IMDb > The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2005)
The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada
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The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2005) More at IMDbPro »

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The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2005) -- Ranch hand Pete Perkins looks to fulfill the promise to his recently deceased best friend by burying him in his hometown in Mexico.
The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2005) -- Ranch hand Pete Perkins looks to fulfill the promise to his recently deceased best friend by burying him in his hometown in Mexico.
The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2005) -- Ranch hand Pete Perkins looks to fulfill the promise to his recently deceased best friend by burying him in his hometown in Mexico.
The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2005) -- Ranch hand Pete Perkins looks to fulfill the promise to his recently deceased best friend by burying him in his hometown in Mexico.
The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2005) -- AllTrailers.net - Trailer (Flash)

Overview

User Rating:
7.6/10   17,088 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 1% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writer (WGA):
Guillermo Arriaga (written by)
Contact:
View company contact information for The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
3 February 2006 (USA) more
Tagline:
Nobody is beyond redemption. more
Plot:
Ranch hand Pete Perkins looks to fulfill the promise to his recently deceased best friend by burying him in his hometown in Mexico. full summary | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
Awards:
4 wins & 7 nominations more
User Comments:
Powerful and moving modern western more (186 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)
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Additional Details

Also Known As:
Three Burials: The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (Australia) (DVD box title) (UK) (DVD box title)
The 3 Burials of Melquiades Estrada (USA) (alternative spelling)
The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (International: English title)
Trois enterrements (France)
more
MPAA:
Rated R for language, violence and sexuality.
Runtime:
121 min | Argentina:121 min (Mar del Plata Film Festival) | Turkey:107 min (TV version)
Country:
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Certification:
Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | Netherlands:12 | Ireland:15A | Brazil:14 | Argentina:16 | Singapore:M18 | Australia:M | Iceland:16 | Portugal:M/16 | Canada:14A (Ontario) (Canadian Home Video rating) | Germany:12 (f) | USA:R (No. 42191) | Finland:K-13
Company:

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Director/Actor Jones gave each cast member a copy of Albert Camus' "The Stranger" to read so that they would understand alienation, a big theme in both the novel and the film. more
Goofs:
Factual errors: In the scene were Pete buys two beers and asks for directions in a Mexican store, the Mexican guy in the store is drinking an orange Topo Chico soft drink. The Topo Chico brand doesn't come in orange flavor in Mexico. Just in the USA. more
Quotes:
Pete Perkins: You try to run away again, and I'll kill you. I guess you know that by now.
Mike Norton: Yes, sir.
more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in Mujeres en el parque (2006) more
Soundtrack:
Workin' Man Blues more

FAQ

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168 out of 189 people found the following comment useful.
Powerful and moving modern western, 22 November 2005
Author: George Mpoukatsas from Europe

The "Three burials of Melquiades Estrada" is a multi-layered story of death, retribution, loneliness, and remembrance. Although it takes place in modern day Texas, its main character Pete Perkins, superbly played by Tommy Lee Jones, seems to be living resolutely in the past. He is determined to seek justice for his best friend's death and forces the guy responsible for to a journey across the borders in Mexico to locate the village of the deceased for a proper burial. This journey will bring forward the stark contrast between the values of two ways of life and the landscape transversed is both geographical and emotional.

Modern civilization throughout the film is mainly represented by 4WD cars, sniper rifles, dinners, shopping malls, trailers, and TV-sets incessantly showing soap operas, while the characters revelling into those manifestations are invariably emotionally numb, disaffected people, trapped to a perfunctory life from which they seem unable or unwilling to escape. Concomitantly the values of the old west, based on friendship, loyalty and commitment have ebbed, though they are still existent as embodied by the relationship of Pete with his best friend. Pete is forced to pursue his own sense of justice after being repeatedly scorned by the contemptuous behavior of the authorities towards him and his demand for rightful punishment of the culprit, a cool, violence prone and emotionally detached border-guard.

The story is masterly told in a sturdy manner that perfectly serves the complexity of the excellent screenplay by an apposite use of flashbacks and wonderfully shot sequences. All the performances are top notch in their expressive minimalism, greatly contributing to the lasting emotional impact of this outstanding film.

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The Ending? alan118552
Pity For Mike (Pepper)? muse83
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