journal features
movie reviews
photo of the day

movie review - The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada

the journal of Michael Werneburg

twenty-eight years and a million words

Tokyo, 2006.12.04

This is a heart-breaking story of an itinerant worker who dies in the US. A friend makes it his business to take the corpse back to the small town in Mexico where the dead man's love awaits his return. Not a lot of this movie is what it seems (there are multiple levels to this, e.g. a Canadian actor playing the "Gringo"), and I found the story both authentic and important. Beautifully set and perfectly cast, this is a masterpiece. The best movie I've seen all year.

A favorite. Strongly recommended.

rand()m quote

The fishermen know that the sea is dangerous and the storm terrible, but they have never found these dangers sufficient reason for remaining ashore.

—Vincent Van Gogh