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Sam Peckinpah: Characters
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Sam Peckinpah is an interesting case study. As a character, he is so charismatic and multi-faceted that Dostoyevsky would be hard-pressed to invent so rich and provocative a protagonist. The reason for this (partly) is that Sam Peckinpah was his own invention. He was a dreamer who dreamed up a self, a persona that eventually turned into a nightmare, a nightmare from which he was unable to awaken.
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Peckinpah was a contradiction in many ways, much like his characters in his films. He was known to be a sensitive and poetic man who hid that side from the world. The side he did show and that added to his out-of-control reputation was that of a relentless, hard-living, self-destructive alcoholic who later developed a cocaine habit that essentially killed him before his time.
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This persistent theme has led many critics to view Peckinpah's films as essentially tragic. That is, his characters are portrayed as being prisoners of their fates and their own failings who nonetheless seek redemption and meaning in an absurd and violent world. The theme of longing for redemption, justification, and honor in a dishonorable existence permeates almost all of Peckinpah's work and has helped to elevate his reputation from that of a skilled director of action films to one of the greatest cinematic artists of his era.
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