And Starring Pancho Villa As Himself (2003) DVD

And Starring Pancho Villa As Himself

Starring Antonio Banderas as the legendary Pancho Villa, Bruce Beresford's star-studded production brings to life a truly surreal story. In the early 1900s, Villa, the enthusiastic Mexican revolutionary, was looking for a way to support his cause. Enter master filmmaker D.W. Griffith (Colm Feore), who was trying to take cinema to a whole new level. The resulting partnership resulted in the film THE LIFE OF GENERAL VILLA, a picture that bravely blurred the line between fiction and reality. In the process, Villa became a cultural sensation, giving both men the acclaim that they desperately seeked. Written by Larry Gelbart, AND STARRING PANCHO VILLA AS HIMSELF is another finely crafted production.

Starring	Antonio Banderas, Alan Arkin, Eion Bailey, Jim Broadbent
Director	Bruce Beresford
Studio	WARNER HOME VIDEO
Run time	DVD: 1 hr 32 mins
Certificate
Genres	Drama
Language	DVD: English
Released	DVD: 02 Aug 2004 Production year: 2003
Format	DVD

Most helpful member's review of And Starring Pancho Villa As Himself
View all
10 out of 10 people found this review helpful

Excellent account of an absurd, but true, story

Pancho Villa is a Mexican general who makes a deal with a movie studio where he will get $25,000 in gold, in exchange for the rights to film his battles. This is quite an absurd idea, especially as it leads to certain battles being 'made to measure' for the camera, and it becomes even more absurd when you realize that this is actually a true story. Yes, that's right; And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself is actually a film about the making of another film from 1914, known as 'The Life of General Villa'. The film is a little like Shadow of the Vampire, in that it depicts the making of an old film, using today's actors to play the people involved in the making of the old film. This film was made for American TV, and to me this seems a great injustice and a commentary on what the American film industry thinks of it's audience. Like 1995's Citizen X, the only reason that I can think of as to why this wasn't given a cinema release is that it would be lost on it's potential audience.

The film features a number of familiar faces. People that you often see in films, but don't know their names. Here we have the excellent Alan Arkin, who's one of my favourite 'smaller' stars without a doubt, Jim Broadbent, Eion Bailey and Anthony Head from the rubbish 'Buffy' program also makes an appearance. The real acting plaudits, however, go to Antonio Banderas for his complete embodiment of the title character. I've heard a number of people say bad things about Antonio in this movie, but I have no idea why; here he gives what is probably the best performance of his career. In fact, he is so good that after a while you forget that you're watching an actor and it actually seems like Pancho Villa really is starring as himself. This does the movie no end of favours on the reality front as it continually switches between the movie that they're making and the reality of Pancho Villa's revolution. This movie does an excellent job of catching an authentic Mexican atmosphere, and this is made even finer by way of an excellent, subtle, score.

The battles in the film are excellently staged, and also quite violent and bloody; which is always nice to see. That came as something of a surprise to me as, with this being a TV movie, I wasn't expecting the battles to be particularly well done. The message that this film has seems to be that people can be made to believe anything. As one character professes at one point in the film, 'the lens is mightier than the sword', and through the way that the film shows the difference between what the film that the characters are making shows and what the truth is; this message comes across loud and clear.

Please don't miss this movie because it is cursed with '(TV)' after it's title; as although it isn't a masterpiece, it most definitely is well worth seeing.
- - Nick from England
  - Posted 14 Dec 2004 20:41
Most recent members' review of And Starring Pancho Villa As Himself
View all
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful

Review by a Mexican!!!

This film presents historically exactly how things happened in the revolution in my country.

Banderas was larger than life as Pancho Villa, but I felt something was lacking in his portrayal. Banderas portrayed him as egotistical, which he may well have been, however he was the only Mexican to fight the Americans in their own country and then return to Mexico, and his cleverness and bravery was sadly underplayed in this film. It is believed the Americans were so scared of him that they removed his head after he was shot.

Whether this is an accurate portrayal of Villa as a person is debateable, but it's refreshing to see a film about Mexican history with some Hollywood players in the lead roles. Watch it!
- - Eduardo Manzano from North London, UK
  - Posted 24 Oct 2004 20:13
More like this
View all
Showing 1 to 4 of 20

[+] [-]
Previous
Ten

Sign up

Buy

44 Minutes - The North Hollywood Shoot-Out

Sign up

Buy

Kokoda - 39th Battalion

Sign up

Buy

Spy Kids

Sign up

Buy
Next