Convoy (1978)

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Movie
German title Convoy
Original title Convoy
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1978
length 106 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director Sam Peckinpah
script Bill L. Norton
production Robert M. Sherman
music Chip Davis
camera Harry Stradling Jr.
cut Graeme Clifford ,
Garth Craven ,
John Wright
occupation

Convoy is a road movie by Sam Peckinpah from 1978 that depicts the trucker as a modern cowboy . The film is roughly based on the 1975 CW McCall country song of the same name .

action

Replica of the metal hood ornament of a duck mounted on Rubber Ducks Truck

The trucker Martin Penwald, CB called "Rubber Duck", is on a lonely country road in Arizona and meets the good-looking photographer Melissa , on the road in a Jaguar E-Type . To flirt, they drive side by side, with Rubber Duck overlooking a patrol car in oncoming traffic and almost ramming it. He is then stopped by the police officer and confronted, Melissa stops some distance away. Rubber Duck escapes punishment, however, by telling the police officer that Melissa is sitting at the wheel without panties, whereupon he immediately starts her pursuit and she escapes. A little later, Rubber Duck meets his colleagues on the highway with the nicknames "Spider Mike" and "Love Machine" (due to the luxurious interior of his truck - later called "Pig Pen" because it transports a load of pigs). They are lured into a trap by the corrupt Sheriff Lyle Wallace when he impersonates a trucker colleague on the radio and tempts them to exceed the speed limit. Shortly afterwards, he asks them to pay in his " speed trap ". It turns out that he and Rubber Duck are old friends and the two share a love-hate relationship. When the three truckers eat in a truck stop a short time later , they are followed by Lyle Wallace , who is also known as "Dirty Lyle" because of his nasty manner. In the truck stop they also meet Melissa , who broke down with her Jaguar after a breakdown. After a little provocation on the part of the truckers via CB radio, the racist Lyle Wallace (usually dubbed "Bulle" in the German dubbing by the truckers) wants to cause trouble again and imprison his dark-skinned colleague Spider Mike for vagrancy, because he was due to the previous one Ticket is broke. Lyle Wallace is also not interested in the fact that Spider Mike's wife is heavily pregnant and he has to be home for the birth of his child . After a battle of words, Spider Mike finally defies arrest and knocks the sheriff down. When two more police officers show up in the restaurant and want to arrest the truckers, they don't put up with it. There is a wild brawl with the police, in the course of which more truckers present intervene and the two police officers are finally knocked out.

Since the drivers have now committed criminal offenses, they want to disappear across the state border as quickly as possible; to do this, they form a convoy . Rubber Duck leads the convoy and takes Melissa in his truck, bringing them closer together in the days that follow. In the course of the chase, the truckers are 'forced' to commit further offenses. The convoy causes several traffic accidents in which some patrol cars are involved, as a result of which the police force increases. More and more truck drivers overhear the radio traffic and join the convoy - the incident in the restaurant turns into a huge protest against the arbitrariness of the authorities and the working conditions of truck drivers. When roadblocks cannot stop the convoy and the cat-and-mouse game between the police and truck drivers threatens to escalate, the governor of New Mexico , Jerry Haskins, sees an ideal opportunity to gain positive publicity in the course of the Senate election campaign to secure additional votes - namely those of the truckers. Spider Mike leaves the convoy to go to Texas to see his wife , who is about to give birth . However, he is arrested by a racist sheriff in a Texas nest, beaten up and then held captive at the behest of Lyle Wallace . He wants to use Spider Mike as bait to settle accounts with Rubber Duck . During an official meeting of the truckers with the governor, Rubber Duck becomes aware of this via the silent post principle via CB radio and sets out to free Spider Mike - if necessary by force - from the hands of the corrupt police. Although he doesn't want any help, some of the truckers follow him. Together they roll down the small town with their heavy trucks and free Spider Mike .

After the events and the numerous crimes committed, Rubber Duck decides together with some of his colleagues to cross the border into Mexico and thus avoid criminal prosecution. The conflict finally culminates in an open confrontation between Rubber Duck and the concentrated state power in the form of police and national guard on a bridge over the Rio Grande . When he wanted to cross the bridge and thus the border, his truck, loaded with the explosive chemical nitromannite , came under heavy fire, including an anti-aircraft tank used in the bridge barrier and a machine gun operated by Lyle Wallace , which destroyed the trailer in a huge explosion and the tractor crashes into the river.

A large funeral is organized for Rubber Duck , who is initially thought to be dead, attended by hundreds of truckers from the previous convoy with their vehicles. Rubber Ducks coffin is on the semi-trailer of Love Machine aka Pig Pen laid. When the governor misappropriated the funeral oration and the entire funeral as an election campaign appearance, Pig Pen leaves his seat in disgust, gets into his truck and drives away with Rubber Duck's coffin, whereupon all the other truckers present follow him with their trucks and now form a new large convoy .

The final shot shows Sheriff Wallace looking after a bus in the condolence convoy. In the last row of seats he recognizes Melissa and Rubber Duck , who survived injured and disguised himself as a member of a Christian religious community. All three start laughing heartily.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack for the film, which includes the song Convoy by CW McCall and Lucille by Kenny Rogers , sold around 3 million copies. The track list on the sound carrier names the following songs:

Awards

The film won the golden screen in 1980 .

More information

Peckinpah, who had mainly made westerns up to this point , transferred their “outlaw” - or robber-and-gendarme - black and white painting into modern life: the fronts of “good and bad” are clear. A man comes into conflict with corrupt authorities and involuntarily becomes the leader of a revolt of common people. The truck drivers take the place of modern cowboys here, as is the case in many contemporary country and rock songs. The film was Peckinpah's most expensive production, at a cost of $ 12 million (at the time).

criticism

“Sam Peckinpah varies and updates the myths of the Western genre, using the effective means of action cinema to create a pessimistic picture of the time. The 'American dream' of individualism, freedom and adventure suffocates under the conventions of 'Law and Order', against which even anarchic liberation attempts ultimately remain ineffective: In the end, the rebel is also appropriated and subjected to commercial exploitation as a legendary hero. An exciting, perfectly staged film against the backdrop of social violence. "

- Lexicon of international film

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Convoy. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed December 4, 2016 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used