Forums: The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada

The Smash hit at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival Directed by Tommy Lee Jones and starring Tommy Lee Jones andBarry Pepper.

Unfortunatly, it will probably never see a national release in the United States but keep an eye out for it if you're in the top 10 markets or when it hits DVD.

Check out the international trailers, they are all in english just as the movie is, but subtitled because the film was produced and released in Latin America.

movieweb/movies/film.php?3204

4.5/5

"Part Homer, part Dante, set on the Texas/Mexican border."
-- Boo Allen, DENTON RECORD CHRONICLE (TX)

"Tommy Lee Jones' stirring and deeply felt Three Burials proves one thing: Sometimes the most compelling films are the ones closest to the heart."
-- Kit Bowen, HOLLYWOOD.COM

"... the most impressive directorial debut the American cinema has seen in some time, a contemporary western both rough and poetic, laconic and passionate."
-- Sean Axmaker, SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER

In one of the most stirring and heartfelt films i've ever seen, Tommy Lee Jones stars and directs this tex/mex epic. The film is seperated into 3 acts, called the three Burials. The first two Burials are shot out of sequence, and the timeline flip flops backwards and forwards in order to keep certain events a mystery. But unlike Pulp Fiction, Memento,or other films shot out of sequence, The 3 Burials... Never overlaps the timelines. That is, it never has that all important scene in which charecters of the first timeline clash with charecters of the second timeline to bring the film home. Instead, Jones shows you the first piece of string, and the last piece of string, and leaves you to tie them together yourself. This motif of ambiguity only helps him in the third act, which is by far the longest, most focused, and best of the 3, to drive home the morals of loyalty and friendship that the film represents. The landscape of the film is so aestheically powerful that it creates a wonderful dichotomy with the grotesqueness of the death, disease, and hazards of the Mexican Desert displayed throughout the third act. Barry Pepper, the other male lead, is a perfect contrast to Jones' charecter. A very loud, sometimes obnoxious, stupid gringo who made a mistake and is now in a Texas-style game of forced Attrition. The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada is a deeply compelling film that is pure Noir legend. The film his half Mexican, half American, but its all heart.

Final Grade: B+ :thumbsup:

Do you think it might be up for the challenge of any Oscar nominations?

Probably not since it came out at the worst possible time oscar-wise. The academy would really have to remember it for a long time. However, i would not be surprised if it left a big enough impact for a screenplay nom. this year a lot of the screenplays were of indy films with small release. Examples: Match Point, the squid and the whale, good night and good luck, etc. This was an outstanding debut for Tommy Lee Jones as a director. It shouldnt take long to hit DVD, so i urge you all to rent or buy it.

Thanks Banshee il proberly ge tit once its 6.99$ at blockbuster, ow and serenity was a really good movie you should check it out sometime.