Cockfighter
(1974)
Director: Monte
Hellman
Cast: Warren Oates, Richard B. Shull, Harry Dean Stanton
From about two decades or so ago, producer Roger
Corman's output of movies became, within a few years, the schlockiest
of Hollywood schlock. Though there are certainly some exceptions to
this rule, decent movies like Cheyenne
Warrior and The Doorway
are few and far between. Many people will find it hard to believe that
during the '70s, Corman was actually concerned
about having too big of an exploitation image, and actually made
efforts to bring serious and less commercial movies to the American
public. In fact, part of him back then could be called the Miramax of
his day. He bought the rights to distribute acclaimed foreign movies
like Cries And Whispers, The Tin Drum,
and Derzu Usala, and actually managed to get respectably
sized audiences for them. His New World Pictures' studio also
occasionally made some serious-minded movies, such as I Never
Promised You A Rose Garden, which was profitable.
One of his other efforts at a more serious
movie happened to be one of his few failure at the time. The movie was Cockfighter,
based on the novel by Charles Willieford, who also wrote the
screenplay. Starring acclaimed actor Warren Oates (previously in movies
like Badlands and The Wild Bunch), and
directed by cult director Monte Hellman (The Shooting and
Two-Lane Blacktop), it seemed like a good
gamble to make. But when the movie was released, nobody went to see it.
Corman tried desperately to make it more attractive to audiences,
including retitling the movie several times, as well as editing
in some exploitation footage from other movies so that the trailer
would suggest something more exploitive, but it still didn't work.
Years later, Corman had this theory for the movie's failure: "To my
knowledge, no one had ever made a picture about cockfighting. Now I
know why. No one wants to see a picture about cockfighting."
Now I'll admit that when I first heard
about the movie years ago, I wasn't in the mood to see a movie about
cockfighting. (Not that it would have made much difference - until
recently, the movie was nearly impossible to find anywhere.) Still, the
seeds of the presence of Hellman and Oates were planted in me back
then, and the growth of curiosity went on slowly through the subsequent
years. Then recently, when the movie was finally available again on
video, I decided to give it a chance. At the very least, it would have
some curiosity value. And what a curious little movie it is. It's a
loose, rambling collection of many little things, instead of being a more straight and
conventional storytelling. At times the movie doesn't seem to know what
it's supposed to be about. Though every so often the mishmash forms
itself into a precious nugget, something that grabs you for the moment,
even if it has little or nothing to do with what happens before or
after its occurrence. Some people have called this movie a masterpiece;
while I don't think it's nowhere near that, I think that a number
of viewers with a taste for the unconventional and a reasonable
amount of patience will find digging through the mishmash worthwhile to
get to those pieces of gold, which are precious.
Of course, there will be some people who
will automatically be turned off by this movie simply because it shows
(unfaked) cockfighting. Others may not want to risk seeing the gorier
aspects of the sport, though the movie is remarkably blood-free until
the final bout. As well, though the movie does contain cockfights, the
central focus is not on the bouts themselves, but on the life of the
individuals who participates in the sport, both in and out of the
tournaments. Oates plays this individual, Frank Mansfield. When we're
first introduced to him, we not only find out that he's been involved
in this Deep South sport for some time now, he's practically obsessed
by it. Part of his obsession comes from an incident that happened two
years earlier, when his big mouth and impulsive behaviour cost him the
chance to participate in the big state cockfighting tournament just
hours before it started. From that point on, he took a vow of silence,
vowing not to speak until he's won the coveted cockfighting medal
awarded at that tournament. Though it's clear that he still has a long
way to go, since shortly after his introduction we see him lose both
his camper and car in a backyard tournament.
He also loses the squeeze that's been
accompanying him for the past while, though to be more precise he
simply abandons her, setting off on the road again with suitcase and
rooster cage in hand to find the money to start over. Though Frank may
not speak (apart from the occasional times we hear his thoughts as
narration on the soundtrack), we're still able to learn a great deal
about this intriguing character. He is completely obsessed with
cockfighting, and credit must go to Oates for making this character's
obsession so believable. Another actor may have given Frank's actions a
wild energy, but instead Oates gives Frank a low key demeanour - this
character is obviously weary after two whole years, but he is still
stumbling on. His actions have become almost unconscious - he doesn't
seem to realize the consequences of throwing out his family from the
old homestead so he can have money on hand. Even when he shows
affection to an old girlfriend who despises his sport, he can't help
but mail her tickets to see him at the cockfighting tournament. More
interesting is the fact that he seems to take some pride in his
lifestyle; you can see some sort of self-satisfaction in his eyes
whenever he communicates via his silence, something that is not only
his, but that he's perfected.
At the beginning of the movie, Frank's
narration explains why he does what he does: "I learned to fly a plane
- lost interest in it. Water skiing - lost interest in it. But this is
something you don't conquer. Anything that can fight to the death
without making a sound... Well, the person who puts in the most and
works the hardest is supposed to win, and usually that's the way it
works out." With those words, I saw Frank for the rest of the movie as
a sad figure, someone who really had to lower himself to find some form
of self-respect and happiness. Seeing him struggle to win by doing
things like using a razor blade to fake a crack in a rooster's beak
come across as pathetic, and we realize Frank has freely lowered
himself to be doing this. Animal rights activists will at least be
happy to know that the sport of cockfighting is not glamorized in this
movie. It's a world where bouts are fought secretly in motel rooms, in
order to not get the wrath of the SPCA. You'll probably find yourself
robbed several times, and you can't exactly go to the police and say
you were robbed during an illegal bet. Even if you're not robbed and
you actually manage to win, you'll probably find that the loser
"forgot" his wallet, and cannot pay the amount that he owes you. Of
course, the sport is even worse for the roosters, and we are given
glimpses of the rigorous training and abuse they go through before the
matches themselves, and there's always an axe nearby if they don't
cooperate with their handler.
Hellman certain does a superb job when it
comes to depicting this world; everything that is shown has the feeling
that places like this exists, events like these do happen. He captures
the rural South as being full of heat, peeling paint, and overgrown and
unkempt backyards. The cockfighting bouts feel uncannily real, using
hand-held cameras to capture the action, and cut with the sights and
sounds of what seems to be a real group of spectators. So there's
nothing wrong with what we see, but Hellman seems to occasionally have
some problem knowing when to quit. Sometimes a scene goes on for too
long, and other times scenes seem to end before they feel finished. And
though the cockfighting footage looks to be indeed the real thing, it's
sometimes hard to tell who is the winner (That is, if you can consider
any one of the participants to be a "winner".)
Also, Hellman seems to be so eager to show
us as much of this world and these characters as possible, the movie
becomes unfocused. Though we are reminded several times that Frank is
heading to that tournament, and will be there sooner or later, you
can't help but think Franks' journey there isn't the most efficient
that could be possible. Along the way, Frank strikes up a amicable partnership with a
fellow cockfighter (Richard B. Schull), he spends time with a former
girlfriend (engaged to another man but still loving him), he goes
shopping for roosters, he engages in private bouts, he meets other old
friends and associates, he... there's too much of this stuff here.
Don't get me wrong; a lot of these scenes by themselves are
interesting. But with the movie insisting on showing one vignette after
the other, you can't help but eventually wonder when the movie is going
to get right to it. Though the movie is really about a man, you'll want
to see him make some progress instead of constantly spinning his wheels
all of the time.
If the story had been constructed in a
somewhat (though not necessarily completely) more linear fashion, and
then focused more of what we subsequently learn about Frank in
vignettes that had more to do with him getting closer to his ultimate
goal, I think the movie would have worked a lot better than it does
now. But as it is now, it's kind of a mess, but a somewhat compelling
mess. There are a number of good moments here, but I can't say for sure
whether you'll have the patience to sift through some muck to get to
them. One group I can certainly recommend the movie for is for people
who have to watch an art movie for some reason, and they don't really
want to. If they watch Cockfighter, they can let their
minds drift and relax during the moments when the movie is going on
about little consequence.
Check
for availability on Amazon (DVD)
-
-
Check for availability on Amazon (Blu-Ray)
-
-
Check for availabilty on Amazon (Amazon Prime Video)
-
-
Check
for availability of original Charles Willeford novel
See also: Homegrown, Incubus, Shanks
|