Die Grenzwölfe (1984)

Die Grenzwölfe: Directed by William Tannen. With Kris Kristofferson, Treat Williams, Rip Torn, Kevin Conway. Two Texas border guards, a young hotshot and his older and more cynical partner, find a jeep buried for 20 years in the desert, with a skeleton, a scoped rifle, and a box with $800,000 in cash. They decide to keep the money, but quietly check up on the cryptic info they’ve found on the dead driver. Soon, the Feds are running all over the place, and it looks like the jeep may be linked to the JFK assassination. But the Feds are trying to cover it up, and eliminate anyone who knows about the jeep.

“I can just picture the expressions on the faces of Treat Williams and Kris Kristofferson, a pair of actors whose talents havenu0026#39;t always been well utilized by Hollywood, after reading this script. One can imagine them scrambling for the phone, knocking things over, frantically dialing their agentu0026#39;s number and blurting out u0026quot;Yes! Yes! Iu0026#39;ll do it! Are you kidding? Hell, Iu0026#39;ll do it for free!u0026quot; Films this bold and unspoiled donu0026#39;t come along very often these days.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBlends elements of works as diverse as u0026quot;A Simple Planu0026quot;, u0026quot;The Parallax Viewu0026quot;, u0026quot;All The Presidentu0026#39;s Menu0026quot;, u0026quot;The X-Filesu0026quot; and even Orwellu0026#39;s u0026quot;1984u0026quot; (the motion detector plot point) to create a sublime, spine-tingling mystery. The first time director William Tannen, approaches the disturbing central theme of his piece in a startlingly original way. He circles it, surrounds it, then closes in with the cunning of a fox and the daring of an assassin. There are subtle (very subtle) hints along the way, particularly if you listen closely to steel-eyed Kurtwood Smithu0026#39;s jaw-dropping diatribe in which he blisters the so-called u0026quot;American Wayu0026quot; in no uncertain terms. u0026quot;This whole f***ing nation is politicsu0026quot; he hisses. But they are merely hints making the slyly implied, almost subliminal conclusion that much more of a stunner. Undoubtedly a film that requires its audience to pay extremely close attention to every line, every gesture, every nuance, every single frame of film. The attentive viewer will be amply rewarded.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWilliams and Kristofferson are weary, prankish (think Hawkeye and Honeycutt from M*A*S*H) border patrol officers waging a futile battle against the steady flow of illegal immigration from Mexico into Texas. K.K. is a laid back cynic, a decorated Vietnam veteran with an easy-going disposition that masks a simmering resentment towards lock-kneed bureaucracy. Williams is a stubborn, uneducated idealist, a hothead unafraid to speak out against the injustice, corruption and plain foolishness he encounters on his job every day. K.K. no longer has any illusions about u0026quot;making a differenceu0026quot; but loves the feeling of riding around in his jeep through a beautiful lonely desert, and glories in the thrill of the chase. Williams clings to the slippery notion that, despite his shortcomings, heu0026#39;s one of the last of the good guys, that his uniform does indeed stand for something decent and noble. Their friendship and camaraderie is deep and real in a way few in movies out of Hollywood ever are.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe two of them are in a state of increasing anxiety as a result of their superiorsu0026#39; arrogant, short-sighted decision to rely on a new motion detector technology to u0026quot;assistu0026quot; border patrol units in performing these difficult, high stress jobs. K.K. and Williams are convinced that this reliance will at worst render 3/4 of uniformed personnel useless and soon put them out of work, and at best will severely alter the complexion of their day to day duties. They fear it will rob them of their sense of freedom and adventure. (Williams is by no means thrilled at the prospect of sitting in a room staring at a computer screen all day.)u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eFed up, they are both looking for a ticket out. K.K. seems to find one in the form of a wrecked jeep buried under mounds of dirt and mud in the middle of nowhere. He unearths $800,000 in cash in the wreckage as well as the driveru0026#39;s skeletal remains. A look at the corpseu0026#39;s license reveals that, amazingly, he must have been rotting there undiscovered for at least 20 years, placing his last moments alive somewhere in the early 1960u0026#39;s. Wisely reasoning that if the money has gone un-missed for that long, he has as much right as anyone else to claim it, K.K. wants to split the cash with his buddy Williams and take off immediately for Mexico. Williams is tempted, as anyone in his shoes would be, but has his doubts. It doesnu0026#39;t pass the smell test and also wonu0026#39;t quite square with his nagging personal code of honor.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eTo placate Williams K.K. allows himself to be talked into doing some detective work first, to see if theyu0026#39;re able to determine who exactly the money once belonged to, and whether or not itu0026#39;s clean. At a certain point in this investigation they come to the shocking realization that theyu0026#39;re up against an evil so defiant, so entrenched that even when staring down the barrel of a loaded revolver it wonu0026#39;t budge an inch. It all hits home in one of the most chillingly emblematic shots in the history of American film: the pair have just made a gruesome discovery inside an abandoned shack in the desert; the camera pulls back to show them staggering outside silently and dropping to their knees in horror against a backdrop of sand and sky.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eu0026quot;Flashpointu0026quot; stands besides films such as u0026quot;Treasure of The Sierra Madreu0026quot; and Rod Serlingu0026#39;s u0026quot;Patternsu0026quot; as unflinching, uniquely American movies that reveal more about who we really are at different points in our tumultuous history than just about any other hundred films combined. It will give future generations a strong sense of what our hopes, our fears, our struggles and suspicions truly were at the time. Its clear-eyed, uncompromised vision is so atypical itu0026#39;s jarring. You keep expecting it to take some wrong turn down Formula Road as so many other conspiracy thrillers do, but it bravely sticks to its narrow, bumpy, unpaved path.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eScoff all you want, and of course this movie has been virtually ignored by critics and audiences for going on 17 years now, but this is one of the best movies of its decade. Rip Tornu0026#39;s sage advice for a shell-shocked Kristofferson at the end will stick with you. u0026quot;Donu0026#39;t be a martyr. We already got enough of those. Be different. Be the one that got away.u0026quot;”