More violent than any western that preceded it, the movie opened and ended with extensive scenes of graphic bloodshed. Violece was depicted as ugly and not heroic. The leads were not portrayed with nobility, nor did they have the cool demeanor of Clint Eastwood's "Man With No Name."

There is some honor among the thieves. The story is set in Mexico circa 1910, and Angel (Jaime Sanchez) gets into trouble for his revolutionary sympathies. As he is a member of The Wild Bunch, weak attempts are made to rescue him. If the gang was completely corrupt, they would instead laugh at his misfortunes.

The version of the film that I saw was the director's cut, which added about ten minutes of studio-excised footage. Surprisingly, the violent scenes were not those removed, but instead a few dull scenes that 'establish character.' Outside of an amusing incident that involves a communal whiskey bottle, there's far too many of these.

I am not a believer in scrutinizing films for symbolism, perhaps because it may be better to miss a reference than to mistaking assign significance to an irrelevant event. Nonetheless, sometimes analysis of symbolism cannot be avoided.

In The Wild Bunch, we see a group of children laughing and grinning as they place a small scorpion into a swarm of ants. As if the scorpion doesn't have enough troubles, the children later set both the ants and scorpion ablaze.

I suppose that the scorpion represents The Wild Bunch, who themselves represent both lawlessness and advanced middle age. The ants represent the public, who seeks law and order. The fire stands for the coming of a new age, that of the automobile and the end of the west. The children are the next generation, who will thrive in the new order but retain the cruelty of the past.

Or perhaps the scene is simply kids torturing bugs. Director Sam Peckinpah has passed on, and is not available to answer questions.

The Wild Bunch was nominated for two Academy Awards, Best Score (Jerry Fielding) and Best original Screenplay (Walon Green, Roy N. Sickner, Sam Peckinpah).

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