Let's Go with Pancho Villa

Villa was portrayed by Domingo Soler. Directed by Fernando de Fuentes, the film tells the story of a group of six friends, or rancheros, who hear about the revolution and Villa and decide to join him, only to suffer the cruel reality of war under the command of an apathetic Villa who, despite the observed horror of war, simply does not care about his men. The movie has two endings: the original ending shows the last surviving friend returning to his home, disenchanted with both Villa and the Revolution. The second ending, discovered many years later, returns to the same scene ten years later, when an old and weakened Villa tries to recruit the last survivor again; when the father hesitates as he does not want to leave his wife and daughter behind, Villa kills the wife and daughter. The angry father then tries to kill Villa, before another man shoots the father dead. Villa takes the sole survivor, the son, with him. == Reception ==

The Los Angeles Times Daily Mirror described the movie as "a bleak film of increasingly senseless violence". In a mostly negative review, the author (writing anonymously as they have since left the LA Times) criticizes the lack of character definition in the movie, describes camera movements as "so rough it could be a documentary" and the score to be almost imperceptible several times throughout the movie. Writing for Slant Magazine, in a more positive review, Aaron Cutler describes the movie's production as "quick, fluid movement, lots of music, smooth unassuming transitions, clean sound, rapid action, and extended colloquial humor". However, he criticizes the dialogue as being typically Hollywood, with dramatic and unrealistic lines that lead the audience to be enamored by the emotion behind the dialogue, rather than the fact. In honor of the 100th anniversary of the Mexican Revolution, the 2010 New York Film Festival showcased ''Let's Go with Pancho Villa'' as one part of a de Fuentes' movie trilogy depicting the Revolution. ==Background==

Though it was a sizable financial failure when released, interest and professional appreciation of the film experienced a resurgence in the late sixties. It stands apart among the many movies made about Villa in that it portrays the man and the Revolution in its cruelty; most other films, like those by Ismael Rodríguez in the 1960s, take an almost idyllic view of both, following the official (government) mythos. "Let's Go with Pancho Villa" was revered for its derisive interpretation of the Mexican government and thematic emphasis on the benefit of peace to the individual citizen. ==See also==