Let's Go With Pancho Villa

This 1936 film by Fernando de Fuentes is no forgotten masterpiece, but it's certainly historically interesting—not just as an example of the work of an important Mexican writer-director, but also as an examination of how Villa's countrymen looked back on the career of the revolutionary leader (assassinated only 13 years earlier). Villa (Domingo Soler) himself, who's been played on screen by actors as disparate as Wallace Beery and Antonio Banderas (as well as by Yul Brynner and Telly Savalas!) isn't really the center of attention, nor a terribly heroic figure. Let's Go With Pancho Villa is actually about six Mexican peasants from a single village who join Villa's army and courageously distinguish themselves: but five die in the course of the campaign, the last by disease, and the sole survivor leaves for home, more than a little disillusioned. The film lacks epic scope, with most of the battle sequences looking curiously cramped, and suffers from a dramatic standpoint as well (the script is rather clumsily episodic and the six major characters little more than stereotypes). In addition, the DVD transfer also sports some technical flaws, such as occasional dropouts and disfiguring scratches. Still, the film is a significant example of Latin American cinema of the 1930s, and on that basis should be considered a strong optional purchase. (F. Swietek)