Runtime: 93 minutes
Directed by: Sergio Corbucci
Starring: Franco Nero, Jose Canalejas, Jose Boldalo, Loredana Nusciak, Angel Alvarez
From: A few different Italian and Spanish companies
The “D” is silent… wait, wrong movie.
About time I saw another Western; besides not experiencing that genre too often in general, the last time was several months ago. It was a realization made recently so thank heavens there are a number of sources available to solve this problem… YouTube, legal streaming sites, television, etc. The fact that the Criterion Collection just added a new collection entitled “Snow Westerns” will help scratch that itch and make me see not just Spaghetti Westerns but older more traditional fare. While this is on Arrow’s streaming service, I went with the 4K stream offered for a few bucks on Prime.
In his breakout role, Franco Nero plays the title character, a former Union soldier who unexpectedly teams up with a mixed-race prostitute as they are mired in a feud between revolutionaries from Mexico and racist former Confederate soldiers. Specifically, they are Red Shirts, who unfortunately were a real-life group of white supremacists that caused havoc in the final quarter of the 19th century. Despite what you might think, they were not lead by human underwear stain Nick Fuentes… instead it’s a Major Jackson, who is just as repugnant as Fuentes.
Yojimbo/A Fistful of Dollars was definitely an inspiration, although neither The Man with No Name nor Kikuchiyo ever dragged around a wooden coffin constantly like Django does here—eventually the contents of which are revealed. The feud is so brutal that the main town we spend much time in is a desolate muddy wasteland, which does set the right sort of evocative mood for the web that this movie weaves. It’s more than just a blood-soaked tale of revenge or a treatise on greed; to reveal more would be criminal so I won’t.
Well-directed by Sergio Corbucci, nice performances from Nero and the rest of the main cast, the expected scenic Spanish locales, a groovy score that includes an awesome opening/ending credits tune, and multiple scenes where awful SOB’s are gunned down-along with other unforgettable moments… no wonder this is a genre classic where the title was used often by others along with some of its ideas. Those that love Spaghetti Western films MUST give this a shot.
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