Legendary director Sam Peckinpah would give his soul for another chance to direct, and that's what he does, submitting to the corrupting influence of Hollywood for a chance to make his masterpiece The Wild Bunch, as ambition and creative genius flame alcoholism, drug addiction and paranoia, and lead to self-destructive madness.

SYNOPSIS:

Sam Peckinpah grows up on a ranch in Fresno, California, son of JAMES, an attorney and later Judge who punishes his son with physical violence, and FERN, a manipulative woman Sam grows to hate later in life. Sam is an imaginative child, dubbed ‘peculiar’ by his father, who is taken by the bloodier aspects of ranching life. He later goes into the Marines where he witnesses cruel scenes of torture of Chinese prisoners and is enraged by the bigotry and stupidity of superior offices. When Sam returns from the Marines he marries MARIE and is determined to get into the movies – he wants to be a director.

Sam spends thankless years working in television until his brother DENNIE, also a lawyer, manages to get a friend to grandfather Sam into the industry. Sam works as DON SIEGEL’s assistant and eventually, after lots of floor-sweeping, etc, gets a break to shoot his own movie. Sam quickly gets a reputation for being a handful on the set – shouting abuse at his crew and actors and behaving irrationally and unpredictably in the name of pursuing his vision. After the disaster of Major Dundee, when no studio will touch Sam, the producer DAN MELNICK gives Sam the opportunity to make The Wild Bunch. The film is Sam’s turning point as a director.

Sam is a nightmare on set in Mexico, bullying his crew as he single-mindedly goes after exactly the right look and feel for the film – i.e., bloody. However, he makes a life-long friend in one of the actors, L.Q. JONES, who remains Sam’s counsel and confident for the rest of his life. As Sam battles the studio henchmen from Warners he also has suspicions that Marie is being unfaithful. Eventually their marriage breaks down, Marie unable to cope with Sam’s womanising, drinking and erratic behaviour. Sam meets his second wife, BEGONIA, with whom he has a tempestuous relationship, divorcing and remarrying several times. Sam enlists EMILIO FERNANDEZ, a legendary Mexican filmmaker, to play the part of Mapache, the Mexican general, in the film. Emilio, a man who lives hard and by the gun, will be a lasting moral and philosophical influence in Sam’s life.