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| Cross of Iron starring James Coburn |
Gratuitously violent, misogynistic, tactless, fascistic and other such condemnable labels have constantly surrounded Peckinpah’s controversial body of work, stemming from the 1960s New Hollywood movement. However I chose Peckinpah in spite of all negative critiques because I not only believe that such critiques for the most part misinterpret his work, but also I believe he is one of the most intimate auteurs in cinematic history. His films reflect uniquely heavy, personal viewpoints through central themes, character interaction and film techniques in a way which isn’t readily perceivable in many other director’s filmographies. However, in light of his outlandish personal life, I believe a lot of it tends to be ignored.
Intimate might now be a word which connotes “Bloody” Sam, as his films tend to focus on dirty, tight-lipped men, who have a disdain for social regulation and whose lives innately revolve around violence. However, it is the way in which these characters react to their surroundings which reveals Peckinpah’s troubled emotional core.
His themes, which are notorious in his popular revisionist Western films, stretch across many genres. From Major Dundee (1965), a civil war Western, to Convoy (1978), a modern campy action-comedy, the plots revolve around a tight-knit brotherhood, which is somehow breached-either by betrayal from within the group, or invasion from an outside source. This breach can be depicted as a rift in friendship, such as Locken and Hansen in the Killer Elite (1975) or a rift in marriage such as David and Amy Sumner in Straw Dogs (1971). Or it can be portrayed as the intrusion of an enemy into the group, such as the aristocratic Capt. Stransky who attempts to control Cpl. Steiner’s platoon in Cross of Iron (1977), which is my personal favorite of his films.
