The ballad of Gregorio Cortez

Author

Robert M Young

Call Number

• BLU-RAY ACTION (CEN)

Edition

Blu-ray special edition.

Languages

English and Spanish dialogue; English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing.

Performers

Edward James Olmos, James Gammon, Tom Bower, Bruce McGill, Brion James, Alan Vint, Timothy Scott, Pepe Serna, Michael McGuire, Rosanna DeSoto.

Publication Information

[Irvington, NY] : Criterion Collection, [2018]

Physical Description

1 videodisc (106 minutes) : sound, color ; 4 3/4 in. + 1 folded sheet (color illustrations ; 17 cm.)

Summary

Forced to run from the Texas Rangers after a heated misunderstanding leads to the death of a lawman, Mexican American farmer Gregorio Cortez sets off in desperate flight, evading a massive manhunt on horseback for days. Producer-star Edward James Olmos, seeking to shed new light on a historical incident that had been enshrined in a corrido (folk song), enlisted director Robert M. Young, a longtime practitioner of socially engaged realism, to helm this trailblazing independent film, a landmark of Chicano cinema. Shifting its perspective between the pursuers and the pursued, The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez is a thrilling chase film and a nuanced procedural that peels away the layers of prejudice and myth surrounding Cortez, uncovering the true story of an ordinary man persecuted by the law and transfigured by legend.

Notes

Based on the book With his pistol in his hand by Américo Paredes.

Originally released as a motion picture in 1982.

This release adheres to how the film was originally released without subtitles for the Spanish spoken by its Mexican American characters, so that English-speaking viewers would experience the Spanish dialogue with the same limited or nonexistent understanding that the film's English-speaking characters do. In keeping with that intention on the part of the filmmakers, the Spanish has not been subtitled in English for this release.

Special features: New 2K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack ; new interview with actor and producer Edward James Olmos ; new interview with Chon A. Noriega, author of Shot in America: television, the state, and the rise of Chicano Cinema ; cast-and-crew panel from 2016 including Olmos, director Robert M. Young, producer Moctesuma Esparza, director of photography Reynaldo Villalobos, and actors Bruce McGill, Tom Bower, Rosana DeSoto, and Pepe Serna.