<div> <div> <p>In the first book to critically examine each of the fourteen feature films Sam Peckinpah directed during his career, Michael Bliss stresses the persistent moral and structural elements that permeate Peckinpah&amp;#8217;s work.</p> <p>By examining the films in great detail, Bliss makes clear the moral framework of temptation and redemption with which Peckinpah was concerned while revealing the director&amp;#8217;s attention to narrative. Bliss shows that each of Peckinpah&amp;#8217;s protagonists is involved with attempting, in the words of <i>Ride</i> <i>the High Country&amp;#8217;s</i> Steve Judd, "to enter my house justified."</p> <p>The validity of this systematic method is clearly demonstrated in the chapter devoted to <i>The Wild Bunch</i>. By enumerating the doublings and triplings of action and dialogue found in the film, Bliss underscores its symbolic and structural complexity. Beginning the chapters treating <i>Junior Bonner</i> and <i>The Getaway</i> with analyses of their important title sequences, Bliss shows how these frequently disregarded pieces present in miniature the major moral and narrative concerns of the films. In his chapter on <i>The Osterman Weekend</i>, Bliss makes apparent Peckinpahs awareness of and concern with the self-reflexive nature of filmmaking itself.</p> <p>Bliss shows that like John Ford, Peckinpah moved from optimism to pessimism. The films of the director&amp;#8217;s early period, from <i>The Deadly Companions</i> to <i>Cable Hogue,</i> support the romantic ideals of adventure and camaraderie and affirm a potential for goodness in America. In his second group of films, which begins with <i>Straw Dogs</i> and ends with <i>Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia</i>, both heroes and hope have vanished. It is only in <i>The Osterman Weekend</i> that Peckinpah appears finally to have renewed his capacity for hope, allowing his career to close in a positive way.</p> </div> </div>