mebentley-967-985588 Review of Western

Western (2015)

A picture of two peoples driven apart by far-away bureaucrats

[10/10 · 14 July 2015]

This movie is a documentary, and its value is in the picture it paints, the story it tells, and not in any dramatic development. It contrasts the unity and harmony of people on both sides of the border with the construction of the border fence by Homeland Security, and the paranoia of politicians in Washington, and in Austin, with the seamless movement of peoples from both sides of the river. Having grown up in West Texas, this movie was a nostalgia trip for me. The fear and xenophobia of the bureaucrats is contrasted with the reasonableness of the mayors of Eagle Pass and Piedras Negras. Unfortunately, both of these men are now deceased, the mayor of Piedras Negras in a plane crash during the filming of the movie and Chad Foster from cancer after the movie was completed. We could use their reasonableness today when the forces of fear work to drive the peoples of the Rio Grande farther apart.