed strength is very powerful. the way he carries himself on - screen is perfect for this aging cowboy. he speaks volumes within his silence, and when the words do arrive he is undeniably charismatic in butch cassidy’s skin. he carries the film on his capable shoulders and we, the audience, are able to connect and sympathize with his loss and desire to return home. this is a stunning, understated performance that should be remembered .
calvin wilson, post dispatch :
gil keeps things interesting, pursuing a vibe that owes as much to the spaghetti western as it does to the classic american variety. but what really makes the film must watching is shepard, whose mug should be in the dictionary next to
grizzled .
indeed, the pulitzer prize - winning playwright is a woefully underrated actor .
paste magazine :
the great sam shepard invests the role with an understated dignity and gravitas. perhaps too much so to be historically accurate, but historical accuracy isn’t what gil is after here.' blackthorn' is a character study, and shepherd is one of the most interesting actors of his generation. his silences are fascinating, and his clipped (and infrequent) speech escapes his lips only reluctantly .
. featuring two young actors, tom berenger and william katt, with uncanny resemblances to newman and redford, the film took a quirky but generally realistic look at frontier life as it related to the pair' s early criminal life and friendship, ending in the 1890s at the point where they were becoming aware of being legends, leaders of a gang called the wild bunch. by this point robert leroy parker was styling himself butch cassidy and harry longabaugh was known as the sundance kid. the film was advertised as
a prequel
, one of the earliest uses of this neologism, and in my 1979 review i rather pedantically objected to what i called
an etymologically meaningless term
, suggesting it was unnecessary when prelude, prologue, preamble and prolegomena remained available .
blackthorn imagines what would have happened to butch cassidy if he had miraculously survived his famous last stand in bolivia. it is an intriguing idea ripe with possibility as we follow an ageing, and now ex, outlaw pining for home. yet there is a familiarity to the themes here; the old grizzled criminal struggling to find a place in a world that has long since moved on whilst looking back at his glory days .
nick shager, slant magazine :
shepard plays the role as
a crotchety ex - badass with a no - nonsense attitude and a resignation to his potentially dire fate at the hands of a six - shooter... he' s a grizzled old loner who periodically indulges in memories of happier times alongside his famous compatriot...' guess we can' t be blamed for getting older,' muses james blackthorn (shepard) .
“they don’t breed many horses in bolivia, because of the altitude. they had to import polo ponies from argentina. i got to do most of my own riding, rather than stunt guys. i did a little singing. and i found the character intriguing. i didn’t want to do an imitation of paul newman (from the film butch cassidy and the sundance kid) so i did a lot of research about cassidy .
at a thesis meeting, professor castro asks angela what she knows about figueroa' s death. angela denies all knowledge, but castro has a security tape of the viewing room, which reveals angela passing by figueroa' s dead body and taking the video. as angela is about to admit why she took the tape, chema calls. angela answers the phone in a separate room and chema tells her to leave castro' s office immediately, saying that castro is involved in the snuff film. angela hurriedly flees castro' s office. later that day, bosco' s girlfriend, yolanda, comes to angela, and explains that she, vanessa and bosco had been taking a class on snuff films two years ago with professor castro, when things began getting out of hand. yolanda states that she believed that bosco and a friend of his killed vanessa in order to make the snuff film. yolanda reveals that chema was also in the snuff film class. once with chema, angela asks him whether or not he knew bosco, and chema admits that he did, but that he left the snuff film class as soon as things got out of hand. chema then shows angela the hidden library corridor he discovered on the security camera. once in the corridor, they find shelves of video tapes, revealing that hundreds of women other than vanessa had been murdered on camera. as they discover this, the door to the hidden corridor closes and they realize they have been locked inside. chema and angela walk through the corridor, with only a match lighting their way. they realize they are going to die. chema and angela fall asleep in each other' s arms as the light of the last match dies .
if the ensuing scraps and scrapes lack the frisson of butch and sundance’s adventures, that’s perhaps the point. handsomely shot against stunningly austere bolivian vistas, the film works best as a quiet character study of a onetime hellraiser accepting that he truly is too old for this shit. shepard' s crusty charisma gives this dignified genre effort its pulse: a growl - off between his butch and jeff bridges’s rooster cogburn is surely the next chapter .
a couple of years ago, one did come along. “the best i’d seen in years, ” says shepard, who knows something about writing. he would play the famous outlaw butch cassidy, widely believed to have been killed (along with the sundance kid) by the bolivian military. in this version of his life, cassidy lived quietly for 25 more years under the name james blackthorn in a remote bolivian village, before yearning to return home and see his family again .
crew: camera (color, widescreen), juan ruiz anchia; editor, david gallart; music, lucio godoy; production designer, jan pedro de gaspar; costume designer, clara bilbao; sound (dolby digital), daniel fontrodona, marc orts; sound designer, fabiola ordoyo; special effect, reyes abades; casting, jina jay. reviewed at tribeca film festival (competing), april 29, 2011. running time: 98 min .
the film won four academy awards: best cinematography; best original score for a motion picture (not a musical); best music, song (burt bacharach and hal david for
raindrops keep fallin' on my head
); and best writing, story and screenplay based on material not previously published or produced. it was also nominated for best director, best picture, and best sound (william edmondson and david dockendorf). [ 19 ]
this is one of those unnecessary films. following up butch cassidy and the sundance kid is no easy task, and this film couldn' t be any more different from its predecessor. it' s grittier for sure, but in that way, it feels more pedestrian; eliminating the element that made the original so successful. yet, this story probably couldn' t have been told as well without the gritty edge. so it' s a bit of a stalemate .
casting stephen rea: we were very lucky to have sam in the movie, not just because of himself, but also because he’s a very good friend of stephen rea’s, and they share the same agent here in the us! so… sam said yes (to the film) and stephen said, “okay! if sam is going to be in it, i want to do it! ” we were just so lucky. these are two of the great, great actors .
ian buckwalter, urltoken :
even if some of the film' s weaknesses were more prominent, though, they' d be mostly forgivable in light of sam shepard' s powerful performance in the title role. he perfectly blends the mischievousness of the character with the sadness of age and exile. his cassidy is magnetic and intimidating, and his smoky, reedy voice conveys the dried - out fatigue of someone who has spent too long out under the unforgiving prairie sun .
the setting is bolivia in the 1920s, and butch (sam shepard), now in his grizzled mid - 60s, is on to his third name, living a simple, contented life as james blackthorn with his devoted indian peasant lover, yana (magaly solier), in a beautiful, thinly populated mountainous region. he' s a taciturn man, a successful horse breeder, but his settled existence is about to be disrupted and new moral and political challenges placed in his path. he takes a batch of horses to the distant nearest town and, having sold them, empties his bank account with the intention of giving money to yana and returning to the states. but on his way back he helps a man whose horse has died in the wilderness. his kindness is repaid by being bushwhacked, and the stranger turns out to be a spanish engineer, eduardo apocada (eduardo noriega). during a subsequent scuffle, blackthorn / cassidy' s horse runs away with his money in the saddle bags, and the pair are left stranded .
that’s the problem with “blackthorn”: it goes all mushy when contemplating its grizzled, out - of - time hero. he’s a model good - guy bad - guy who hates big business, corruption and the law, while loving the native people, including his beautiful and (need it be said ?) much younger girlfriend (magaly solier). the filmmakers rely on mr. shepard to lend the character some of his mythic weight, but it would take an actor with greater range to make butch more than a cardboard outlaw - saint .
in the opening scenes of
blackthorn ,
the old desperado who gives this mostly satisfying western its name is bent over a letter, writing of coming back home to the u. s. though he' s grown gray, he remains split - rail hard, suffers no fools — he' s still plenty fiery too, if the girl in his bed is any indication. naturally, the character is played by sam shepard, who wears the dust, the boots, the bravado and the rest as if they were designed for him alone .
he wears his fame lightly. plays such as true west, buried child and fool for love established him as a great american playwright, a pulitzer prize - winner for drama. he’s a gifted actor, oscar - nominated for playing legendary test pilot chuck yeager in the right stuff. shepard is also a screenwriter (paris, texas), an accomplished musician and a film director (far north). he has illustrious friends – patti smith, bob dylan, novelist cormac mccarthy – who seek out his company as he seeks theirs .
gil (best known as the spanish scriptwriter of “open your eyes, ” “the sea inside” and “ agora ”) keeps the plot simple. living under the name james blackthorn, butch cassidy (shepard) runs horses from his small ranch, finding occasional solace with strong - minded but affectionate companera yana (magaly solier, “the milk of sorrow ”). having grown homesick, he decides to return to the states and the son that might be his; flashbacks to more devil - may - care times make clear that butch, sundance and etta place were partners in all things .
the handsome engineer is apparently on his way to an abandoned mining town to recover a large sum of money he' s hidden. the money belonged to a crooked capitalist who' s sent a 14 - man posse after him. so to recover his fortunes blackthorn accompanies him first to the old mine and then on a painful journey across a giant salt flat and through snow - covered mountains, pursued first by the posse and then the bolivian army. the beautiful, awesome landscape is superbly photographed by juan ruiz - anchía, a spanish cinematographer who has worked several times with david mamet.
blackthorn is a 2011 western film directed by mateo gil and starring sam shepard , eduardo noriega , and stephen rea . written by miguel barros , the film is a fictional account of an aged butch cassidy living under the assumed name james blackthorn in a secluded village in bolivia 20 years after his disappearance in 1908 . blackthorn was filmed on location in la paz , potosí , and uyuni in bolivia . initially released on itunes on september 2 , 2011 , the film was released theatrically in the united states on october 7 , 2011 . 
blackthorn is a 2011 western film directed by mateo gil and starring sam shepard, eduardo noriega, and stephen rea. written by miguel barros, the film is a fictional account of an aged butch cassidy living under the assumed name james blackthorn in a secluded village in bolivia 20 years after his disappearance in 1908. blackthorn was filmed on location in la paz, potosí, and uyuni in bolivia. initially released on itunes on september 2, 2011, the film was released theatrically in the united states on october 7, 2011.
blackthorn is a 2011 western film directed by mateo gil and starring sam shepard, eduardo noriega, and stephen rea. written by miguel barros, the film is a fictional account of an aged butch cassidy living under the assumed name james blackthorn in a secluded village in bolivia 20 years after his disappearance in 1908. blackthorn was filmed on location in la paz, potosí, and uyuni in bolivia. initially released on itunes on september 2, 2011, the film was released theatrically in the united states on october 7, 2011.