Cockfighter (1974)

Monte Hellman is probably one of the most subtly brilliant and profound American movie directors who ever lived, but definitely also the most underrated and shamefully overlooked one. The reasons why Hellman is so under-appreciated are actually not even that difficult to guess. Even though his films seemingly revolve on accessible and crowd-pleasing topics, the director somehow turns them into challenging, complex and implicit allegories. His westerns "The Shooting" and "Ride in the Whirlwind", for example, deal with ordinary topics like bounty hunters and lynch mobs and yet Hellman achieves in making them existential. The genius "Two-Lane Blacktop" could have been an exhilarating contemporary road-movie, but instead Hellman decided to make it into a bleak and atypical portrait of a simplistic culture. And then there's this "Cockfighter". Presumably the only movie about this controversial topic ever made, and Hellman still didn't turn it into a provocative and action-packed trash movie but a gloomy and integer portrayal of a clandestine tradition. I once read a statement about director Monte Hellman which said that he totally isn't interested in fame or recognition. Instead, he's a director whose repertoire continuously flirts with self-destruction. His movies defy audiences to turn their backs against him. After seeing three of his films in one week, I'm definitely concurring with this statement. "Cockfighter" is an extraordinary film from more than just one viewpoint. Charles Willeford's authentic script and Hellman's carefully researched preparations catapult you straight back to the gloomiest regions of the contemporary America's deep south, where sleazy Georgia locals gather around cheering and money-waiving to witness two animals fight to the death. It's basically a repulsive topic, and also one of the main reasons why the film was a tremendous box office flop at the time, but only through actually making the effort of watching "Cockfighter", you will notice the film does not primarily handles about animal cruelty and clandestine sports. "Cockfighter" depicts the story of one man's obsession and how he will stop at nothing to accomplish a pre-determined goal. Frank Mansfield is a natural born cock-fighter. Throughout all of his life, he trained cocks and was considered the best in business. A couple of years earlier, he became overly haughty and lost his biggest prize fighter over a stupid and meaningless bet. Since then, Frank took a vow of complete silence and dedicates his entire existence to the training of new cocks so that he will eventually regain the medal of best cock-fighter. His obsession slowly costs him everything, including the house where his brother lives, his old friends and even the love and respect of the one woman he cares about. Referring to the above statement; the urge for self-destruction can even be found in Monte Hellman's leading characters. The animal fight sequences are harsh and uncomfortable, but not the least bit exploitative or sensationalist. I can understand that animal rights foundations were against this film, but portraying these moments are simply a necessity, so they better be thankful that Hellman reduced them to a minimum and certainly didn't glorify the "sport" aspect. "Cockfighter" owes at least half of its success to the astounding performance by Warren Oates. This man already was one of my favorite actors, based on such films as "Dillinger", "Race with the Devil" and "The Wild Bunch", but he truly surpasses himself here as Frank Mansfield. Oates is one of the rare actors who look enormously charismatic and imposing even without saying ten lines throughout the entire film. He frequently collaborated with Monte Hellman, like also in "Two-Lane Blacktop" and "The Shooting", and delivered some of his best work. Here in this film he also receives excellent support from respectable B-movie actors such as Harry Dean Stanton, Steve Railsback Ed Begley Jr. and even Troy Donahue. "Cockfighter" is a largely unpleasant movie because of its subject matter, but it's honestly also one of the most absorbing and paralyzing cult movies of the 1970's, and that means a lot because that decade is literally stuffed like a Christmas turkey with classics. Watch it, if you can!

I really have a sympathy for the kind of film-making this film aims at. I respect the intentions, i am always able to live in the environments films like this try to create. But when this sort of film fails, it's never a glorious failure, nor an interesting one. The thing slides to fields of boredom and emptiness.For what concerns direction and, to me, acting, this film fails totally. Not because it's incompetent, simply because it's not engaging, there is not a visual idea Hellman tries to explore. This is his only film i've seen so far; here he connects his narrative to the character, the actor (who apparently starred in many of his other movies). It is what certain film writers define as "character study". Well, i think that may be done, if the character is interesting, and that depends on whether the actor is interesting as an actor and as a person. So this drastically reduces the possibilities of success in such a kind of film. I didn't think Warren Oates was interesting enough for me to follow him willingly. This made the film as uninteresting in its content as the life of the straightforward cock trainer.But something redeems all these flaws. the cinematography is unobtrusive and beautiful in many ways. Almendros was one of the cinematographers who could masterfully move away from protagonism and yet build a worthy mood we want to get into. Pairing with Truffaut, he gave us some exquisite moments of minimal photography, in the sense that he transcends through an apparent "naturalism". Striking... If you watch this film you may be led to believe, like i did, that some of it was bureaucratic work Almendros had to do to narrate the boring character Hellman proposes, but other moments are shining and worth watching. Among those are the cock fights. the cock close-ups are beautiful, and the careful editing allows the fight scenes to be really tough. The inner sets, when associated to intimacy, are also cozy and mood evoking. Apart from those, you'll want to see a certain scene: it's by a lake, the protagonist and his lover caress each other, and talk about their life and relation. The shot starts as a close-up of their faces, over a totally white background. Than the camera slowly zooms out, reveals the environment, and that's when we get the lake. All this is done with a subtlety which is really hard to see. This shot will be with me for a long long time.My opinion: 3/5 watch it, for the cinematography, only.http://www.7eyes.wordpress.com

Warren Oates anchors this violent exploitation film, in a rare true leading role with his frequent collaborator Monte Hellman ("Two-Lane Blacktop"). The character he plays is mute, so we get a chance to savor Mr. Oates' wonderful talent of facial expressions and his special empathy without any of the usual filters. The story is fairly routine, I suppose, considering that this is the only cockfighting movie I've heard of -- Oates plays Frank Mansfield, a man so obsessed with winning an award for the cockfighter of the year in America that he takes a vow of silence until he achieves it. Patricia Pearcy is his lady love, who does not understand the addictive appeal of the bloodsport and its place in Frank's heart. Harry Dean Stanton plays Jack, his major rival in the ring of battle, who embarrasses the glib Frank to the point where he takes the vow.I think that this is going to be a "love it or hate it" movie, because first of all the violent cockfighting is not faked, and it is shown in close detail and slow motion. Also we have a very coarse looking film, full of grime and dirt. The very first scenes of the movie I knew I was going to like it, because here's the great Oates driving a dirty old RV and rolling his own smokes. Oates' character is fascinating, and he's the entire reason for this movie's existence. He lives by the code of a gentleman and is trusted by everyone else in his sport. For him the business of it and the actual conduct in the cockfighting ring are equally bound in honor, and for him the battles are a display of grace and existential victory (presumably this is why we have the battles in slow motion).It's a little meandering, and I didn't find the very ending of the film to be as satisfying as it could be. But this is an absolute joy for fans of Oates, and I also thought it was a good example of Hellman's sort of detached and pseudo-documentary style. It's a gritty film about a nasty sport that few might want to explore, but I think most will find the journey worth the trouble. As a historical note, this was the last film that Hellman made for Roger Corman, a partnership that went back to 1959's memorable B horror film "Beast from Haunted Cave."

This is a great movie and should be remade with new casting. I don't think it would be better but would reintroduced a wonderful industry to the world. The real cockfighting is awesome and is fun to watch. the slow motion is perfect. Although some of the people in the movie are not fancy and refined, there are some good honest folks in the movie. Just like real life the there are good and bad people in the cocking industry. I own this movie and would love to have a new copy on DVD. The VHS tape is worn out. I hope to find it somewhere. Most folks in the south have seen this classic. Grab a bucket of popcorn and a large drink and rent this one for the family.