The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada
Encyclopedia
The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada is a 2005 American drama film
directed by Tommy Lee Jones
and written by Guillermo Arriaga
. It stars Tommy Lee Jones
, Barry Pepper
, Julio Cedillo
, and Dwight Yoakam
.
The film was inspired by the real-life killing in Texas of an American teenager, Esequiel Hernandez Jr
, by United States Marines
during a military operation near the United States–Mexico border
.
Melquiades Estrada (Julio Cedillo
), a Mexican immigrant working in Texas as a cowboy, shoots at a coyote
which is menacing his small flock of goats. A nearby border patrolman, Norton (Barry Pepper
), thinks he is being attacked and shoots back killing Melquiades. Norton quickly buries Melquiades and does not report anything. Melquiades' body is found and is reburied in a local cemetery by the sheriff's office. Evidence that he may have been killed by the U.S. Border Patrol is ignored by the local sheriff, Belmont (Dwight Yoakam
), who would prefer to avoid trouble with the Border Patrol. Pete Perkins (Tommy Lee Jones
), a rancher and Melquiades' best friend, finds out that the killer was Norton. Perkins kidnaps Norton and forces him to dig up Melquiades' body. Perkins had promised Melquiades that he would bury him in his home town of Jiménez in Mexico if he died in Texas. Perkins undertakes a journey horseback into Mexico with the body tied to a mule and his captive Norton in tow.
It is clear to Sheriff Belmont that Perkins has kidnapped Norton and so the Sheriffs and Border Patrol begin to search for them. Belmont sees them heading towards the Mexico border, but as he takes aim at Perkins he can't bring himself to shoot and returns to town leaving the pursuit to the border patrol. On their way across the harsh countryside the pair experience a series of surreal encounters. They spend an afternoon with an elderly blind American man, played by Levon Helm
, who listens to Mexican radio for company who asks them to shoot him since there is no one left to take care of him. He does not want to commit suicide because, he argues, doing so would offend God. Perkins refuses as, if he killed the man, he would offend God. Norton attempts to escape and is bitten by a rattlesnake
and eventually discovered by a group of illegal immigrants crossing into Texas
. Perkins gives one of them a horse as barter payment for guiding them across the river to an herbal healer. She turns out to be a woman whose nose Norton had broken when he punched her in the face a few weeks previously during an arrest. At Perkins's request she saves Norton's life before exacting her revenge by breaking Norton's nose with a coffee pot.
The captivity, the tiring journey and the rotting corpse slowly take a profound psychological toll on Norton. At one point the duo encounter a group of Mexican cowboy
s watching American soap operas on a television hooked up to their pickup truck. The program is the same episode that was airing when Norton had sex with his wife in their trailer earlier in the movie. Norton is visibly shaken and is given half a bottle of liquor by one of the cowboys. Norton's wife is shown as she decides to leave the border town to return to her home town of Cincinnati. She has grown distant from her husband and seems unconcerned about his kidnapping stating that he is "beyond redemption." Perkins and Norton then arrive at a town that is supposed to be near Jiménez — the town Melquiades Estrada claimed was his home. No one in the town has heard of Jiménez. Perkins has some luck in locating a woman Melquiades indicated was his wife but, when Perkins confronts her, she states that she has never heard of Melquiades Estrada and lives in town with her husband and children. She does visibly react to Estrada's Polaroid photograph Perkins shows her of Melquiades standing behind her and her children, stating that she does "...not want to get in trouble with her husband."
Perkins continues onward searching for Melquiades' descriptions of a place "filled with beauty." Eventually they come upon a ruined house which Perkins feels was the one Jiménez Melquiades had mentioned. Perkins and Norton repair the walls, construct a new roof and bury Estrada for the third and final time. Perkins then demands that Norton beg forgiveness for the killing but Norton responds with obstinacy. Perkins fires several shots from his pistol around Norton until he breaks down and relents, begging forgiveness from Melquiades. Perkins accepts his outpouring of grief and leaves Norton a horse and in passing calls him "son." As Perkins rides away Norton calls out and asks him if he will be okay, suggesting that Norton may have found the redemption his wife had felt he was incapable of having.
Satellite Awards
:
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
directed by Tommy Lee Jones
Tommy Lee Jones
Tommy Lee Jones is an American actor and film director. He has received three Academy Award nominations, winning one as Best Supporting Actor for the 1993 thriller film The Fugitive....
and written by Guillermo Arriaga
Guillermo Arriaga
Guillermo Arriaga Jordán is a Mexican author, screenwriter, director and producer. Self-defined as “a hunter who works as a writer,” he authored Amores Perros, received a BAFTA Best Screenplay nomination for 21 Grams, and received the 2005 Cannes Best Screenplay Award for The Three Burials of...
. It stars Tommy Lee Jones
Tommy Lee Jones
Tommy Lee Jones is an American actor and film director. He has received three Academy Award nominations, winning one as Best Supporting Actor for the 1993 thriller film The Fugitive....
, Barry Pepper
Barry Pepper
Barry Robert Pepper is a Canadian actor. He is best known for playing roles like Sergeant Michael Strank in the Clint Eastwood film, Flags of Our Fathers, Private Daniel Jackson in Saving Private Ryan, Roger Maris in 61*, Ned Pepper in True Grit and for his recent role as Robert F...
, Julio Cedillo
Julio Cedillo
Julio César Cedillo is an American actor, best known for the title role in the 2005 film The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada.Cedillo grew up in Fort Worth, Texas. In 1988 he graduated from Dunbar High School in Fort Worth...
, and Dwight Yoakam
Dwight Yoakam
Dwight David Yoakam is an American singer-songwriter, actor and film director, most famous for his pioneering country music...
.
The film was inspired by the real-life killing in Texas of an American teenager, Esequiel Hernandez Jr
Esequiel Hernández Jr
Esequiel Hernández Jr was an 18-year-old American high school student killed on May 20, 1997 by United States Marines in Redford, Texas, located approximately one mile from the United States–Mexico border...
, by United States Marines
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
during a military operation near the United States–Mexico border
United States–Mexico border
The United States–Mexico border is the international border between the United States and Mexico. It runs from Imperial Beach, California, and Tijuana, Baja California, in the west to Matamoros, Tamaulipas, and Brownsville, Texas, in the east, and traverses a variety of terrains, ranging from major...
.
Plot
The film has many flashbacks and sometimes the same event is shown twice from different perspectives.Melquiades Estrada (Julio Cedillo
Julio Cedillo
Julio César Cedillo is an American actor, best known for the title role in the 2005 film The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada.Cedillo grew up in Fort Worth, Texas. In 1988 he graduated from Dunbar High School in Fort Worth...
), a Mexican immigrant working in Texas as a cowboy, shoots at a coyote
Coyote
The coyote , also known as the American jackal or the prairie wolf, is a species of canine found throughout North and Central America, ranging from Panama in the south, north through Mexico, the United States and Canada...
which is menacing his small flock of goats. A nearby border patrolman, Norton (Barry Pepper
Barry Pepper
Barry Robert Pepper is a Canadian actor. He is best known for playing roles like Sergeant Michael Strank in the Clint Eastwood film, Flags of Our Fathers, Private Daniel Jackson in Saving Private Ryan, Roger Maris in 61*, Ned Pepper in True Grit and for his recent role as Robert F...
), thinks he is being attacked and shoots back killing Melquiades. Norton quickly buries Melquiades and does not report anything. Melquiades' body is found and is reburied in a local cemetery by the sheriff's office. Evidence that he may have been killed by the U.S. Border Patrol is ignored by the local sheriff, Belmont (Dwight Yoakam
Dwight Yoakam
Dwight David Yoakam is an American singer-songwriter, actor and film director, most famous for his pioneering country music...
), who would prefer to avoid trouble with the Border Patrol. Pete Perkins (Tommy Lee Jones
Tommy Lee Jones
Tommy Lee Jones is an American actor and film director. He has received three Academy Award nominations, winning one as Best Supporting Actor for the 1993 thriller film The Fugitive....
), a rancher and Melquiades' best friend, finds out that the killer was Norton. Perkins kidnaps Norton and forces him to dig up Melquiades' body. Perkins had promised Melquiades that he would bury him in his home town of Jiménez in Mexico if he died in Texas. Perkins undertakes a journey horseback into Mexico with the body tied to a mule and his captive Norton in tow.
It is clear to Sheriff Belmont that Perkins has kidnapped Norton and so the Sheriffs and Border Patrol begin to search for them. Belmont sees them heading towards the Mexico border, but as he takes aim at Perkins he can't bring himself to shoot and returns to town leaving the pursuit to the border patrol. On their way across the harsh countryside the pair experience a series of surreal encounters. They spend an afternoon with an elderly blind American man, played by Levon Helm
Levon Helm
Mark Lavon "Levon" Helm , is an American rock multi-instrumentalist and actor who achieved fame as the drummer and frequent lead and backing vocalist for The Band....
, who listens to Mexican radio for company who asks them to shoot him since there is no one left to take care of him. He does not want to commit suicide because, he argues, doing so would offend God. Perkins refuses as, if he killed the man, he would offend God. Norton attempts to escape and is bitten by a rattlesnake
Rattlesnake
Rattlesnakes are a group of venomous snakes of the genera Crotalus and Sistrurus of the subfamily Crotalinae . There are 32 known species of rattlesnake, with between 65-70 subspecies, all native to the Americas, ranging from southern Alberta and southern British Columbia in Canada to Central...
and eventually discovered by a group of illegal immigrants crossing into Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
. Perkins gives one of them a horse as barter payment for guiding them across the river to an herbal healer. She turns out to be a woman whose nose Norton had broken when he punched her in the face a few weeks previously during an arrest. At Perkins's request she saves Norton's life before exacting her revenge by breaking Norton's nose with a coffee pot.
The captivity, the tiring journey and the rotting corpse slowly take a profound psychological toll on Norton. At one point the duo encounter a group of Mexican cowboy
Cowboy
A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the vaquero traditions of northern Mexico and became a figure of...
s watching American soap operas on a television hooked up to their pickup truck. The program is the same episode that was airing when Norton had sex with his wife in their trailer earlier in the movie. Norton is visibly shaken and is given half a bottle of liquor by one of the cowboys. Norton's wife is shown as she decides to leave the border town to return to her home town of Cincinnati. She has grown distant from her husband and seems unconcerned about his kidnapping stating that he is "beyond redemption." Perkins and Norton then arrive at a town that is supposed to be near Jiménez — the town Melquiades Estrada claimed was his home. No one in the town has heard of Jiménez. Perkins has some luck in locating a woman Melquiades indicated was his wife but, when Perkins confronts her, she states that she has never heard of Melquiades Estrada and lives in town with her husband and children. She does visibly react to Estrada's Polaroid photograph Perkins shows her of Melquiades standing behind her and her children, stating that she does "...not want to get in trouble with her husband."
Perkins continues onward searching for Melquiades' descriptions of a place "filled with beauty." Eventually they come upon a ruined house which Perkins feels was the one Jiménez Melquiades had mentioned. Perkins and Norton repair the walls, construct a new roof and bury Estrada for the third and final time. Perkins then demands that Norton beg forgiveness for the killing but Norton responds with obstinacy. Perkins fires several shots from his pistol around Norton until he breaks down and relents, begging forgiveness from Melquiades. Perkins accepts his outpouring of grief and leaves Norton a horse and in passing calls him "son." As Perkins rides away Norton calls out and asks him if he will be okay, suggesting that Norton may have found the redemption his wife had felt he was incapable of having.
Cast
- Tommy Lee JonesTommy Lee JonesTommy Lee Jones is an American actor and film director. He has received three Academy Award nominations, winning one as Best Supporting Actor for the 1993 thriller film The Fugitive....
as Pete Perkins - Barry PepperBarry PepperBarry Robert Pepper is a Canadian actor. He is best known for playing roles like Sergeant Michael Strank in the Clint Eastwood film, Flags of Our Fathers, Private Daniel Jackson in Saving Private Ryan, Roger Maris in 61*, Ned Pepper in True Grit and for his recent role as Robert F...
as Ptmn. Mike Norton - Julio CedilloJulio CedilloJulio César Cedillo is an American actor, best known for the title role in the 2005 film The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada.Cedillo grew up in Fort Worth, Texas. In 1988 he graduated from Dunbar High School in Fort Worth...
as Melquiades Estrada - Dwight YoakamDwight YoakamDwight David Yoakam is an American singer-songwriter, actor and film director, most famous for his pioneering country music...
as Sheriff Belmont - January JonesJanuary JonesJanuary Kristen Jones is an American actress. She is best known for playing Betty Draper on Mad Men.-Early life:...
as Lou Ann Norton - Melissa LeoMelissa LeoMelissa Chessington Leo , is an American actress. After appearing on several television shows and films in the late '80s, her breakthrough role came in 1993 as Det. Sgt. Kay Howard on the television series Homicide: Life on the Street for the show's first five seasons from 1993 – 1997...
as Rachel - Vanessa BaucheVanessa Bauche-Early life:Bauche was born Alma Vanessa Bauche Chavira, named after actress Vanessa Redgrave. Her father was a Gypsy who married her mother, a woman who aspired to be a dancer and singer. At the time of the marriage, her mother was sixteen years her father's junior. The couple divorced when Bauche...
as Mariana - Levon HelmLevon HelmMark Lavon "Levon" Helm , is an American rock multi-instrumentalist and actor who achieved fame as the drummer and frequent lead and backing vocalist for The Band....
as Old Man with Radio - Mel Rodriguez as Captain Gómez
- Cecilia SuárezCecilia SuárezCecilia Suárez is an Ariel Award and Emmy International nominated Mexican actress who has played roles in a number of mostly Spanish language films and television series since 1997.-Career:...
as Rosa - Ignacio Guadalupe as Lucio
Awards and nominations
Cannes Film Festival2005 Cannes Film Festival
The 2005 Cannes Film Festival started on May 11 and ran until May 22. Twenty movies from 13 countries were selected to compete. The awards were announced on May 21...
- Win: Best ActorBest Actor Award (Cannes Film Festival)The Best Actor Award is an award presented at the Cannes Film Festival. It is chosen by the jury from the 'official section' of movies at the festival. It was first awarded in 1946.- Award Winners :-External links:* * ....
- Tommy Lee Jones - Win: Best ScreenplayBest Screenplay Award (Cannes Film Festival)The Best Screenplay Award is an award presented at the Cannes Film Festival. It is chosen by the jury from the 'official section' of movies at the festival...
- Guillermo Arriaga - Nominated: Golden Palm - Tommy Lee Jones
Satellite Awards
Satellite Awards
The Satellite Awards are an annual award given by the International Press Academy. The awards were originally known as the Golden Satellite Awards.- Film :*Best Actor – Drama*Best Actor – Musical or Comedy*Best Actress – Drama...
:
- Nominated: Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama - Tommy Lee Jones
Locations
- Big Bend National ParkBig Bend National ParkBig Bend National Park is a national park located in the U.S. state of Texas. Big Bend has national significance as the largest protected area of Chihuahuan Desert topography and ecology in the United States, which includes more than 1,200 species of plants, more than 450 species of birds, 56...
- Big Bend Ranch State ParkBig Bend Ranch State Park (Texas)Big Bend Ranch State Park is a state park located on the Rio Grande in Brewster County and Presidio County, Texas. It is the largest state park in Texas. The closest major town is Presidio, Texas, where the state park's head office is located.-Features:...
- Lajitas, TexasLajitas, TexasLajitas is an unincorporated community in Brewster County, Texas, United States, in proximity to the Big Bend National Park.-Government:For many years the mayor of Lajitas was Clay Henry III, a "beer-drinking" goat...
- Midland, TexasMidland, TexasMidland is a city in and the county seat of Midland County, Texas, United States, on the Southern Plains of the state's western area. A small portion of the city extends into Martin County. As of 2010, the population of Midland was 111,147. It is the principal city of the Midland, Texas...
- Monahans, TexasMonahans, TexasMonahans is a city in and the county seat of Ward County, Texas, United States. A very small portion of the city extends into Winkler County. The population was 6,821 at the 2000 census.-History:...
- Odessa, TexasOdessa, TexasOdessa is a city in and the county seat of Ector County, Texas, United States. It is located primarily in Ector County, although a small portion of the city extends into Midland County. Odessa's population was 99,940 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Odessa, Texas Metropolitan...
- Van Horn, TexasVan Horn, TexasVan Horn is a town in and the county seat of Culberson County, Texas, United States. The population was 2,435 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Van Horn is located at ....
- Redford, TexasRedford, TexasRedford is a census-designated place in Presidio County, Texas, United States. The population was 132 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Redford is located at ....
External links
- The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada at The Numbers
- "At the Border: the Limits of Knowledge in The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada and No Country for Old Men" Movie: A Journal of Film Criticism, No.1, 2010