Blackthorn - La vera storia di Butch Cassidy

Blackthorn (Dir. Mateo Gil, 2012) is what I'd like to describe as a "real western". It is full of shootouts, lost treasures and cinematic vistas. I have always been a western fan and whenever a new western is made I make a huge effort to catch it on release. Unfortunately Blackthorn isn't on in many cinemas and so many of you will have to wait for it on DVD/Blu-ray at the beginning of June.

Blackthorn is centred on a retired Butch Cassidy, who now goes by the name James Blackthorn after he and the Sundance Kid narrowly escaped death in Bolivia. One of the only downsides about this film is the fact that Paul Newman died four years before its creation and therefore couldn't revive his role as Butch Cassidy. But Sam Shepard embraces the role of Butch Cassidy and provides a strong and driven protagonist for the film. The character Eduardo Apodaca (Eduardo Noriega) puts it best when he says "you're a damn legend". As that is what Butch Cassidy is, a legend, and it was only a matter of time before cinema decided to embrace his presence once again for another fantastic western.

Both Shepard and Noriega are implausible in their roles, complimented with a sturdy performance of a washed up pinkerton by Stephen Rea. But an actor who hasn't had nearly enough recognition within cinema is Nikolaj Coaster-Waldau, who a lot of you will recognise from the popular television series, Game of Thrones (2011). His presence in Blackthorn not only reinforces the film, as he plays a young Butch Cassidy, but he also bears great similarity to Shepard conveniently. Through the use of flashbacks we see how Butch ends up in Bolivia and how his partner Sundance is no longer with him. These flashbacks also aid in fortifying the attachment the audience has with the protagonist, James Blackthorn.

Everyone will notice when watching Blackthorn that it fantastically utilises on-location shooting. The open vistas, forested valleys and Bolivian villages create a strong sense of verisimilitude while also making it very clear how much bigger the world is than the two protagonists. Another thing this film explores is how to cope with old age. As it is clear that perhaps Butch has lived such an exciting life and longs to return to it before he eventually dies. But after experiencing this freedom will he yearn for a quieter life with his long-lost "nephew"?

This film is full of everything I look for when watching a western. The only problem I had with it was its length; it almost feels like three, thirty minute long episodes that have been pasted together to create a movie. After the first thirty minutes the narrative has progressed a great deal, there has even been an acoustic cover by Shepard of "Sam Hall". The flashback scenes in Blackthorn are imperative to the plot, as they hold the film together and without them the film would have a much less gripping story.

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Great outdoor cinematography highlight this darn good Western. The story of an aging outlaw returning home is engaging and the morality tale is delivered decisively. It has a number of dramatic details that make it believable (taking a slice of meat off the dead horse and roasting it on the campfire).

In all the expanse of the Bolivian landscape the humanity and characterizations are not lost and we care about Butch Cassidy, his lady love, and even the ex-Pinkerton who discovers, then assists our anti-hero on his way to settle the score.

All the elements of classic Westerns are at work here and the pace is methodical and maintained for a rhythmic ride. The gun-play is realistic and never stylized and the result is a new Western with an old West feel.

I grew up watching westerns, and Butch and Sundance must be up there with my favorite bank robbers. I still love a good western but Hollywood seems to be to busy with re-makes of all kinds, vampires that live in sun light type films, over done special effects galore films, and cheap ass horror film after cheap ass horror film. So I was happy to see this film coming out, good cast, great story, and fantastic scenery to boot! I am not to sure about the stories take on Butch, but besides that I really enjoyed it, the scenery was fantastically caught on film, the story moves at a nice pace, and at times really hit a nerve with me about life, friends that have come and gone, and growing old, and looking back at what we might have done different.

Anyway I enjoyed this film, not a Oscar winner, but well worth it, solid acting by all actors, I gave it a 7.5 out of 10

Glad to see they can still make nice westerns like this one. The whole movie is beautifully shot with amazing nature scenery. It's the story about an aged Butch Cassidy that goes by the name James Blackthorn now and that lives a retired life somewhere in Bolivia. He was supposed to be dead, killed with his comrade the Sundance Kid. So the story goes back an forth between the young Cassidy and the old Blackthorn, but it stays mainly focused on Blackthorn. In the flashbacks Nicolaj Coaster-Waldau and Padraic Delaney play Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. But the star of this movie is Sam Shepard. He is cut for this role and puts down a very good performance playing Blackthorn. The richness of this movie are the stunning locations and if you are a nature lover for this alone it is already worth a watch.

Blackthorn is an estimable contribution to Western movies. Contrary to the American style, here the epic it's illustrated in a less gimmicky way. There's not apotheosis at the endings of the sequences with a high emotional music theme. Poetry it's in the words, the silences, the landscapes and the development of the characters. Apparently it's a traditional story about compensation with the past, but there's much more. An a-la-Hawks representation of male friendship, a social message, a nostalgic review of classic Western and two little twists in the story that avoid a possible predictable ending. Very interesting it's the Mateo Gil's choice, in opposition to the Roy Hill movie, to show Bolivia as a wide open country. While Roy Hill, in the 1969 movie, shoot the South American scenes in a cloistered vision -to give them a claustrophobic value that works as allegory of the characters mood- in contrast with the North American scenes, Gil hasn't renegade to shoot the desert, the wide plains and even the canyons from Bolivia brought out by the brilliant cinematography of Ruíz Anchía. Perhaps there're a couple of moments that the narrative pace goes down in contemplative scenes, but overall the rhythm and the story will keep your attention. Great works of Sam Shephard, Eduardo Noriega, Stephen Rea and Nikolaj Coaster-Waldau. You would like Blackthorn if you like Unforgiven, Appaloosa, Open Range or, of course, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid but not if your taste it's nearest to The Quick and the Dead, Young Guns I or II, or Cowboys & Aliens.