Blackthorn (15) DVD review

Directed by Mateo Gil, written by Miguel Barros.

Running time: 102 minutes approx.

Starring: Sam Shepard, Eduardo Noriega, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Stephen Rea.

This is quite possibly the surprise movie of 2012 (released theatrically 2011); a Western, in this cinematic age where they are a rare breed indeed, about a character so entwined with the persona of Paul Newman, Butch Cassidy, one half of the legendary outlaw duo (Sundance Kid being the other), who met their end before the massed gunfire of the Bolivian army in 1908.

Or did they??

Which is the intriguing question this film poses. The rarely seen Sam Shepard (check out his wandering credits list on IMDb) plays James Blackthorn, who we soon learn is in fact James Joven aka Butch Cassidy, living the quiet life in Bolivia as a farmer. When he makes the decision to return to the United States, he happens across a Spanish stranger by the name of Eduardo (played by Eduardo Noriega, soon to be seen facing off against Arnie in The Last Stand next year), who attempts to rob Blackthorn. Needless to say, the former Butch Cassidy puts Eduardo’s plan to bed. In the process, however, Eduardo scares off Blackthorn’s horse, stranding them both in the Bolivian desert. Blackthorn is set on doing away with Eduardo there and then, but what stops him is Eduardo’s earnest tale of $50,000 stashed away in a disused mine. Blackthorn needs the money so gets lured into Eduardo’s story. But the enigmatic, moustachioed Spaniard is not quite who he seems…

Sam Shepard is terrific as Blackthorn/Butch, wearing the grimace, and greying mane, of a man who has seen the glory times and now seeks the quieter times. He and Eduardo share an episodic trek through Bolivia, Blackthorn torn between the lure of easy money, and of getting back to the States, to see Sundance’s child, born of Etta (Dominique McElligott – played by Katherine Ross in the Newman/Redford movie).

Friendship and loyalty are the big themes here, and the film is served by a series of excellent flashback sequences, where the younger Butch (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, who will be familiar to some as Jaime Lannister from Game of Thrones) and Sundance’s escape from the Bolivian army in 1908 is revealed. The fate of Sundance (Padraic Delaney) is also revealed in a later, stark-as-snow heartbreaking sequence.

This is a bleaker movie than its cousin, George Roy Hill’s Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (from 1969), and Shepard’s Butch Cassidy is a weathered, beaten man, looking for some kind of redemption in his remaining years. When he comes across a character from his past, a former Pinkerton Detective called McKinley (an underused but excellent Stephen Rea), he is reminded of the sins of that past, not so easily forgotten by others. But he and McKinley come to some sort of understanding, that ultimately influences the final act of the movie. And the Bolivian army, once again, are determined to get Butch….

It is a carefully staged and shot film, making the maximum impact with its array of stunning South American locations – the white sands of the Bolivian desert provide the film with one of its more surreal and violent sequences. The style of Mateo Gil’s direction mirrors perfectly the plot, and the themes, of the film; no flashy camera quirks here, or gratuitous acting, just a confident, quietly stylish depiction of an ageing mythological hero made flesh. (You might recognise Gil’s name from his collaborations, as a writer, with director Alejandro Amenábar, of The Others, Open Your Eyes, The Sea Inside, and Agora).  This is not Mateo Gil’s debut as a director, however, but a cursory investigation of his credits reveal Blackthorn to be his biggest film yet, and let us hope it is not his last on this scale. He is blessed with equal skill behind the camera, as at a keyboard (aided in no small way by the sumptuous, yet subtle, cinematography of Juan Ruiz Anchía). Gil has surrendered scripting duties to the relatively unknown Miguel Barros, who has created a wonderfully rich script that  provides the backbone to one of the most original Westerns in years.

Django Unchained will no doubt get all the headlines but Tarantino’s movie will have to work hard to match the composed brilliance of Mateo Gil’s Blackthorn.

Andy ‘The Sunburnt Heed’ Jamieson, Editor-in-Chief