Bisbee '17

It was alluded to in the movie, but was ultimately not portrayed. What happened to the deportees? Look it up and you will find out that some deportees MADE money from their deportation. There was a class action lawsuit with such substantial settlements that some bought ranches, started businesses, etc. Just wondering why this wasn't portrayed in the movie?

Also, some deportees might have been emotionally damaged and moved around afterward, not being able to settle. Yet, if you read their prior history, they were moving around before. This was the Wild West after all.

One more thing - Anarchists and Communists we're running riot throughout the country and the world. They were a real threat.

BISBEE '17 (2018) - Part Documentary, Part Performance Art, Robert Greene's movie tells the tale of an Arizona mining town which, in 1917, forcibly expelled over 1,300 striking miners. The mining company, Phelps Dodge, conspired with local law enforcement to deputize hundreds upon hundreds of the local citizenry to enforce the deportation at gunpoint, threatening the workers with death should they ever return. To commemorate the centennial, Greene and his filmmakers staged a reenactment of the events and filmed it using locals as the 'cast'. From the very first shot of a school custodian directing his co-workers to get out of his shot, BISBEE '17 makes no secret of blurring the lines between filmmaker and subjects. The current occupants of the dying town (the mines have been shut for decades) range from relative newcomers, to direct descendants of the events of 1917 (in one case a family where one brother arrested his own sibling) to a retired exec of Phelps Dodge, who, unsurprisingly still defends the company's actions. As many of the workers who were deported were minorities, the symbolism with present day immigration struggles are never far from the surface - Arizona being a particular hotspot. As the 'actors' are being cast as specific individuals for the re-enactment, we garner details of what happened to not only those persons, but, in the town itself. The format is sure to offend Documentary purists, but it does make for an engrossing movie. Still, its overlong and one can certainly question how effective it is in truly bringing out the facts of what happened a century prior. Further, when do finally get to the re-enactment, it isn't nearly as forceful as one would like, what with the Documentary crew being visible during the crowd scenes, and the somewhat scattershot editing. BISBEE '17 is an effective history lesson, if unorthodox. It calls to mind the even more powerful AN ACT OF KILLING (the 2012 Doc about Indonesia) and the more 'pure' 2017 SPETTACOLO (by the Director of MARWENCOL) which was about a town in Italy which has bee putting on annual plays with its locals for decades. Greene's Documentary puts the spotlight on a little known historical event, even if one has to struggle with its POV.

I read a good review in the paper. Since my mother and her family grew up in Benson Arz. I had a personal interest. I taped stories by my grandfather about his early days in Arizona but he never mentioned this part Of history. He was there when it happened. He worked in a mine and later on the El Paso & Southwestern Railroad. Perhaps he was embarrassed to talk about it.

I thought the movie was very well done. The towns people made good actors. The story was a real human Interest story. It was so wrong to deport the striking miners. My today's standards it would have been a huge crime. According to my grandfather Southern Arizona was rough quite lawless. Vigalanties and Gun fights like Hollywood movies have depicted for decades.. I am sorry this movie did not get wide Coverage.

Alan K Weeks

I watched this after reading some mixed reviews. I really tried to watch it and waited for it to get better but it didn't.

It drags on and on and is slow to get to the point.

It's an incredible story but you ate better off reading about it in wikipaedia... you will seriously find out more information and save yourself a couple of boring hours

Set in Bisbee, Arizona, this film both documents the Bisbee Deportation as well as residents' views today. The town of Bisbee was ripped apart by the deportation, and 100 years later it is still divisive. This movie may not only tell this important story but also, finally, provide the town with some healing.