Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #76004 in DVD
• Released on: 2003-09-23
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: Spanish
• Subtitled in: English, French, Portuguese
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 128 minutes

Amazon.com
It is impossible to predict where John Sayles will travel at any given time in his film career, but Men with Guns is one of the director's most surprising journeys. Shot in Spanish, with a little-known cast, the film is a beguiling mix of the political and the mythical. A well-heeled doctor (Argentine actor Federico Luppi) in an unnamed Latin country leaves his comfortable home, in search of former medical students who may be caught in the political violence of the countryside. Although Sayles casts an unflinching eye on the issues of poverty and "willful ignorance" (embodied by the doctor, a well-meaning but complacent man), Men with Guns has a lush visual style and a great grab-bag of songs on the soundtrack. It's a slow and sometimes dreamlike movie, but by the time we reach the end it feels as though something special has transpired. --Robert Horton

DVD features
The commentary track by writer-director-editor John Sayles is unusually valuable in shedding light on the film's mix of political reality and magical realism. It's like spending a couple of hours with a really smart, well-spoken expert on this subject. He also gives background on the shooting in Mexico, and the way the production gave the film a dummy title, given the inflammatory danger of having the words "Men with Guns" written on everything. --Robert Horton

From The New Yorker
John Sayles's first film since "Lone Star" is no match for that relaxed and haunting tale. Federico Luppi (as strong here as he was in "Cronos") plays Fuentes, a government doctor, all white hair and good suits, who leaves his dignified life to track down his students who were sent, armed with medicines and high ideals, into remote areas of an unnamed Latin American country. The journey involves the getting of wisdom and the loss of faith, as Fuentes discovers the horrors that befell his protégés. The movie is calm and considered, but also schematic; you can't help feeling that you're being taught a lesson-a true and valuable one, perhaps, but it's still enough to block the flow of the drama. The story jerks along in episodes, although, to be fair, some of these are beautifully told: the most harrowing involves a priest (Damián Alcázar) whose Christian courage fails him in his, and others', hour of need. In Spanish. -Anthony Lane
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

A haunting video that will leave you thinking ...
This movie grapples with some serious issues. What, exactly is going on politically in South America? Where does individual responsibility lie? What does helping people really mean? What kind of legacy is it possible to leave? The setting of this movie is an unnamed country in South America. The writer/director, John Sayles, did this on purpose. This is to show that the kind of thing depicted in the movie could happen anywhere. However, it was shot in Mexico, in Spanish, with English subtitles.

The movie starts Federico Luppi as Dr. Humberto Fuentes, a wealthy doctor who is approaching retirement and has never paid close attention to the realities of his country. His greatest achievement, the "legacy" he is leaving, is his participation in an international health program in which he trained young doctors to work in the poorest of villages.

I watched this movie with horror and then, finally, resignation, as Dr. Fuentes travels in the mountains and makes startling discoveries. I made a few startling discoveries myself -- the abject poverty of the people, the disregard for human life, the acceptance by the people of this as a way of life. He finds that the people have no food. He finds that both the army and the guerillas are equally brutal. The movie takes us all on a journey with Dr. Fuentes. Along the way we meet a homeless child, a priest who lives with his own private demons, and a deserter from the army with a history of participating in the carnage. The movie goes deeper and deeper into the despair and devastation.

This is not a comfortable video to watch as it brings the viewer not only into the realities of the political systems in South America, but to the basic question of individual responsibility. I recommend it for those who are willing to take a fresh look at these things. You will not be smilling after viewing this video. But you will be thinking.

A brilliant parable; possibly John Sayles' best work
Those at a certain station in life will identify strongly with Dr. Fuentes, the main character in John Sayles' deeply insightful "Men with Guns." Aware that he's facing a terminal illness, Fuentes seeks to leave behind a legacy in the way in which he trains others to use their own gifts. He realizes this is the most effective way to pass on the knowledge and awareness that he's achieved during his life.

That's why I'm not comfortable when other reviewers have said he's "naive." Yes, he's uninformed about his country's politics, perhaps intentionally so. But he's also the only character in the film who treats all others with respect and is able to interact with them all. And, without giving anything away, note that Fuentes succeeds.

This is a deeply thoughtful, almost spiritual film, and I have great respect for John Sayles for writing, directing, and producing it.

One of my favorite movies ever
This is a great film. Don't be deceived by the title, it is not a violent film, though it is about violence.

There seems to be a debate here about where the movie takes place, whether Mexico, Guatamala, or somewhere in South America. According to John Sayles, the answer is all of the above. Though it was filmed in Mexico, Sayles purposely set it in an unnamed country to illustrate that, at least in one sense, the various conflicts in latin american countries are essentially the same--one group of "men with guns" supposily is fighting with another group of "men with guns," but really all both groups are doing is terrorizing the local people who live there. To the villagers, it doesn't matter which group is the government and which are the rebels, or which ideology each group claims to be fighting for. This general point could apply equally to many countries in latin america who have had rebel movements over the past 20 years (this includes Guatamala, but also Columbia, Peru, El Salvador, and unfortunately several others). While people familiar with Central America will recognize that the villagers wear Mayan dress, that is more due to where the movie was filmed than an intent to set it in a particular country. The soundtrack is comprised of music from almost every latin american country, from Argentina to Mexico, and Sayles says in the liner notes that he did this to emphasize that the film is not about any particular place, but rather what those conflicts have in common and why they remain so intractable.