"The mediocre movie explains everything twice and always means exactly what it says. It waves its sincerity aloft like a truce flag. It leaves no questions unanswered. It tells you exactly where you should stand in relation to its characters and its subject matter. It is frequently soothing because it tells you that you are right. But it tends not to stick in the memory because there's nothing there to wonder about." - Vincent Canby
Set in an unnamed Latin American country, "Men With Guns" revolves around Dr Fuentes, an ageing physician who once trained a group of students to provide health care for poverty-stricken citizens who live in remote agricultural communities.
When he hears rumours that his former students are dead or dying, Fuentes bravely attempts to investigate. What follows is a tale akin to Conrad's "Hearts of Darkness", in which the doctor ventures deeper and deeper into the countryside, until he comes face to face with the "men with guns"; military and guerrilla forces who terrorise peasants.
Like most of director John Sayles' films, "Men With Guns" is a quasi-Marxist tract (Marxism, at its best, is far more radical) about working class struggle. Here, though, Sayles attempts to depict feudalism as just another hierarchal market system (and vice versa). And rather than the tone of angry resistance which coloured his earlier films, Sayles adopts instead a tone of almost total futility. As our hero travels further into the countryside he grows more and more disillusioned, the disconnect (and also, the implicit connection) between his cosy middle classy city life and the violent peasantry becoming increasingly unbearable.
Indeed, the different peasants Dr Fuentes encounters all demonstrate themselves to be completely resolved to their fates. They identify themselves as gum people, coffee people, banana people, history having long conditioned them into accepting subservience.
7.5/10 – Though well meaning, and though its message is positively vital, this is an overlong, aesthetically plain and badly paced film, lacking the nuances of Sayles' best work. The film's final 20 minutes elevate things somewhat. Worth one viewing.
Set in an unnamed Latin American country, "Men With Guns" revolves around Dr Fuentes, an ageing physician who once trained a group of students to provide health care for poverty-stricken citizens who live in remote agricultural communities.
When he hears rumours that his former students are dead or dying, Fuentes bravely attempts to investigate. What follows is a tale akin to Conrad's "Hearts of Darkness", in which the doctor ventures deeper and deeper into the countryside, until he comes face to face with the "men with guns"; military and guerrilla forces who terrorise peasants.
Like most of director John Sayles' films, "Men With Guns" is a quasi-Marxist tract (Marxism, at its best, is far more radical) about working class struggle. Here, though, Sayles attempts to depict feudalism as just another hierarchal market system (and vice versa). And rather than the tone of angry resistance which coloured his earlier films, Sayles adopts instead a tone of almost total futility. As our hero travels further into the countryside he grows more and more disillusioned, the disconnect (and also, the implicit connection) between his cosy middle classy city life and the violent peasantry becoming increasingly unbearable.
Indeed, the different peasants Dr Fuentes encounters all demonstrate themselves to be completely resolved to their fates. They identify themselves as gum people, coffee people, banana people, history having long conditioned them into accepting subservience.
7.5/10 – Though well meaning, and though its message is positively vital, this is an overlong, aesthetically plain and badly paced film, lacking the nuances of Sayles' best work. The film's final 20 minutes elevate things somewhat. Worth one viewing.