Wednesday, June 08, 2005
It’s certainly true that in the 1970’s American cinema found itself free to explore the enigmatic possibilities of film like it never had before, or after. While Monte Hellman’s Cockfighter is a small, modest film, it certainly can stand next to the best of what that era’s freedom allowed to blossom. As unsentimental, and no-nonsense a film as has ever been made, Cockfighter winds its way through a brief season of matches across the South. After taking a vow of silence (in part to end his load-mouthed ways after ruining a previous season), Warren Oates attempts to rise to the top ranks of the “sport,” which has become his sole obsession.
Obviously a movie about cockfighting is not going to be the faint of heart. Besides graphically showing the brutality of the fights themselves, there’s buckets of dead roosters, and one particularly memorable scene with Oates pulling a bird’s head clean off - yipes! Viewer beware - real life is harsh.
The unexplained, love / hate relationship between Oates and the always fun to watch Harry Dean Stanton creates another level of interest throughout the picture - there’s a certain weird respect there that is something unique. That respect seems to grow out of the fact that both characters play (pretty much) fair - while almost everybody else in the scene seems to be trying to cheat things to their own advantage (whether through sticking their finger up a rooster’s ass to get it to fight better - or just good old fashion robbery at gunpoint). Both have also had at least one relationship with the same woman - although there’s a certain indifference there too - even if in one case it leads to marriage.
Both Monte Hellman’s direction and Nestor Almendros’s cinematography work together perfectly to create a low-key, nonchalant atmosphere that perfectly captures that 1970’s American small town margin dweller feeling. It’s never showy, but always just right. A mysterious, but extremely confident film like Cockfighter could have been made at no other time. Highly recommended.
