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For the introduction to this regular series about film and how the best movies change our lives read the introduction below….
On a personal note: Please excuse grammatical errors, typos, repetition, and any general nonsense, and such in this post. I am getting a bit older now, and I have about 20,000 pages of information that must get published before I leave the mortal coil. I simply write and publish more than my humble editors are able to correct. If you find enough errors you are welcome to contact me about being an editor of my work.
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Q. Lewis, is there one movie that explains through applied game theory and strategic thinking what is going on with the Russian invasion of Ukraine. All the subtle political elements are too complex for me to wrap my head around. Is there some underlying element that can explain what is happening and why it is happening?
A. Yes. Ultimately it is all is about ruthless power, greed, territory, evil intentions, and moral and ethical bankruptcy on the part of Vladimir Putin and his supporters. The film that addresses the core philosophical issues here is the 1997 John Sayles political and moral drama “Men with Guns”. I have seen the film over fifty times and it always leaves me numb over the absurdity of clueless decision-makers and their clueless followers. This film covers almost every conundrum within the human condition – anger, lust, greed, vanity, attachment, ego, innocent victims, and the quest for love, redemption, and meaningful and purpose-driven life.
Here is the trailer for the film:
The Plot:
Set in an unnamed Latin American 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.
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.
Running time: 127 minutes
Language: Spanish with some English and with English Sub-titles
Color: Color
Personal Comments:
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. 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, even with a Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Roger Ebert, a film critic writing for the Chicago Sun-Times, 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) 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."
The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 89% of critics gave the film a positive review, based on twenty-seven reviews.
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If you enjoyed this film you may also enjoy other historical films concerning men, with guns, power, and evil intentions.
Warning: These films are not recommended as appropriate viewing for those that believe that all that is needed for a peaceful world is a smile and good intentions.
Four Days in September - The Trailer
Missing - The Trailer
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Author: Lewis is a writer, teacher, and master results-oriented life coach. He is a former member of the acclaimed National Board of Review for Motion Pictures. The author of over twenty books he offered regular film revues on his talk show on NPR Affiliated WIOX91.3 FM. He can be contacted at LewisCoaches@gmail.com
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