Time to Die Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

Time to Die Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 17, 2017

Every so often there have been efforts to “reconsider” supposedly less than successful westerns like Marlon Brando’s sole directing effort One-Eyed Jacks or even John Wayne’s sole (solo) directing effort The Alamo, kind of weirdly two “oaters” that debuted relatively close to each other but which took manifestly different approaches to their genre, despite each being helmed by a legendary actor. It’s kind of interesting to look at The Alamo and One Eyed Jacks as harbingers of where the western had gotten to by the onset of the sixties, at least insofar as the American film industry was concerned. Wayne’s opus took the “epic film” approach, supposedly recreating history and offering spectacular set pieces. Brando’s film on the other hand was more of a simmering personal statement, one built on character rather than huge vistas filled with marauding insurgents. There’s little doubt that despite occasional blockbusters in the western idiom that would offer at least some screen spectacle, that the trend was more or less in the direction of smaller scale, more intimate, stories as westerns started to reflect more of the “indie” spirit that would inform American film, especially as the sixties gave way to the seventies. In that regard, it’s possible to see the really fascinating 1966 Mexican western Time to Die as both a reflection of nascent American trends at the time, but also perhaps as presaging elements that would show up later in character driven westerns like Robert Altman’s McCabe & Mrs. Miller (in terms of a smaller scale and often gritty presentational style, if not in terms of actual content). Time to Die has a fairly compelling set of imprimaturs, having been originally written by none other than Gabriel García Márquez and then further adapted by none other than Carlos Fuentes, and the film is further distinguished for having been the feature film directorial debut of Arturo Ripstein, a (then) budding auteur who cut his teeth working as an assistant to Luis Buñuel on such films as The Exterminating Angel.

There’s a certain sort of fatalism that informs Time to Die that in fact may remind some of some fifties westerns, at least those helmed by Anthony Mann. The basic premise is a western tradition: revenge. Juan Sayago (Jorge Martinez de Hoyos) has just gotten out of prison after almost two decades, and returns to his dusty home town to try to pick up the pieces and make whatever life for himself he can. Of course, he soon realizes a lot has changed in the intervening years, including the status of his erstwhile main squeeze Mariana (Marga Lopez), but what really makes for conflict is the plotting by the sons of the man whose killing put Sayago in stir in the first place.

Those boys are Julian (Alfredo Leal) and Pedro Trueba (Enrique Rocha), and there’s some interesting family dynamics at play in the screenplay which might suggest a certain homoeroticism (incestuous though it may be) lurking just beneath the surface. The brothers obviously want to goad Juan into reacting, while a number of Juan’s former friends in the town simply want him to get the hell out of Dodge (so to speak), and the film plays out less like a traditional build up to an epic showdown than it does a kind of slow burning cat and mouse game. What’s fascinating about the whole dialectic between the brothers and Juan is that Juan is kind of a paunchy, unkempt middle aged shlub, though he obviously can take care of himself. The Trueba boys are both testosterone fueled in their own way (Julian arguably more than “fellow traveler” Pedro), but Juan has “been there” and “done that”, and pretty much seeks to avoid conflict at all costs.

There’s an elegiac quality to Time to Die which is perhaps unavoidable given that title, but which permeates the film in a rather interesting way. It’s been interesting to read up on this film in preparation for this review, since some have commented that Time to Die isn’t “really” a western, or at least could have easily been set in some other location and/or timeframe and been completely “at home”. That perhaps speaks to the underlying story’s universality, one which Ripstein stages with an appreciation of the “wide open spaces” he’s exploring, but with a smarter focus on the “up close and personal” tales of the characters. Performances are uniformly excellent, with de Hoyos and Lopez especially touching as relative “elders” looking back on lives where fate intruded and new choices needed to be made.

Time to Die Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Time to Die is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Film Movement with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.33:1. Film Movement is touting this release as having been culled from a "pristine 2K restoration", and the results are in fact extremely commendable, with an excellent accounting of Alex Phillips' evocative cinematography. The film has a kind of unusual "feel" for a western, with a slightly more "urban" (relatively speaking) setting in what at times seems to be a largely deserted town. Phillips and Ripstein tend to alternate between wide shots, where just one figure walks through a barren environment, and close-ups, where one or typically two characters are confronting each other. Clarity remains excellent throughout these changes, and close-ups offer good amounts of fine detail. Contrast is generally strong (I personally wouldn't have minded it having been boosted a bit), but there are occasional very slight variances in brightness. Grain looks natural and resolves without any compression anomalies.

Time to Die Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Time to Die features an LPCM 2.0 mono track in the original Spanish, with optional English subtitles. The film has a rather spare sound design, one that tends to emphasize the "emptiness" of not just Juan's life, but even of the environment he finds himself back in. There are occasional bursts of energy, typically when one character or the other has a fit of pique, and there are of course a few gunshots sprinkled into the mix along the way. While there's a slightly boxy sound, overall things sound clear and occasionally even robust in the lower frequencies.

Time to Die Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Alex Cox Video Introduction to Time to Die (1080p; 6:51) offers the director of Repo Man offering some fun insights into the film. I personally could have done without the fisheye lens shot of Cox's study, but that's probably just me.


• Commentary by Arturo Ripstein and Enrique Rocha is kind of a bittersweet, elegiac affair, with the two frequently pointing out cast members who have since passed away and the like, but there are some nice reminiscences included. In Spanish with optional English subtitles.


• Time to Die Trailer (1080p; 1:53)

The Blu-ray disc also includes several other trailers for Film Movement releases. Film Movement has also provided a nicely appointed insert booklet which includes an excellent essay by Carlos A. Gutierrez.

Time to Die Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I frankly wasn't that aware of this film, despite being at least passingly acquainted with some other Ripstein pieces like Deep Crimson and Hell Without Limits. This is an unusually authoritative directorial debut from Ripstein, who was only 21 when he jumped into this particular fray. This has the same sort of psychological sensibility that informed a number of Anthony Mann westerns from the fifties, but it also has a somewhat more modern, lean and mean, aspect that places it firmly in the mid-sixties despite its putative setting. Technical merits are strong, and Time to Die comes Highly recommended.