The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada
| The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Tommy Lee Jones |
| Written by | Guillermo Arriaga |
| Produced by | Luc Besson Michael Fitzgerald Pierre-Ange Le Pogam |
| Starring | Tommy Lee Jones Barry Pepper Julio Cedillo Dwight Yoakam January Jones |
| Cinematography | Chris Menges Hector Ortega |
| Edited by | Roberto Silvi |
| Music by | Marco Beltrami |
Production companies | EuropaCorp Javelina Film Company |
| Distributed by | Sony Pictures Classics |
Release dates | |
Running time | 121 minutes |
| Countries | France United States Mexico |
| Languages | English Spanish |
| Budget | $15 million |
| Box office | $13.5 million |
The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (also known as Three Burials) is a 2005 neo-Western film directed by and starring Tommy Lee Jones and written by Guillermo Arriaga. It also stars Barry Pepper, Julio Cedillo, Dwight Yoakam, and January Jones.
The film was inspired by the real-life killing in Texas of a teenager, Esequiel Hernandez Jr, by United States Marines during a military operation near the United States–Mexico border as well as the novel As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner, which contains the same plot premise and challenges encountered in the film.
The film has many flashbacks with the same event shown from different perspectives.