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Men With Guns (1997)
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Reviews Counted:25
Fresh:22
Rotten:3
Average Rating:7.6/10
Runtime: 2 hrs 8 mins
Genre: Foreign Films
Synopsis: Taking a vacation from his profitable private practice, a distinguished Latin American doctor (Federico Luppi) sets off on a quest to locate his former students, whom he trained and deployed... Taking a vacation from his profitable private practice, a distinguished Latin American doctor (Federico Luppi) sets off on a quest to locate his former students, whom he trained and deployed throughout the disease-ridden rural regions of their unnamed country. Once he steps outside his comfortable milieu, he realizes the depths of despair rural villagers live in, as power-mad, gun-toting soldiers and guerrillas vie for control of the countryside. Gradually stripped of his former idealism, he collects a motley group of pilgrims in search of a legendary village untouched by men with guns. Director John Sayles, who had just finished LONE STAR, one of his most acclaimed films, shot the film in Spanish, a commercially risky maneuver. The decision pays off in the greater authenticity of the film, which captures the absurd circumstances in which the country's rural population must live. Partially inspired by Francisco Gold's novel THE LONG NIGHT OF WHITE CHICKENS, MEN WITH GUNS touches on the genre of magical realism to present a harrowing portrait of a war-torn Latin American country. [More]
Starring: Federico Luppi, Mandy Patinkin, Kathryn Grody, Damián Delgado
Starring: Federico Luppi, Mandy Patinkin, Kathryn Grody, Damián Delgado, Dan Rivera Gonzalez, Tania Cruz, Damián Alcázar, Iguandili López, Nandi Luna Ramírez, Rafael de Quevedo, Carmen Madrid, Esteban Soberanes, Alejandro Springall, Maricruz Nájera, Jacqueline Voltaire, Roberto Sosa, Maggie Renzi
Director: John Sayles
Director: John Sayles
Producer: R. Paul Miller
Screenwriter: John Sayles
Composer: Mason Daring
Reviews for Men With Guns
Challenges us to leave behind the cocoon of our cosseted lives and to confront those meanings that hold the key to life and death.
This is actually a largely quiet, compelling chronicle of a man's discovery of the horrors going on not far from his own backyard, and Sayles has written, directed and edited the piece in his usual calm and understated style.
[Sayles'] vision remains clearly articulated at every level, whether you approach the film in terms of its narrative structure, its philosophical foundation, or its characterizations.
The themes of family, civil war, and leaving a lasting legacy resonate strongly.
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