The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez (1982)

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This entertaining western features a contemporary, balanced mindset, important in this day and age of open borders.

Taking place in 1901 Gonzalez, Texas, Gregorio Cortez (Edward James Olmos) is a Spanish-speaking ranch hand on the run after being involved in not one but three murders involving Texas law enforcement personnel. While cut-and-dried from the Texans' point of view, Cortez's full story of what happened remains to be heard. San Antonio reporter Blakely (Bruce McGill) rides with a pursuing posse, and begins to document Cortez's story as seen by the Texas Rangers. While the flashbacks to the killings are not along the lines of "Rashomon," they serve to illustrate the Texans' side well. Cortez is caught, put on trial, and represented by Abernathy (Barry Corbin), who finds out what really happened as he tries to get his client off.

Olmos does a great job as Cortez. Cortez does not speak English, and the film makers wisely do not subtitle his Mexican conversations (in the version I viewed), adding to the confusion of Cortez's crimes. The film makers do something unexpected- they show us that Cortez is not a martyr or saint. The initial murder started over a misunderstood translation between a deputy and Cortez, and escalated. Cortez's family is locked up in order to flush him out, and civil liberties are broken all over the place. The film opens with Cortez running, a bunch of guys chasing him, and bodies being returned to families, and I had no idea what was going on for the first ten minutes of the film. Eventually, things begin to click, and Young's sure direction keeps it going. The cast is full of character actors whose names you do not immediately recognize but whose faces you have watched for years- Ned Beatty has a rather unnecessary cameo toward the end.

If you are expecting another politically correct allegory about the plight of the Mexican-American in turn-of-the-century Texas, you need to look elsewhere. This revisionist western shows us both sides of murder, and how both sides are at fault. Originally an episode of "American Playhouse," and then released theatrically.

Stats:
(1982) 105 min. (* * * *) out of five stars
-Directed by Robert M. Young
-Screenplay by Victor Villasenor, Adaptation by Robert M. Young, Based on a book by Americo Paredes
-Cast: Edward James Olmos, Bruce McGill, Barry Corbin, Ned Beatty, James Gammon, Tom Bower, Brion James, Alan Vint, Timothy Scott, Pepe Serna, Michael McGuire, William Sanderson, Jack Kehoe, Rosanna DeSoto, Buddy Vigil
(PG)