Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia

Following the disappointment of Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (1973), Sam Peckinpah headed to Mexico with actor Warren Oates to make the low budget oddity that is Bring Me The Head of Alfredo Garcia. It would become one of the director’s most subversive films and one of the actor’s most emblematic performances.

When a crime boss simply known as El Jefe finds out who the father of his daughter’s baby is, he offers a $1 million bounty for anyone who can “bring him the head of Alfredo Garcia.” This sets in motion a series of events that have an unexpected impact on the life of small-time bar manager and piano player Bennie (Oates).

As the story progresses, it becomes an increasingly dream-like and hallucinatory road movie punctuated with Peckinpah’s particular take on violent action sequences. Poorly received at the time of its release, Bring Me The Head of Alfredo Garcia has now become a cult classic that seems to get better on every viewing.