REQUIEM FOR BILLY THE KID / (WS COL) - REQUIEM FOR BILLY THE KID / (WS COL)
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UPC: 698452204932
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| Product Description- Actors: Rudolph Wurlitzer, Kris Kristofferson, Tom Sullivan, Steve Sederwall
- Director: Anne Feinsilber
- Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
- Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
- Format: Color, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC
- Language (Original Language): English
- Release Date: 2007-07-24
- Running Time: 86 minutes
- Theatrical Release Date: 2006
Customer ReviewsReviewed on 2008-05-31 
Maybe one of the best of the lot
When I first watched this film, I was leery of what a French filmmaker would do with this material. I was surprised when I saw that for the relatively small amount of data onscreen, they pretty much got it right. The idea of Billy as a seriel killer or a psycho is pretty much refuted by everyone (including Garrett) who ever knew him, and his list of shootings was spectacularly unimpressive. In short, dime novels and bad movies live on while those who believe in them evidently haven't paid attention to the weight of evidence against this myth. This isn't to say that every outlaw was a saint, and neither was Billy, but Billy was subject to the same mythologizing as Calamity Jane and others who's lives, while adventurous, weren't exactly as books and t.v. have portrayed.
Instead of "artsy," I found the cinematography gorgeous to the point of hypnotic, and it gave a nice background to the areas Henry (Billy) traveled through or lived in. New Mexico has some of the most beautiful scenery in the U.S. All this, and the interviews with the locals and old timers, lent an aura of realism to the film. If anyone wants to watch something that is visually engaging and has much of its info right on a general level, I highly recommend this film, as it captures the feel of it all. Then go watch other more mundane documentaries and read books on the subject. I would recommend more recent publications that have actually done the research, however, as many older ones haven't a clue. |  | Reviewed on 2008-05-31 
Myth dressed up as history
Hmmm...so a serial killer is mythologized, with a narration provided by a warm and witty old-man, and the one who eliminates the menace from the face of the earth (Garrett) is portrayed as having to do a "dirty job." Throw in a few grizzled, has-been, c-list baby-boomers who have nothing else to do and still harbor hatred towards Nixon (36 years later after he resigned!), and you have mythology at its best. If you want to know the real Billy the Kid, look into the characters of people like Ted Bundy and H.H. Holmes. But if you are interested in perpetuating the myth, this movie will be right up your alley. | | Reviewed on 2007-12-08
Review of Requiem for Billy the Kid
This was a great movie. It covered a very interesting topic
and brought it home to where it took place. I hope someday
modern science can determine if Billy was killed by Pat
Garrett or lived to a ripe old age. Beautiful scenery in
Lincoln County NM. | | Reviewed on 2007-12-07
A Fresh Billy
The myth of Billy the Kid lives on and on, yet still underground. This film is unique in its approach comparing the young gangster, Billy the Kid, whose outlaw life lasted a brief six years, to an interesting look-alike, Arthur Rimbaud - a French poet whose world-impacting writing lasted a brief six years. Both Billy and Rimbaud gave up at age 21.
The photography of Lincoln County alone, is worth seeing: exquisite. Was it really Billy who was shot? Or did he live on as Brushy Bill Roberts? Local characters discuss it all from the No Scum Allowed Bar in the old mining town of White Oaks, New Mexico.
The film soundly held my interest throughout. It is no wonder it won awards at the Cannes Film Festival. | | Reviewed on 2007-11-26
A great ride to the West.
This is a great ruminative doc on the contrasting myths of the west - romantically as a legend, cinematically as in Kristopherson's incarnation of Billy, and contemporary with the inclusion of Lincoln NM's current cast of characters. Lot's of fun and beautifully shot. Yes - it's a different kind of doc. But that's what makes it all the more appealing. | |
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