April 14, 1998

Men With Guns, John Sayles' follow up to Lone Star, shows yet again the range and diversity of Mr. Sayles' interests and talents. After each Sayles film, I wonder what subject he can possibly cover next. His films, all written and directed by him, range in subject matter from the reunion of sixties radicals (The Return of the Secaucus Seven), to a housewife exploring homosexuality (Lianna), to a science fiction fantasy (Brother From Another Planet), to an Irish fable (The Secret of Roan Inish), to the West Virginia coal miner's strike (Matewan). Now Sayles turns his attention to the turmoils of Latin America in a film written in Spanish, English and various Indian languages.

Men With Guns is essentially a road movie. Doctor Fuentes (played by Federico Luppi, the star of the intriguing Mexican vampire film, Cronos) is a medical doctor practicing in the capital of an unnamed Latin American country. He is comfortable in the city, where his practice ministers to the elite, such as an army general. A few years back, Dr. Fuentes took part in a government-sponsored program which trained young doctors to go into the civil war-torn country and tend to the impoverished Indians living there. The Indians are identified with the crop they work on - Sugar people, Coffee people, Gum people, Salt people.

Dr. Fuentes is very proud of his participation in this program. Ignoring his family and the general (who tell him that the country is very dangerous), he plans a tour of the country to visit his students and mark their progress. Somewhat arrogantly, the doctor is going to seek his "legacy" created through the young doctors he trained. Fuentes sets off in his well-appointed Jeep Wagoneer to find his legacy.

The first young doctor that Dr. Fuentes searches out is a Dr. Cienfuegos. When he reaches the village of the "Sugar people" where Dr. Cienfuegos set up his practice, none of the Indians there will speak to him. Finally, an old blind woman explains to Dr. Fuentes that he is an outsider, and that's why no one will speak with him (she speaks to him because she is old and blind and has nothing left to lose). She relates that Dr. Cienfuegos is dead, having been burned by army soldiers for suspicion of assisting guerrillas. As Dr. Fuentes moves further on, he finds that similar fates met most of his young doctors (in some cases the doctors fell at the hands of the army, in some the guerrillas). In all cases, it is apparent that the doctors were never accepted by the Indians because they were outsiders and not to be trusted. Eventually, he learns that one of his young doctors, Dr. Montoya, has survived and can be found in a mythic city called the City of the Sky. He decides to travel further on to find her.

Along the way, Dr. Fuentes picks up fellow travelers, such as a young boy called Conejo, an army deserter called Domingo, and an ex-priest who refers to himself as a ghost. Each have their own stories of living in the country and witnessing or taking part in the atrocities committed. Dr. Fuentes also periodically meets boorish American tourists on the road (played by Mandy Patinkin and Kathryn Grody), who are apparently oblivious to the horrors around them. In their minds, the worst thing about the trip is that their car was stolen.

Men With Guns evokes shades of road stories and movies like Heart of Darkness (and Apocalypse Now), Easy Rider and even The Wizard of Oz. The hero journeys toward a goal, in this case to find his legacy, and meets up with people and situations which cause him to re-evaluate himself and his goals. This conflict forces him to see that his life and his world are not as they seemed. Unlike George Bailey in It's A Wonderful Life, Dr. Fuentes finds that his actions in training the young doctors may have no resonance in time. He may never leave a legacy.

Sayles makes the movie flow further on, like Dr. Fuentes' journey. We care about the characters and despair in their naivete (Dr. Fuentes) or stoicism toward their own lives (the Indians, Conejo and Domingo). The direction is fluid, the cinematography is gorgeous and the soundtrack is unforgettable. This is a very ambitious undertaking by Sayles, and well worth watching. I can't wait to see what John Sayles come up with next.

Mary Walsh My husband, Erik, and I are recent transplants from New England. We live in Longwood with our two cats, Ellie (from Damiel, the angel in the German film Wings of Desire) and Phineas, otherwise known as Blackie (which describes both his fur and his soul). Being childless, by choice, these are our substitutes, and we never miss a chance to discuss them as such, much to the annoyance of our friends with children. We lead very exciting lives, something like jet-setters, except that we rarely travel, don't go out much and both prefer to read or watch films (although Erik also likes professional wrestling, which he continually refers to as our country's second great art form, after jazz). Other Articles I've Written