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And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself (2003) 6.6
Hollywood makes a deal with Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa to film his war and recreate his life. Director:Bruce BeresfordWriter:Larry Gelbart |
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Title: And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself (TV 2003)
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The Life of General Villa
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Cast
| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Antonio Banderas | ... | ||
| Eion Bailey | ... |
Frank Thayer
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| Alan Arkin | ... |
Sam Drebben
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| Jim Broadbent | ... |
Harry Aitken
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| Matt Day | ... |
John Reed
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| Michael McKean | ... |
William Christy Cabanne
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| Colm Feore | ... | ||
| Alexa Davalos | ... |
Teddy Sampson
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| Anthony Head | ... |
William Benton
(as Anthony Stewart Head)
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| Kyle Chandler | ... |
Raoul Walsh
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| Saul Rubinek | ... |
Eli Morton
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Cosme Alberto | ... |
Abraham Sanchez
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| Damián Alcázar | ... | ||
| Pedro Armendáriz Jr. | ... |
Don Luis Terrazas
(as Pedro Armendáriz)
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| Fernando Becerril | ... |
Priest
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Plot Summary
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Plot Synopsis
See more »
Storyline
Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa (Antonio Banderas) finds himself without adequate funding to finance his war against the military-run government. He also finds himself at odds with the Americans because of the Hearst media empire's press campaign against him. To counter both of these, he sends emissaries to movie producers to convince them to pay to film his progress and the actual battles. Producer D.W. Griffith (Colm Feore) becomes interested and sends Frank Thayer (Eion Bailey) with a film crew to develop film reels. Thayer becomes horrified and fascinated by the bandit. He finds an enigmatic individual that is both ghoulishly brutal and charmingly captivating. The resulting film became the first feature length movie, introducing scores of Americans to the true horrors of war that they had never personally seen. Thayer sold the studios on making the film despite their concerns that no one would sit through a movie longer than 1 hour by convincing them that they could raise the ... Written by John Sacksteder <jsackste@bellsouth.net>
Plot Keywords:
pancho villa | battle | bandit | kissing while having sex | sex in a tent |Taglines:
Lights. Camera. Revolution.Certificate:
See all certifications »Parents Guide:
View content advisory »
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See full technical specs »
Details
Country:
USALanguage:
EnglishRelease Date:
7 September 2003 (USA) See more »Also Known As:
E Estrelando Pancho Villa See more »Company Credits
Show detailed
company contact information
on
IMDbPro »
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Color:
ColorAspect Ratio:
1.78 : 1
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Written by Gerardo Tamez
Performed by Tuna Normalista de Dan Miguel de Allende, Guanajuayo
Courtesy of Discos Imagen
See more »
Did You Know?
Trivia
Pancho Villa was actually considered a "Producer" on this film by Biograph Company. See more »Goofs
Griffith is shown to be making a short western in New York in 1914. It is a very cloudy and overcast day. In reality, Griffith has already moved his stock company out to California by then, plus he would have known not to shoot on such a cloudy day (there would not be enough light for the exposure). He also did not film any westerns in 1914, and would have been at work on Battle of the Sexes (1914) at this time. See more »Soundtracks
"Tierra Mestiza"Written by Gerardo Tamez
Performed by Tuna Normalista de Dan Miguel de Allende, Guanajuayo
Courtesy of Discos Imagen
See more »
Every hero is guilty of some atrocities, and Pancho Villa was no exception. Antonio Banderas delivers a convincing performance as a complicated man who had the brilliance to use the majesty of his own personality to help finance a peasant revolution in Mexico.
As docudramas go, this one is very well balanced ... it reveals the darker side of a legend, the people who tried to manipulate him, and the people he manipulated. Although the original film, the making of which is the heart of this story, has been lost to the ages, it is nonetheless a moving story.
How much is history and how much is Hollywood? Who can say? All I know is that I was more impressed than I expected to be, and more than just being entertained and educated, I was given a lot of food for thought. I sincerely hope that a Spanish language version of this will be available so that the people of Mexico can learn a different version of his story than the one that is in the books in their schools.
This was two hours of my life that I'm glad I spent in front of the screen, and I thank everyone involved for the experience. It is not the best movie I've seen this year, nor will it ever be on my Top Ten list, but it *IS* a very good example of what cinema *SHOULD* be, and all too often is not ... a thought provoking drama that tells a slightly different story than the one we thought we knew.