The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2005)

Director:

Tommy Lee Jones

Writer (WGA):

Guillermo Arriaga (written by)

Release Date:

3 February 2006 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Crime | Drama | Western

Tagline:

Nobody is beyond redemption.

Plot:

Ranch hand Pete Perkins looks to fulfill the promise to his recently deceased best friend by burying him in his hometown in Mexico.

Plot Keywords:

Mexico | Mexican | Texas | Desert | Promise

Awards:

4 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

Tommy Lee Jones	...	Pete Perkins
Barry Pepper	...	Mike Norton
Julio Cedillo	...	Melquiades Estrada (as Julio César Cedillo)
Dwight Yoakam	...	Belmont
January Jones	...	Lou Ann Norton
Melissa Leo	...	Rachel
Levon Helm	...	Old Man with Radio
Mel Rodriguez	...	Captain Gomez
Cecilia Suárez	...	Rosa
Ignacio Guadalupe	...	Lucio
Vanessa Bauche	...	Mariana
Irineo Alvarez	...	Manuel (as Irineo Álvarez)
Guillermo Arriaga	...	Juan
Josh Berry	...	Border Patrolman
Rodger Boyce	...	Salesman

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)

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:

USA | France

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

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

Filming Locations:

Big Bend National Park, Texas, USA

Company:

Europa Corp.

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.

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.

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.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Mujeres en el parque (2006)

Soundtrack:

Workin' Man Blues

Powerful and moving modern western

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.