Episode 222: THE WILD BUNCH (1969)

It turns out there’s no fence-sitting at the end of the Wild West. You wouldn’t call THE WILD BUNCH particularly swashbuckling, but there’s a sort of uncomfortable excitement to its bandolier antics. A band of outlaws eyes one last prize near the US/Mexico border in 1913. The sociopolitical tumult of the place, and the rapid advance of the punitive system of capital at the time, threaten to derail their plans until a Mexican general hires them to steal guns from a moving train. No matter which side of the border they’re on, the Wild Bunch feel their God-given right to subvert systems of power slipping with each gold piece snatched and each bullet dodged. Listen in for our thoughts on the movie that made Sam Peckinpah’s career and changed how people thought of violence in movies! Subscribe to Region Free, AJ Moser and Blake Hester’s podcast Jason guested on the week this episode came out: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/region-free/id1669819287 Get tickets to BROUGHT TO LIFE BY ERNEST BORGNINE (April 2023): https://www.trylon.org/films/category/brought-to-life-by-ernest-borgnine/ Get tickets to “BLOODY SAM” PECKINPAH (May at the Trylon): https://www.trylon.org/films/category/bloody-sam-peckinpah/ “The Wild Bunch: Between Companionship and Despair” by Rowan A. Smith for Perisphere, the Trylon blog: https://www.perisphere.org/2023/04/02/the-wild-bunch-between-companionship-and-despair/ “The Wild Bugs” by Brogan Earney for Perisphere, the Trylon blog: https://www.perisphere.org/2023/04/02/the-wild-bugs/ Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/trylovepodcast and email us at [email protected] to get in touch! Buy tickets and support the Trylon at https://www.trylon.org/. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro music: "End Credits (La Golondrina)" by Jerry Fielding from the THE WILD BUNCH soundtrack. Timestamps 0:00 - Episode 222: THE WILD BUNCH (1969) 4:10 - The episode actually starts 6:18 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary 9:18 - Uncomfortable, not swashbuckling 15:51 - Individual responsibility vs. larger systems at work 21:17 - The bunch, Angel, and the end of ourselves 40:36 - The meta response to violence in THE WILD BUNCH 49:42 - Deke and survival and hope 58:19 - The Junk Drawer 1:12:38 - Good Grief, Give Me a GIF! 1:17:15 - Cody’s Noteys: Crazy Gang