The Wild Bunch

SPOILER ALERT! The plot will be discussed.

Sam Peckinpah, who directed this 1969 western, offers a vision of America’s mythology of the Old West in transition as it deteriorates from idealism into cynicism. The significance of the title of the movie shows that the group of men are uncontrolled outlaws because they find no connection with a corrupt society, and their only allegiance is to the tribe they have formed. Whatever redemption they feel they can achieve in this fallen state comes from their loyalty to each other.

The first shot is of the Bunch, riding together, like a violent family. They are wild, but they are a unified. There is a shot of grinning children as they feed a couple of scorpions to a colony of ants. The film seems to present a restricted path for existence, with the threat of destruction being the primary force. Individuals perish, and any chance at a worthwhile survival depends upon the strength derived from a cohesive group. The image of the children getting enjoyment out of their sadistic act is disturbing, implying that innocence is dead as violence now begins among the young.

The cruel activity of the children is offset with the gathering of members of the Temperance Union, with a speaker quoting from the bible, which is also undercut by the Bunch riding by. The members of the Bunch are disguised as soldiers. Pike (William Holden), the leader, bumps into an old lady and her packages drops. For an instant Pike’s meanness shows on his face but then he puts on a benevolent look, as he and Dutch (Ernest Borgnine) pick up the packages and escort the woman. Appearances are deceiving, but these men are at least capable of civilized behavior. They are robbing a railroad depot, but Thornton (Robert Ryan) is there with his group of bounty hunters waiting for them. The Bunch spots the bounty hunters. We see the children marching with the Union, almost desecrating the actions of the righteous considering their affinity for destruction. Thornton’s men are just as bloodthirsty as any criminals, eager to start shooting. There is a smile on one man’s face in anticipation of the shootout, another, Coffer (Strother Martin) kisses his gun. The Bunch throw a railroad clerk out into the street while the marchers pass by, as they are not above sacrificing innocents as cover, who get caught in the crossfire. Many of the bounty hunters are shot. These men are not so admirable since their motivation is to collect rewards as opposed to enforcing the law.

There is recognition between Pike and Thornton as they exchange glances. Thornton hesitates and a band player gets in the way and is shot by Thornton, again showing how the violence of the time is wiping out the innocent. Pike’s return shot does not aim at Thornton, but kills the man next to him. We later learn why these two men can’t kill each other. The violence, which may not seem as graphic as today, but was revolutionary at the time, is extensive. The slow-motion shots make it linger, showing the devastating effect of the bullets on a human body. At the same time the cinematography is stylized, distancing the audience from the gruesome reality observed. The effect is similar to the technique that director Stanley Kubrick used in A Clockwork Orange. The mayhem appears choreographed to emphasize the artifice of film, ironically showing that even death can be made to appear artistic.

The bounty hunters, demonstrating how their callous greed undermines their cohesiveness as a unit, argue over who claims the rights to the bandits that were killed. Thornton is angry about the lack of organized planning which leads to the loss of lives. Harrigan (Albert Dekker), who works for the railroad and hired Thornton and the bounty hunters, criticizes Thornton for not killing Pike. One of the Bunch, Crazy Lee (Bo Hopkins), the name definitely fits here, who was guarding people at the railroad office, is cut off from the Bunch. He is unbalanced, asking the captives to sing, licking one of the women, and then shooting them when they try to escape for no reason since the robbery was over. He is shot by the bounty hunters, but even as he dies, he shoots more people, showing his deadly nature, and how the men who are outside the law can attract those that undermine their band of criminal brothers. The townspeople blame the railroad, a supposedly legitimate business, for luring the bandits in with a fake publicized delivery of silver, and thus causing the massacre. Thornton at least does seem outraged by the deaths. Children then imitate the action of the shooters, stressing how systemic the violence has become.

One of the Bunch, Buck (Rayford Barnes) was shot and loses his vision. He says just end it for him, and hardly gets the words out of his mouth before Pike shoots him. If an individual can’t help the group, he is a hindrance, and must be put down. This killing shows the brutal nature of the pact made between these men. Pike says rhetorically and sarcastically that maybe some of the others would like to give the man a decent burial. The thrust here is that their way of life can’t afford the luxury for sentimentality. One man does say he would like to bury him, and another says that too many of their number died. Dutch, Pike’s second in command, chimes in with sarcasm too, saying, “maybe a few hymns’d be in order. Followed by a church supper. With a choir!” The scorn for a religious ritual shows how far these men have distanced themselves from mainstream life.

 Harrigan yells at the bounty hunters for not stopping the thieves, but he only sees things in terms of dollars and cents, not in the loss of life, and threatens to give a thousand dollars to any man who kills one of their number who quits on the job. The intent of this offer is meant to unite this group but really just appeals to their individual greed, and discourages working in harmony toward a common goal. We learn that Thornton was in prison, used to be one of the Bunch, and Harrigan wonders whether he will try to rejoin them. Thornton says he gave his word, which is still important to him, but Harrigan says if he doesn’t bring the bandits back dead in thirty days, Thornton go back to the Yuma prison. Thornton points out angrily that Harrigan is able to order killings with the sanction of the law behind him. Harrigan, thus, appears worse than the criminals since his violence can be carried out without worrying about consequences. There is a flashback of Thornton being whipped in prison, showing the sadistic nature of the supposedly legitimate institution.

The Bunch crosses the river to get into Mexico. The border, as it was used in A Touch of Evil, can represent an area that exists between traditional concepts of good and evil, and here can also show the transition between a romanticized outlook to a cynical one. Two of the Bunch, Tector (Ben Johnson) and his brother, Lyle (Warren Oates) say they don’t think the old member of their group, Freddy Sykes (Edmond O'Brien), and the Mexican riding with them, Angel (Jaime Sanchez), should get equal shares of what they stole. Because Pike knows that anything that threatens to divide the Bunch will lessen their strength, he says he is either the leader and what he says goes, or he ends things right there. The threat of death is enough to cower the two men. Since the heist at the railroad depot was a trap, there are only metal washers in the bags. Pike admits that he saw Thornton at the depot. They plan their next move, but as Sykes says, they’re not getting any younger. Pike echoes that by saying that they must think “beyond their guns. Those days are closin’ fast.” This elegiac feel is similar to what happens in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid where outlaws are constantly on the run from a changing world that threatens their place in the mythos of the Old West. In order to ward off the specter of future demise, the men here just laugh it off as Lyle and Tector talk about being with whores while Pike was setting them up to steal washers.

At their campsite before going to sleep, Pike says to Dutch that the railroad robbery was supposed to be his last job. He says he wanted one big heist and then hoped to “back off.” But his pal says, “Back off to what?” Pike has no reply, because they don’t know any other life, and probably couldn’t leave the one they have behind. In a way, their actions and the changing world has trapped them. He asks Pike about other plans, and Pike says there are a lot of garrisons along the border waiting for payrolls. Dutch says the authorities will be waiting for them, and Pike defiantly says he wouldn’t want it any other way. Dutch shows his allegiance to Pike, saying he wouldn’t want it any other way either about confronting the law. Pike has a flashback of him and Thornton (the name might suggest he represents a “thorn” of guilt in Pike’s side?) at a brothel, and Thornton saying they have to move on. Pike says that it’s okay because “Being sure is my business.” But the authorities burst in on them and Thornton is shot and cuffed. Pike escaped and now probably feels guilty about miscalculating their safety and leaving Thornton behind, which makes him bitter about betrayal.

They cross an area of desert and then Sykes causes them to roll down a dune and get unhorsed. Tector threatens to kill the old man, but Pike stops him, and announces his code by which he believes they should live. He says, “We’re gonna stick together, just like it used to be! When you side with a man, you stay with him! And if you can’t do that, you’re like some animal, you’re finished. We’re finished! All of us!” The rest of the world might be in chaos, and a man might help contribute to that breakdown of society, but within the nucleus of the tribe, there is a thread of order through loyalty that keeps one elevated above becoming totally savage.

As Pike tries to mount his horse, a stirrup breaks and he falls down, hurting his leg. Tector and Lyle ridicule Pike, saying maybe they shouldn’t be following a man who can’t get on his horse (as mentioned in past posts, the horse is a traditional symbol for manhood). Despite his pain, Pike manages to mount his horse, and there is admiration on Dutch’s face for the toughness of his leader. As they ride, Sykes asks how Crazy Lee, his grandson, performed at the robbery. Pike didn’t know the young man was Syke’s relative, because the old man wanted Lee to make it on his own. Pike says he did ‘fine.” Even though they are on the wrong side of the law, thieves still care how one of their number handles himself professionally. Pike shows some compassion here, not telling Sykes how undependable Crazy Lee acted.

The Mexican member, Angel (an ironic name which shows an inverse world where the thieves are more noble than the legitimate people in power), invites them to his village and warns them not to disrespect him in front of his people. Angel has not totally accepted his role as a criminal. The others laugh at his hypocrisy, since he is a bandit, which the villagers do not know, and they defy him humorously by saying suggestively they want to get to know his sister, mother and even grandmother. The Bunch’s wildness is contrasted with the domestic and agrarian lives of the villagers. We have here a similar situation that was presented in The Magnificent Seven. An old Mexican, Don Jose (Chano Urueta) says the Mexican soldiers, instead of protecting the citizens, stole from them. Their leader, Mapache (Emilio Fernandez) hanged Angel’s father and took his girlfriend, Teresa (Sonia Amelio). Don Jose says Angel idolized her “like a goddess to be worshiped from afar.” But, she went with Mapache, “drunk with wine and love,” according to the old man, who says these are sad times for Mexico. He sounds a bit like Tommy Lee Jones in No Country for Old Men, another film that bemoans the loss of old standards of behavior. Don Jose describes Teresa as being like a ripe mango. Cynical Pike says that Angel dreams of love, while Mapache eats the mango. In that sentence we see the defeat of romantic idealism as it is consumed by carnal desire.

Lyle and Tector playfully go with some of the village women to help with the cooking, and Pike says with a laugh that he finds their behavior hard to believe. But, Don Jose says that, “We all dream of being a child again. Even the worst of us. Perhaps the worst most of all.” Pike basically admits that his band is among “the worst,” thus understanding that Don Jose means that there is a part of the men of the Bunch that yearn for a return to a less cruel world. But, as we saw the behavior of the children at the beginning of the story, innocence is gone.

Angel keeps wanting to know where Mapache is, but Pike menacingly says he has to let his desire for revenge go or they will leave Angel behind. Angel must choose between two ways of life, and he says he will stick with the “wild” one. As they leave the town, the people sing a farewell but it is mournful and could be a funeral dirge for what is to come. One woman gives Dutch a rose, and he exchanges looks with Pike that seems to say that they are not accustomed to this sweetness. But, it can also represent a flower placed on a coffin.

They go to General Mapache’s headquarters to do some trading. Another general arrives in an automobile, and it is the first time the thieves have seen a car. Pike heard of them and when Sykes talks of airplanes, Pike confirms their existence. He heard that they will be used in wars. Thus, the violence of this new technology, sanctioned by the legal authorities, will cause the extermination of lives in large numbers, so that the outlaws do not seem so evil in comparison to what governments allow. They observe that Mapache has plenty of silver that he has extracted from the inhabitants. So, Dutch says, he’s just another bandit, and in his own way worse because he pretends to be a person on the side of the law. The line between legal and illegal thievery has become blurred with transgressions occurring on both sides of the law. But Dutch says that they are better because they don’t degrade people by hanging them, and calls people like Mapache “scum.”

Two women are brought to Mapache and one is Teresa, Angel’s girl, who has now become corrupted. She laughs at Angel, sits in Mapache’s lap, and kisses him sexually in the ear. Angel yells out the word “whore” in Spanish and shoots Teresa, since the condemnation of betrayal is a major theme in the film. There is the old sexist idea here of classifying women as either virgins or whores, as was noted in the conversation between Pike and Don Jose. The film shows women used by men for sex, and they are viewed as dispensable. However, women in the story many times appear to be ready, with a smile on their faces, to succumb to the men, and can be treacherous. To the movie’s detriment there is no effort given to develop a female character in this story beyond being compliant vessels for male pleasure. The Bunch gets out of this situation by saying Angel’s action was all about jealousy. Mapache and his men seem to go along with that explanation. After being questioned by one of Mapache’s German military advisers, Mohr (Fernando Wagner), Pike assures them that he and his men do not agree with hardly anything the American government stands for. In this way, Pike sort of announces the Bunch’s own declaration of independence from any allegiance except to themselves. They are asked to have dinner with Mapache and his officers.

There is a quick scene where the bounty hunters are riding with Thornton at the lead. Coffer says something about shooting Thornton, as a joke, and slaps his leather holster, alarming Thornton, who falls back so as not to be an easy target. It reminds us of the children who played at shooting guns, and makes a connection to how the urge for violence starts early. It also shows how the loyalty among the members of the illegal Bunch is stronger than that between the legal, but selfish, bounty hunters.

Mapache and the Bunch eat dinner while there is the funeral procession for Teresa winding around them, showing the contrast between a religious ritual for the dead and the illegal plotting of the living. Mohr wants the Bunch to go after a railroad, and says that General Huerta, who has taken over the military and is fighting the outlaw, Pancho Villa, wants to hypocritically show good relations with the American government while his henchman, Mapache, backs a robbery of an American train. Mohr says that they have received intelligence from Mapache about the delivery of armaments by the U. S. Army. Lyle demands women and they are brought to him and his brother, showing the objectification of the females here for sexual purposes and illustrating the men’s indulgence of selfish desires. Mapache doesn’t trust Angel and wants to exchange him for another man in the robbery attempt, but Pike, again showing the importance of sticking together, convinces Mapache that he needs Angel.

Pike, Dutch, Angel, and Sykes are in a type of sauna, getting a bath, and Angel says that he doesn’t want to steal for Mapache so he can kill and steal from his people. Pike says that he should just think about the money, and then he can buy land for his people, maybe even move them away. Angel says no one will drive his people off of their land. Angel is showing that there can still be a connection to one’s heritage and people, but Sykes says that you can’t be loyal to the village and also to the Bunch. His philosophy mirrors that of Pike and Dutch, who don’t subscribe to any other form of kinship than to their immediate band of thieves and their acquisition of wealth. Sykes says he will drink to many things, but most of all “to gold,” which shows where their priorities rest. Angel asks would Pike give guns to a man who would kill his parents or siblings. Pike, showing how he no longer feels a connection to relatives, says that a lot of money “cuts an awful lot of family ties.” Angel, however, says he would like to give guns to his people for protection. Dutch says why not give a case of the arms to Angel. Angel agrees to give up his share of the gold for one case of ammo and guns. He still feels a bond to something beyond this loyal, but materialistic, band of thieves, is important to maintain.

Thornton tells Harrigan that he needs better men and knows where Pike and his men will strike. Thornton says that the American troops aren’t experienced enough. Dutch notices Pike’s old leg injury and Pike finally tells him how he received the wound. A flashback shows that Pike was involved with a Mexican woman whose husband she said was never coming back. The husband returned and found the two ready to have sex. The man killed his wife and shot Pike in the leg. He said he never found the man, but still thinks about getting back at him. This story is another instance that shows Pike’s regret about not seeing trouble coming and another person suffering the consequences because of his lack of foresight.

The Bunch target an American military train at a water stop. Pike’s men quietly board it, getting the drop on the guards. The Bunch detach the locomotive and cargo from the rest of the train. But, Thornton is on board and he and his men ride after the locomotive, and start shooting. Angel, living up to his name here, saves Dutch from falling off the train. They unload the cargo and Pike puts the locomotive in reverse, as he and his men get off and ride away. The front section crashes into the rest of the train and shows the inexperience of the soldiers, as Thornton had said, as they chase their horses. The Bunch rides over a bridge and then dynamite it so as not to be pursued. The bounty hunters catch up as the fuse is lit, but the wagon carrying the arms breaks through the bridge. The bandits free it as a shootout commences and the explosion takes place, allowing the thieves to get away.

There is a short scene where Lyle and Tector say they won’t have to worry about Thornton now. But old man Sykes warns them that Thornton will still come after them. To ward off that negative feeling, they share a drink of whiskey from a bottle which shows the bond between them. Even Angel is included in this scene of camaraderie. They join together in laughter when no whiskey is left for Lyle.

That scene contrasts with the next one at the bounty hunters’ camp where the men voice self-centered complaints, talking about losing horses or catching a cold. Thornton yells at them for having shot at the soldiers instead of the thieves, which adds symbolically to the blurring concerning who are the good or bad guys. Mapache, retreating from a confrontation with Pancho Villa, is handed a communication by a child dressed in a military uniform, the image of a child looking like a soldier again stressing the loss of youthful innocence. The message says that the Bunch has the guns and Mapache says to his subordinate to make sure the Bunch turn over the arms, which shows how he is not necessarily willing to honor the deal of gold for arms.

Pike and Dutch watch in hiding as Thornton and his men try to track them down. Thornton is so disgusted with his remaining bounty hunters that he says, “We’re after men. And I wish to God I was with them.” His words show how he respects Pike and his gang as embodying what it takes to be real men, having courage, cunning, and intelligence. His attitude adds to the ambivalent feelings about the Bunch, who have some admirable attributes, but who are still dangerous outlaws. Pike, demonstrating his intelligence, doesn’t trust Mapache, saying that he thinks he might just take the guns and kill them. He wants to set up explosives that could destroy the arms if Mapache doesn’t pay up. Angel and Lyle discover a Gatling gun in the armaments they have stolen. The weapon is another sample of the escalation of destruction as the move into the modern age progresses.

With Angel’s help, the Mexicans, who are there to collect the guns that Angel promised them, ambush the Bunch. But the Mexicans apologize for not trusting them, saying their mistrust of others has kept them alive. The Bunch just laugh as they acknowledge how these mountain Mexicans can handle themselves, showing their respect for these men who have stuck together for the benefit of them all. The Bunch head toward Agua Verde. They encounter Mapache’s army of men. Pike shows the fuse leading to the dynamite that is rigged to blow up the arms. The officer sent by Mapache says he and his men are not afraid, but when Pike lights the fuse and shows the Gatling gun, they back off. Trust is hard to come by in this world, and betrayal is always a possibility. Pike says he will negotiate at Agua Verde.

Pike rides to meet Mapache and once he is paid part of the money Pike tells him where to find some of the guns and ammunition. He says that the rest are with his men and if he doesn’t return they will blow them up. Pike is no fool, and has made sure that he gets the gold before allowing himself to be vulnerable. He promises the machine gun as a gift, to sweeten the deal. Back at the Bunch’s camp, the men light some dynamite and throw it to where Sykes is ready to relieve himself. He breaks the fuse, but is furious. Even at play, these men are dangerous. Pike brings them the first payment and starts the next delivery. Back at Agua Verde, Mapache now has the machine gun, but doesn’t know how to use it. The Germans keep yelling that it must be mounted on a tripod, but the soldiers accidentally start the gun firing, and they can’t control it. The gun continues to fire, terrorizing the town's inhabitants. The scene is symbolic of how technology advances beyond its inventors’ ability to control it.

Mapache distributes the guns as Angel and Dutch approach with info on the final load as they get paid. Dutch has to explain why one crate of weapons is missing, and he says they lost it on the way. But Mapache says he found out from the mother of the woman who Angel killed, Teresa, that Angel stole the guns. She probably wanted to get back at Angel for what happened to her daughter. Angel tries to ride away but is caught. Dutch, knowing he can’t free Angel, plays along, saying he has to go and Mapache can deal with the “thief,” which is an ironic statement, since they are all thieves.

Back at the Bunch’s camp, Pike says that they can’t go after Angel, even though Lyle points out the man’s courage, and Dutch says he didn’t admit that the Bunch was complicit in giving away some of the guns. Sykes says that they should go after Angel, and he rides off with some horses. But Thornton and his men are out there and shoot him in the leg. Dutch says Thornton should be damned to hell. Pike, because of his guilt about how he left Thornton to get caught, defends Thornton because he gave his word to pursue the Bunch. Dutch yells that he gave his word to a railroad, and what matters is “who you give it to!” He is stressing the bond between men, not to some abstract, supposedly legitimate company. Lyle wants to fight Thornton, but Pike says they are low on water. They should go to Agua Verde, pay Mapache one bag of gold for sanctuary, and Thornton won’t go there. To show Pike’s hard nature, he is willing to sacrifice Sykes so that Thornton will waste time pursuing him. Thornton sees through the plan, leaves one man to look for Sykes while he and the rest pursue the Bunch. One of the mountain Mexicans finds Sykes, suggesting that he probably will help him.

As Pike thought, the general is celebrating his acquisition of the guns. They see Mapache dragging Angel around behind the car. Pike wants to buy back Angel, but Mapache says he doesn’t need gold, and continues to drag Angel around. Mapache says that the Bunch should just enjoy the drinking and the women. Pike says they may as well. Thornton and his men are on the Bunch’s trail but American Army troops are after them because of the bounty hunters shooting the soldiers at the train robbery. After being with prostitutes, the next morning, Pike seems disgusted with the situation and tells the men “let’s go,” which is code for fighting. Lyle shows his commitment by saying, “Why not?” Outside, all Dutch has to do is look at the others and he smiles, knowing what they are about to do, and laughs as they arm up. These men are so bound together that they don’t even have to speak to communicate once their minds are made up.

As they walk, the soundtrack stresses percussion, and there is marching music, as if they are off to war. Pike says to Mapache, “We want Angel,” the Mexican’s name adding significance here as these flawed men, like the gunfighters in The Magnificent Seven, seek redemption by fighting for one of their own. But, they must do it their way, through violence against the true evil men. Mapache says he will give him up. Angel is half-dead and a soldier finishes him by cutting Angel’s throat. That’s the last straw for Pike, who opens fire, shooting Mapache. The Bunch look at each other knowing this is how they are going out and they are okay with it. An orgy of stylized violence consisting of regular action and slow motion follows. Dutch uses grenades and they use the Gatling gun. But there are too many soldiers. One woman shoots Pike in the back, again showing female treachery, but the Bunch also uses a woman as a shield to show how they, too, use women for their own purposes. As Pike fires the machine gun to set off dynamite, a boy shoots Pike, again emphasizing the spread of corruptibility to the youngest in society.

After the bunch and the others are killed, Thornton and his men arrive. We see vultures landing on the dead, and the parallel is made to the bounty hunters as they pick off spoils from the remains of those killed. Thornton comes across Pike’s body, clutching a weapon, even in death. Thornton takes Pike’s revolver as a memento of his one-time friend. Thornton, showing his disgust for the bounty hunters, stays behind, not wanting to be part of the scavenging men. There is gunfire in the distance as Thornton rests. Sykes shows up with the mountain men, and says the bounty hunters didn’t get far as the mountain men got them. Sykes says he and the mountain men have work to do and offers Thornton a chance to join them. Thornton, smiling, joins Sykes, hoping to be part of a new Bunch that lives by a code of loyalty.

Next time, brief impressions on some recent films.