Although there is an intriguing subtext about the use of American vs. cheap Mexican labor and the labor dispute arising between individualist farmers, unionists and organized crime, the film of Mr. Majestyk is more about the sense of pride and offended honor. Both Bronson and Lettieri are proud men (and so too is Koslo for that matter), but where Bronson is a moral and righteous man, Lettieri is a callous and brutally selfish thug. In their clash, the film seeks to explore the difference between righteous indignation (and unfair persecution) and arrogant, monstrously petty egotism. Lettieri considers Bronson a lowly individual and simply cannot tolerate that his pride has been insulted by this mere melon farmer. His utter contempt for the working man at the brink of poverty is the mark of his real villainy. Koslo in turn is an arrogant punk who thinks he can enforce his will on others and so exploit this socio-economic subclass for his own gain – he is detested by both Bronson and Lettieri. Both Koslo and Lettieri think too much of themselves, however, and the film champions the plight of the ordinary man who is driven to humble these men’s contemptuous arrogance. Only Bronson in this film’s world is capable of any form of truly righteous indignation and the film is quite careful to set this up accordingly. However, there is a deeper aspect to this film in its sober assessment of man’s struggle to control his own circumstances (financial and interpersonal).
Thus, the film charts the increasing pressures that come to bear upon the hard-working American man, the confluence of personal, legal and economic pressures finally driving him to ruin. In that sense, Bronson’s violent reckoning with Lettieri is his means of re-asserting control over his own fate, a fate that others have conspired to take away from him. This again is a dilemma essayed in many Bronson films and is also at the heart of the vigilante type as a wronged man whose sense of honor and pride have simply been pushed too far. The film thus champions the absolute right of the individual to re-assert control over his circumstances by whatever means necessary. It is the issue of the poor, whose control over their own fate is usurped by forces beyond their reckoning. Arrogant men who would rob others of their self-determination need to be taught a pronounced lesson in humility. The belated humility of Lettieri and Koslo as they realize that they have greatly underestimated this melon farmer is thus the moment in the film where director Fleischer feels that Bronson can really triumph. However, in Bronson’s struggle, the film endorses the idea implicit since the opening shot of Bronson emerging from a gas station men’s room – it is indeed a shitty world. Both Fleischer and screenwriter Leonard wallow in this metaphor at sustained length, the characters finally defining themselves by pride and antagonism alone. read more