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.

Director:

Tommy Lee Jones

Writer:

Guillermo Arriaga

Stars:

Tommy Lee Jones, Barry Pepper, Dwight Yoakam

5 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tommy Lee Jones	...	Pete Perkins
Barry Pepper	...	Mike Norton
Julio Cesar 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

Storyline

A man is shot and quickly buried in the high desert of west Texas. The body is found and reburied in Van Horn's town cemetery. Pete Perkins, a local ranch foreman, kidnaps a Border Patrolman and forces him to disinter the body. With his captive in tow and the body tied to a mule, Pete undertakes a dangerous and quixotic journey into Mexico.

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Plot Keywords:

female nudity | woman | united states of america | border | u.s. border patrol | 

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Taglines:

For justice. For loyalty. For friendship.

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Genres:

Adventure | Crime | Drama | Mystery | Western

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, violence and sexuality

Details

Official Sites:

Sony Classics [United States]

Country:

France USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

24 February 2006 (USA)

Also Known As:

The 3 Burials of Melquiades Estrada

Filming Locations:

Shafter, Texas, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$15,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$759,792 (France), 2 December 2005

Opening Weekend USA:

$23,859, 18 December 2005

Gross USA:

$5,023,275, 4 June 2006

Company Credits

Production Co:

EuropaCorp,The Javelina Film Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

121 min 121 min 107 min (TV)

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Tommy Lee Jones's theatrical directing debut. His only other directing credit was the TV movie The Good Old Boys (1995).

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Goofs

The alcohol given to Mike Norton by the Mexican bear hunters is caramel colored. Later, after the third burial, the alcohol is now dark brown.

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Quotes

[Pete makes a date with two girls and introduces them to Melquiades]
Melquiades Estrada: That's the one from the cafe, right?
Pete Perkins: Yes, genius.
Melquiades Estrada: But she's married!
Pete Perkins: So's the other one.
Melquiades Estrada: Oh, shit.

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Crazy Credits

The title of the film and the various title cards are in both English and Spanish.

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Connections

Featured in Siskel & Ebert: Glory Road/Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World/The Three Burials of Melquides Estrada/Bubble/Why We Fight/Tristan & Isolde (2006)

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Soundtracks

Workin' Man Blues
(1969)
Written by Merle Haggard
Performed by Merle Haggard
© Sony / ATV Music Publishing LLC d/b/a Tree Production
(P) 1985 Sony / ATV Music Publishing LLC d/b/a Tree Production
Courtesy of Sony / ATV Music Publishing LLC d/b/a Tree Production

User Reviews

Nobody is beyond redemption...

The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada is for me the film that saved 2005. Written by Guillermo Arriaga, also writer of "Amores Perros" and "21 grams" and the first movie of Tommy Lee Jones as a director (but also lead actor), "The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada" tells the story of Ranch hand Pete Perkins (Tommy Lee Jones) who wants to fulfill the promise he made to his recently deceased Mexican friend by burying him in his hometown in Mexico. The power of this modern western and initiatic journey resides in the complexity of the characters, their depth and their controversial behavior. None of the protagonists are one dimensional; none of them are right or wrong but all of them do right and wrong things. They are not always rational, and most of the time they feel lost. In one word they all appear profoundly human. Build over a chase dynamic fueled with contrasts and paradoxes, the film opposes Wild West landscape and Modern carton built houses, 4WD tracking hunt and horse back journey, fake TV soaps and true friendship but maybe most of all Freedom and Prison. Indeed most if not all characters are trapped in their apathetic lives from which they can't or don't want to escape forcing us to ask ourselves how close is our lives to the spectacle projected in front of our eyes. Melquiades Estrada embodies this possibility of Escape and now that he has been buried 3 times he transcends this Freedom making redemption possible not only through death but also through rebirth, suggesting that nobody is beyond it.