Screenwriter · Director

Sam Peckinpah

3: briefs
13:00: average
39 min: in total

On film.briefs3

One-Eyed Jacks

Marlon Brando · 1961

Marlon Brando’s 1961 Western One-Eyed Jacks follows Rio, a bandit seeking revenge on his former mentor Dad Longworth, now sheriff of Monterey. Shot in VistaVision across California and Mexico, it foregrounds psychological tension over action, with Brando starring and directing. Though critically mixed on release and commercially disappointing, its reputation has deepened over decades for its atmospheric realism, complex male relationships, and formal restraint. Restored in 4K in 2016, it remains Brando’s only film behind the camera.

13:00

Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid

Sam Peckinpah · 1973

Sam Peckinpah’s 1973 revisionist Western follows Pat Garrett’s reluctant pursuit of Billy the Kid, framed by Garrett’s own assassination. Shot in Durango with John Coquillon, scored by Bob Dylan, and written by Rudy Wurlitzer, it rejects heroic narrative in favour of cyclical fatalism—where lawmen are hired hands, outlaws are inconveniences, and violence serves capital, not justice.

13:00

Straw Dogs

Sam Peckinpah · 1971

Straw Dogs (1971), directed by Sam Peckinpah, follows an American mathematician and his wife who retreat to a Cornish farmhouse, only to face escalating hostility from locals culminating in a violent siege. Adapted from Gordon M. Williams’s novel, the film strips away moral framing to examine the erosion of pacifism under sustained provocation. Shot by John Coquillon and scored by Jerry Fielding, it relies on meticulous realism, rhythmic editing and restrained performances — particularly Dustin Hoffman’s and Susan George’s — to build dread. Its themes of territoriality, masculinity and civilised self-deception remain urgent, though its handling of agency and motivation continues to divide viewers.