The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez (1982) review

Bill Blakely (Bruce McGill), a reporter for the San Antonio Express, accompanies a team of lawmen - led by Captain Rogers (Brion James) - on a manhunt for Gregorio Cortez (Edward James Olmos), who's wanted for the killing of Sheriffs Morris (Timothy Scott) and Glover (Michael McGuire) - he proves to be an elusive individual, and when they do nab him he's placed on trial where it turns out there was a miscommunication between Cortez and the Americans, with Cortez unable to speak English and the Texans not understanding Spanish.  This might have been inspired by Kurosawa's Rashomon since the characters have different memories as to what transpired, except Young's approach to the material is a little too measured, and the first two thirds of the movie lack the energy to be properly engaging.  It is important as a historical work, however, and may be more relevant in 2025 than it was in 1982: Cortez is afforded due process under the U.S. Constitution and Frank Fly (James Gammon) prevents a mob from storming the jail.  Apparently Américo Paredes, who wrote the novel it's based on, detested this adaptation - it "cleans up" the title "symbol" and tries to make him empathetic, whereas the actual Gregorio wasn't totally upstanding.