The Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa needs money to fund his war against the current government in Mexico and also against the American federals who try to steal Mexico's oil and other Natural Richness, as well to add Mexico's lands to US. Pancho also knows that he is not well seen in US because of the press campaign against him, so he decides to invite many studios to shoot his battles and his life, in order to raise money for financing guns and ammunition and also for people to get a better impression of his attitudes.
The Mutual Film Corporation sends Frank Thayer and a film crew to make a deal with Pancho and to start shooting. Thayer stays fascinated with Pancho, and after the failure of Thayer's initial footage, he convinces Aitkin to invest even more money in a second attempt,with a longer and more personal movie about Pancho's life.
I personally enjoyed this movie a lot. I randomly choose this movie to watch to practice my Spanish, but I am glad I did it! I am not much familiar with Pancho Villa's story to know if the movie is accurate or not, but I liked to see a movie with a different story from a different hero that is not very famous outside Mexico. And It was good to see a movie portraying Mexico's side of the story for a change.
I think Antonio Bandeiras is great in his role( and it was good to see him talking in Spanish as well!), rude and soft at the same time, and I believe that this movie has one of his best performances.
Such a pity that this movie didn't get the much wider viewing audience that it deserves!
Ps: I stayed curious to watch the original movie from Pancho Villa from the 20's. Does anyone knows if it is really lost?
The Mutual Film Corporation sends Frank Thayer and a film crew to make a deal with Pancho and to start shooting. Thayer stays fascinated with Pancho, and after the failure of Thayer's initial footage, he convinces Aitkin to invest even more money in a second attempt,with a longer and more personal movie about Pancho's life.
I personally enjoyed this movie a lot. I randomly choose this movie to watch to practice my Spanish, but I am glad I did it! I am not much familiar with Pancho Villa's story to know if the movie is accurate or not, but I liked to see a movie with a different story from a different hero that is not very famous outside Mexico. And It was good to see a movie portraying Mexico's side of the story for a change.
I think Antonio Bandeiras is great in his role( and it was good to see him talking in Spanish as well!), rude and soft at the same time, and I believe that this movie has one of his best performances.
Such a pity that this movie didn't get the much wider viewing audience that it deserves!
Ps: I stayed curious to watch the original movie from Pancho Villa from the 20's. Does anyone knows if it is really lost?