A Fistful of Dollars
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Movie Reviews of A Fistful of Dollars
Movie Review: The Man With No Name Rides Into Hollywood On A Dark Mule
Summary: 4 Stars
The man with no name rides into town on his mule in Sergio Leone's first installment of 'The Man With No Name' trilogy. Making few distinctions between his protagonists and antagonists, Leone's 1964 western brings a new vision of the Wild West as a lawless place of only bandits and victims instead of one where the good old sheriff or cavalry always saves the day.
In this film, Joe Manco a.k.a. The Man With No Name (Clint Eastwood) comes to the town of San Miguel to find it split between two family factions. On one side is the arms-smuggling Baxter family while on the other are the Rojo brothers who deal with whiskey. Both clans are feuding and both could use a good gunslinger to clean things up. Is the new stranger with the fast draw a good man for the job? Although our anonymous cowboy has a conscience after all, and would really like to see the crime families go, there's no reason for him not to make a little money on the side while he's at it. The Rojos' leading brother Ramon (Gian Maria Volonté), who always shoots for the heart with his Winchester lever-action, knows that Clint's up to no good and wants to get rid of him pronto. How will our shady hero deal with this dilemma?
As with his three subsequent westerns, Leone brings the audience into a very different Far West from the one most audiences were familiar with in films such as 'Stagecoach' or 'Fort Apache'. Here our hero is just slightly less shady than his antagonists: he rarely starts fights but he's always the one who finishes them. He has no moral reservations about working for criminals as long as he brings them down in the end. The badlands theme is reinforced by the trademark shootout scenes brought to life with Morricone's legendary music. Instead of presenting the armed confrontations as a climaxing filler to officially continue the plot or end a story, Leone turns the whole shootout scenes into a conscious ritual of death. Through Morricone's brilliant brass symphonic arrangements which are similar to music one hears at a bullfight: Leone seems to present hero as the matador and his victims as the bulls. The close shots of the twitching eyes, dripping sweat, and agitated hands hovering over the grip of a Colt single-action .45-long, parallel the images of a bull who, with a heavy breath, scrapes his front hooves and prepares for his final charge against the sword-wielding matador.
This is one of the greatest westerns to be made and was Clint Eastwood's rise to fame as an actor. Leone's unique vision of the Wild West as being a badland of amoral characters is amplified by his unique vision of the final gunfight. Instead of being a brief shootout to end the story, Leone turns these scene into stories of their own. This is another western that should be in every western lover's collection.
Movie Review: "New Breed of Western......New Breed of Hero"
Summary: 4 Stars
In the small dusty border town of San Miguel, two gangs of "criminals and smugglers" are both trying to take over the town and be the "bosses". Out of nowhere enters our hero, the very dangerous(but very cute) gunman with no name(Clint Eastwood). In this first of the trilogy directed by Sergio Leone
Clint decides to play the rival gangs against each other, first working for one then the other. Why? Because there's money to made here. In the process, there are deadly shootouts, Clint saves a family,gets his face bashed in (I hated that part) and well I wont give away the end.
This film was followed by "A Few Dollars More" and "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly". All three a must see's for the Eastwood fan. This one was based on the Japaneese film "Yojimbo" and was also the basis for the more recent "Last Man Standing" starring Bruce Willis.
Billed as "A New Breed of Western" (more commonly called spaghetti westerns, although it was shot in Spain), it is a cinematic treat you wont want to miss. The actors performances are terrific and the scenery stunning.
The DVD(by MGM) is a must have. The picture is crisp, the colors are sharp and the widescreen excellent. The sound is Mono,(only reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5) but it still sounds good, the horses and guns are crisp and the dialouge is fine.(The film is nearly 40 years old )
Not a whole lot of extras, but for me This movie was the extra!
What the DVD has is the Original Theatrical Trailer, Scene Selection, and a very informative booklet that talks about the making of the film. It also has subtitles, English and French which could be helpful for hearing impaired viewers, and a standard film format on the other side for those who might prefer it to the widescreen.
If you have never seen it and you like westerns, you'll love it. If you have already seen it and know you love it, you will enjoy the DVD.
thanx-Laurie
more clint stuff:
Paint Your Wagon
Music for the Movies of Clint Eastwood
Eastwood on Eastwood [VHS]
Movie Review: 'The Man With No Name' rides into town for the first time...
Summary: 4 Stars
Sergio Leone shared a rebellious desire to tumble the old values and present the audience with a new, more mystifying piece of storytelling... The violence, the speed of action in his film announced a totally new European style...
Leone placed the poncho on Eastwood's shoulders to give his character a veil of mystery... The cigar acted as a sort of pendant to those ice-cold eyes... He creates a quite unique character, with no name, no horse and no money, a cynical bounty hunter whose impassivity is his main attraction, an ultra-cool gunslinger who leaves us impressed by his exceptionally swift draw... He is a mysterious 'gunman with green eyes' who comes from nowhere and returns there, a cult hero (set against a dry and dead landscape) entering a noisy violent world where evil competes with evil...
"A Fistful of Dollars" is distinguished by Sergio Leone's visual gift, and convincing fashion in handling violence, rape and torture... He presents his sadistic killers, invariably unshaven, sweating and bleeding in frequent big close-ups... Both the real and the unreal invincibility of his 'Stranger' are never better illustrated than in the final scene when the trembling Ramon fills the gunfighter's heart with bullets...
Leone's very dark brand of humor stands out when Eastwood walks past a coffin-maker: "Gets three coffins ready" he orders... The town heavies make fun of him, asking where his old mule is... "You see, my mule don't like people laughing, gets the crazy idea you're laughing at him!" All four heavies get their just punishment for such mockery and as Eastwood returns past the old man, he corrects his miscalculations: "My mistake, four coffins."
The film is strong on passionate emotions, and bloody violence... This aspect is completely foreign to the American tradition based on John Ford concepts of honor, bravery and romantic adventure... Sergio Leone's film deeply influenced the future of the Western in general and the Italian 'spaghetti' Western in particular...
Movie Review: Brutality Mixed With Humanity
Summary: 4 Stars
"A Fistful of Dollars" was released in Italy in 1964, but didn't make it to the U.S. until 1967. From its James Bond-like graphics on the opening to that incredible music, this is a minimalist example of less is more. The scenes of brutality are still startling. Gian Maria Volonte who plays bad guy Ramon Rojo is incredibly violent and merciless. His beating of Clint Eastwood's Man With No Name also makes us wince. The thing that is so endearing about the movie is how the brutality is mixed with humanity. Marianne Koch plays Marisol who has been abducted from her husband and son that must watch as she is made to be the imprisoned sex slave of Ramon. Eastwood's character is touched by this, endures an incredible beating, and explains this act of kindness as he arranges their escape by saying that he once knew someone like her. Equally wonderful are the smaller characters such as the grizzled undertaker who delights in the killings because he can build another casket. Eastwood turns to him after escaping the beatings and is hauled out of town in a casket. The acts of goodness of the tavern owner who keeps advising Eastwood to leave are also touching. We see the great love of the husband and son for Marisol as they embrace in the street despite being at gunpoint. Director Sergio Leone does a nice job of splicing in as much humor as possible such as Clint Eastwood explaining how his mule has been offended. Yes, the DVD version doesn't offer many extras, but being released 35 years after the original, more is not realistic. This was a landmark film, well photographed and remarkably fresh almost 40 years later. Enjoy!Movie Review: A great Eastwood Spaghetti western classic
Summary: 4 Stars
This is one of the "man with no name" spaghetti western movies. Clint, bounty hunter, rides into a town where his horse is scared off by several of the local bullies and leaves Clint horseless and hanging onto a saloon sign. After a drink and chat with the bartender, he approaches the thugs and asks them to apologize to his horse. They try to draw on him, but, in cool fashion, Clint guns them all down. Later, he recognizes an opportunity to be a hired gun for one of the town's gang families. Things are going well for him in playing both sides against each other until he gives in to a moment of conscience. He pays for it, but comes back to deal out some hard western justice.
Doug Setter, Bsc. author of Stomach Flattening and One Less Victim: A Prevention Guide