Convoy 
 

PostED ON 17.10.2024

Duck is the king of truck drivers, a free, independent man who keeps to himself. When a twisted and corrupt sheriff harasses him, a whole convoy of no-holds-barred truckers emerges in solidarity to defy cops, politicians and the media.

© DR

“We'll do whatever we want” is one of the lines from Sam Peckinpah's Convoy, uttered by an American trucker determined not to give in to anyone, least of all those who represent the law, the State. Restored in 4K by Studiocanal at the Silver Salt laboratory (UK), exclusively for the Lumière film festival and re-released in UHD Blu-Ray format, this big-engine comedy says a lot about the libertarian spirit that has run through the United States since its creation. The truck represents life, it's about doing things your way: driving where you want, when you want, taking a break, taking off again, making love, sometimes going straight into chaos.

Behind Convoy we find the uncontrollable, no-nonsense, coarse personality of Peckinpah, whose biography will be published by the Institut Lumière in 2025, accompanied by a retrospective. The director takes America head-on by showing that a movement can be more powerful than guns. “What counts is having self-respect”, seems to think Duck, embodied by the slender Kris Kristofferson, with a piercing gaze and a smile on his face. Convoy, filmed and edited with genuine mastery, recounts, better than anyone, what it means to be profoundly American. 

V.A.

Screenings:

Convoy by Sam Peckinpah (1978, 1h51)

Pathé Bellecour Thu 17 9:30pm | UGC Confluence Sat 19 6pm