25th Anniversary: WALKER (Alex Cox, 1987)

Event Date: February 23, 2012 - 7:30pm

Location: The James Bridges Theater, Melnitz Hall 1409, UCLA

A hallucinatory biopic that breaks all cinematic conventions, WALKER, from British director Alex Cox (REPO MAN, SID & NANCY), tells the story of nineteenth-century American adventurer William Walker (Ed Harris), who abandoned a series of careers in law, politics, journalism, and medicine to become a soldier of fortune, and for several years dictator of Nicaragua. Made with mad abandon and political acuity – and the support of the Sandinista army and government during the Contra war – the film uses this true tale as a satirical attack on American ultra-patriotism and a freewheeling condemnation of “manifest destiny.” Featuring a powerful score by Joe Strummer and a performance of intense, repressed rage by Ed Harris, WALKER remains one of Cox’s most daring works.

Our 25th anniversary screening of WALKER will be preceded by the short film, WALKER 2008 (Alex Cox, 2008), and followed by a Q&A producer Lorenzo O'Brien, actor Miguel Sandoval (Parker French), actress Linda Callahan (Mrs. Bingham), actor Dick Rude (Washburn), actor Sy Richardson (Capt. Hornsby), and additional members of the cast and crew.

UPDATE: Due to a sudden illness, filmmaker and UCLA alumnus Alex Cox will be unable to attend this event as originally planned.

“One of the greatest and most representative movies of the 1980s is still able to ironically laugh at the savagery and stupidity happening in our world right now.” -Jeremiah Kipp, Slant Magazine

“Director Alex Cox and the writer Rudy Wurlitzer have made ''Walker,'' a hip, cool, political satire that's almost as lunatic as the title character.” -Vincent Canby, The New York Times

“The movie's fierce detractors must have been so disgusted that they weren't even willing to concede its strokes of genius, which begin with Ed Harris' quietly gonzo performance…If you think Ed Harris is creepy as the relentlessly virtuous space cadet John Glenn in The Right Stuff, or as the scarred gangster in A History of Violence, you ain't seen nothin' yet: Harris' restrained performance here is all the more frightening because he lets us see how much insanity Walker is holding back.” -Rob Gonsalves, EFilmCritic.com

Director: Alex Cox
Writer: Rudy Wurlitzer
Starring: Ed Harris, Richard Masur, Rene Auberjonois, Xander Berkeley, Peter Boyle, Marlee Matlin
Universal
35mm, 94 min.

The original theatrical trailer for WALKER can be viewed here: http://www.matttrailer.com/walker_1987