The Milagro Beanfield War

source: The Milagro Beanfield War

I had never heard of this movie and bought the video tape at a yard sale. I'm not going to tell you what the movie is about, there are plenty of others doing that. Just allow me to tell you it is worth seeing. I almost turned it off in the beginning, but got busy with something, left it on, and then started getting interested and ended up stopping what I was doing and watched the whole thing. I thought it was going to be some simple minded movie, but don't go by first appearances with an old Mexican guy playing his music box and dancing around an old - near ghost town looking - Southwest town. When you find out later who he is you understand. By starting out that way though, it was then more difficult to keep a person watching. I think Hollywood forgets that today, people watch movies on DVD and VHS and can turn them off quickly as it is too busy a world to waste time. I'm no fan of Robert Redford but have to hand it to him, he did a good job of directing. The only other thing he did that I liked was Jeremiah Johnson. The rest of the time he was either over acting or deluding himself that he knows better than the rest of us. In fact, he should have received an award from his buddies in Hollywood on this one. The acting was top notch too. Every person in the movie was very believable and made you care, except maybe Christopher Walken who was a little wooden in his part as the big, mean bad guy. Melanie Griffith was a little shallow but perhaps I am being unfair as that is the part she was playing - the shallow wife of the big shot money man. I am not familiar with the actresses who played the two top parts, but they were excellent and attractive besides. Joe, the fellow who grows the bean field did a good job as well as the old fellow who talks to Saints who was especially talented. Anyway, a two thumbs up from me which means it is worth watching and time well spent in enjoying a movie.

The Milagro Beanfield War poses "a reality straining to become a metaphor" to quote a delightful line of Donald Barthelme's. Some refer to this film as a fable -which in the narrow sense it is. But in the broader view this story is in no way mythical because it documents the eternal struggle of the meek and humble against a rapacious power establishment. Milagro, a 300 year-old village in northern New Mexico, finds itself drying up and blowing away. The Latino inhabitants have been defrauded of their water rights by the political establishment as part of a plan to encourage them to sell out to developer Ladd Devine (Richard Bradford). Devine wants to turn the area into a country club, gated-community. Fate plunges Joe Mondragon (Chick Vennera) into a pivotal role. The young man quite accidentally taps into the water lateral that crosses his land but to which Devine Development & Company exclusively owns water rights. The bean field Mondragon inherited from his father has lain dry and barren these many years. Suddenly it has the opportunity to take back life. Should Mondragon shut off the flow of water that illegally irrigates his small farm? Or should he let it flow? It's a tough ethical dilemma. On the one hand he should obey the law -- which is an ass. On the other hand he should protest the moral injustice done to his family, his heritage and his neighbors. The bean field is not the only thing to come alive. The Latino inhabitants of dying Milagro also find new life of their own. Fiery activist Ruby Archuleta (sexy Sonia Braga in a magnificent portrayal) seizes the moment to mobilize the people of the village. Devine calls in his connections with the governor. This brings the steely-eyed Kyril Montana, a hard-boiled investigator (Christopher Walken), to quell the rebellion. These forces in collision pose a classic plot. Sounds like a dark and serious tale, no? Surprisingly it's quite the opposite. The vehicle turns out to be a fast-moving, dry comedy very much in the tradition of the popular, war-protest `cult-flick', The King of Hearts. Cameo roles abound. Ruben Blades plays the Sheriff who sees everyone's point of view and struggles to keep peace between warring factions. John Heard plays a fading 60's activist, Charlie Bloom, who owns the small weekly tabloid that has become an icon in every tumbleweed flick. Anthropology student Herbie Platt (Daniel Stern) comes from NYU on a grant to study indigenous cultures of the Southwest and drops unsuspectingly into the maelstrom. Carlos Riquelme steals the show as the octogenarian Amarante Cordova, the oldest man in Milagro. Cordova spends his days and nights talking with his guardian angel that also happens to be the ghost of Joe Mondragon's deceased father. Depending on camera angle, the audience can either see the guardian angel or can be as mystified as Platt, the young anthropologist. Platt intently observes Cordova as the old man sits in front of his hacienda earnestly talking to an empty chair that faces him. An enormous, pink pig (reminiscent of the Empress of Blandings in P. G. Wodehouse lore) follows Cordova everywhere as his most faithful companion. The Academy gave this movie a well-deserved Oscar for best original music score. Had I been a voting member, I would also have given Carlos Riquelme best actor that year and Sonia Braga best actress. And for best supporting actress? I think the Pig! You have to be quick! A special charm inspires the kind of laughter that will have you grabbing for the remote to play back many priceless scenes. So many lines are memorable, you will find yourself writing them on a pad. THE GHOST: `That young man of yours does not realize what he is getting into.' AMARANTE CORDOVA: `If we all knew what we were getting into, nothing would ever get done!' So get it done. Go buy this for your video collection. It's a keeper and rates inclusion in that quirky hall of fame called the `cult-flick.' Four Stars!

I sat down to watch the Milagro Beanfield War at the Newport Cinema in Mead, Washington eighteen years ago and I still am not sure what happened. I sort of associate the movie with the time I was coming out of a general anesthetic and felt as if I had been robbed of the sensation of time passing, a profoundly important feeling for me. I still remember thinking that Robert Redford had stolen some time from me and that if I sued him, he would win . . . and take more time from me. This is the sort of movie that your extremely deep, touchy-feely friends say you MUST see! I went with my extremely deep, touchy-feely sister and when I came out of the theater and said, "Huh?", she got extremely and deeply angry with me for not being touchy-feely enough. I wiped the drool from the corner of my mouth and checked three clocks to reestablish my connection with linear time. Huh?

This should go under trivia for this movie: I noticed in one scene in the local grocery store, a woman asks in Spanish if this salad dressing is any good. The dressing she was asking about was Paul Newman's brand. A man near her, I assume the owner, answered her in English: "No, that kind is no good, get the other one." I thought that was funny. I'm sure it was an intentional good-natured jab at Robert Redford's long time friend Paul Newman. A moving film. Shouldn't be rated "R." I hope New Mexicans aren't really as unfriendly as they are depicted in this movie. You may as well live in New England. I grew up in Texas and now I've lived in New England for over 17 years and I hate it. I want to move back to the southeastern or southwestern part of the US someday. In Texas when I grew up, the Mexicans and Mexican Americans I knew were wonderful people. There were no class lines. We lived and worked together.

Growing up in my family it was a birth rite to see this movie. The movie is about my great grand dad Joe Mondragon. i remember seeing this movie in school and everyone asking me about it. I don't remember much about my great grand father cuz i was like 6 what i do remember was that i only got to meet him once. But what i associate with him all comes from this movie i hope that it is at least mostly true.This movie has meant a lot to me and i hope that i continues to mean a lot to every one who sees it. It helps us remember our past and our future and also reminds us to be tolerant of others and that we should try to help keep the little guys way of life.

I cannot see how this movie was ever allowed to be seen in any movie theaters. Most spectators would probably want their money back. Robert Redford seems to like "ethnic American" movies like this one and Smoke Signals,which was at least better than Milagro Beanfield War. This movie played into stereotype characters too much but Redford wants to seem like an enlightened man who is sensitive to other cultures. This movie was a bit too racist for me to enjoy and it was not a comedy: the dumb blonde woman stereotype; the backward Mexican peasants; the White-Anglo New England anthropologist having to explain the mixture of pagan/Catholic religious beliefs to a Mexican who should already know this stuff!

I enjoyed this movie, and had never heard of it before I watched it for a class. I was amazed that I hadn't, given the number of stars in it. Christopher Walken, John Heard and Melanie Griffith before they were big names. What I loved most about the film though, was its ambiguity about the extent of "true" magic in the New Mexican town of Milagro. The very fact that the town is named Milagro, Spanish for miracle, suggests a magical quality about the town. Many things happen that could be explained rationally, but are not clarified or suggest the supernatural. When the water from the local river owned by Devine's Miracle Valley site accidentally flows into the Mondragon bean field, ghosts are at work. When Amarante, the oldest man in the village is talking to saints and angels, other people see a senile old man and never imagine that he truly could be talking to ghosts apparent to his eyes only. When crosses mentioning "El Brazo Onofre," the thieving trickster of local lore, Devine and his men assume that its the work of dissenting townspeople, though no one ever admits to the crime or is implicated in any way. These ordinary forms of magic show a charmingly realistic depiction of the supernatural. Even the music, beautifully scored by the talented Dave Gruisin suggests a mysterious air. The music sounds like carnival music, alternating from major to minor keys suddenly and ethereally, just as the elements of nature and reality contort to suit the needs of the "miracle town."

Maybe I'm a little biased, but any movie where Christopher Walken pops up when you don't expect him to just becomes ten times better. His role isn't big, but it's very important and he does a great job. I like Christopher Walken. But he's only a small part of a great movie. "Milagro Beanfield War" is about a group of New Mexicans trying to save their homes from being bought by developers who want to turn it into a resort. The interaction between the townspeople is wonderful, and you probably won't find this kind of community spirit in any other movie. At some times it's touching, at others it's humorous. In fact it was a funnier movie than I expected it to be, so if you're looking for a mix of light comedy and serious subject matter, this is for you. You can find a downside to most films, but it's tough to find one with "Milagro Beanfield War". The directing is great, the script is great, the actors are endearing, the music is great and it makes you think and feel like no other movie.

The other reviews detail the opinions of others and the plot outline, so I won't duplicate their efforts. The movie has always been one of my favorites since I first saw it in the theatres and the dearth of a DVD version has saddened me for many years. With the release of a DVD, the wait is now over. I have owned, and wore out, several VHS copies of the movie, and they all had a kind of "fog" surrounding the video presentation. I could never figure that out. On the other hand, the DVD producers have managed to make the DVD version with a crystal-clear video presentation and very acceptable audio presentation. In addition, the Dave Grusin soundtrack is superbly reproduced. Thanks to those who took the time to let "our" wishes for a DVD become known to the studio, and special thanks to the producers who took some extra time to give this film it's due.