Film Comment Selects 2008: WALKER February 28, 2008

Film Society of Lincon Center Presents:
Walker
Series: Film Comment Selects 2008 [Feb 14 - Feb 28]
Director: Alex Cox, Country: USA, Release: 1987, Runtime: 95

Of all Cox films maudits, this quixotic broadside at the Reagan administration efforts to overthrow Nicaragua’s Sandinista government has to be the most maudit of all. Written by Rudy Wurlitzer, it boldly (and surreally) reconstructs the true story of the 1855 invasion of Nicaragua by deranged American imperialist William Walker, played with manic intensity by Ed Harris. An unruly Peckinpah-meets-Buñuel fantasia, ripe for rediscovery. Universal, who incredibly enough bankrolled the film, buried it after a token theatrical release. Still, per Cox, Walker was the second-biggest box-office hit ever in Nicaragua, after The Sound of Music. The film's music is by Joe Strummer, and if you watch out you can see him in many scenes as one of Walker's ragtag soldiers. Unavailable for almost 20 years, the Walker soundtrack album was recently released on CD; the film itself comes out on DVD this month, from Criterion.

Advanced ticket purchase strongly suggested.

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