Justified Lives Morality & Narrative in the Films of Sam Peckinpah

In the first book to critically examine each of the fourteen feature films Sam Peckinpah directed during his career, Michael Bliss stresses the persistent moral and structural elements that permeate Peckinpah's work. By examining the films in great detail, Bliss makes clear the moral framework of temptation and redemption with which Peckinpah was concerned while revealing the director's attention to narrative. Bliss shows that each of Peckinpah's protagonists is involved with attempting, in the words ofRidethe High Country'sSteve Judd, "to enter my house justified." The validity of this systematic method is clearly demonstrated in the chapter devoted toThe Wild Bunch. Byenumerating the doublings and triplings of action and dialogue found in the film, Bliss underscores its symbolic and structural complexity. Beginning the chapters treatingJunior BonnerandThe Getawaywith analyses of their important title sequences, Bliss shows how these frequently disregarded pieces present in miniature the major moral and narrative concerns of the films. In his chapter onThe Osterman Weekend, Bliss makes apparent Peckinpahs awareness of and concern with the self-reflexive nature of filmmaking itself. Bliss shows that like John Ford, Peckinpah moved from optimism to pessimism. The films of the director's early period, fromThe Deadly CompanionstoCable Hogue,support the romantic ideals of adventure and camaraderie and affirm a potential for goodness in America. In his second group of films, which begins withStraw Dogsand ends withBring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia, both heroes and hope have vanished. It is only inThe Osterman Weekendthat Peckinpah appears finally to have renewed his capacity for hope, allowing his career to close in a positive way.Bliss, Michael is the author of 'Justified Lives Morality & Narrative in the Films of Sam Peckinpah' with ISBN 9780809318230 and ISBN 0809318237.