Film Forum

U.S., 1982
Directed by Robert M. Young
With Edward James Olmos, James Gammon, Brion James
Written by Victor Villaseñor and Robert M. Young
Music by W. Michael Lewis Edward, James Olmos
Based on Americo Paredes's With His Pistol in His Hand
In English and Spanish
Approx. 106 min. 4K restoration.

Circa 1901, a mistranslation by a Texan official leads to a case of fatal miscommunication, forcing Gregorio Cortez (Edward James Olmos) to run for his life from the pursuing Texas Rangers.

This restored version intentionally does not subtitle all sections, particularly those where Spanish is spoken. This choice highlights the challenges of communication across cultural and linguistic boundaries, emphasizing how translation can be mediated and unreliable, as the film often utilizes interpreters to explain crucial scenes.

Restored in 2016 by the Academy Film Archive. This project is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Presented with support from the Ada Katz Fund for Literature in Film

Reviews

“Beautifully shot and directed with great understatement, the result is a film of considerable poignancy and compassion.”
– Time Out

“One of the greatest and most criminally overlooked Westerns in the history of cinema.”
– Jim Hemphill, Filmmaker Magazine

“Helped kick-start the Chicano cinema movement upon its release in 1982.”
– Akiva Gottlieb, LA Times

“Still the best film I’ve ever been a part of in my life.”
– Edward James Olmos

“A testament to the difficulty of seeing and hearing across borders.”
– Clayton Dillard, Slant Magazine