Tepepa (Giulio Petroni, 1969)

Nice to know Iā€™m not the only one. I certainly donā€™t dislike it either because it does contain a lot of greatness but to me it fails when it comes to characters which I think are (with a few exceptions) the most important aspect of a film.

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Which is what makes Quien sabe? better than most other Spags. They feel real, and Damiani makes some interesting stuff with them.
And thatā€™s something Petroni is not really able to.

As people here are not very keen on following links, I insert the part of your very interesting post dealing with Tepepa.

What do you know about this?

I can understand that, they are more realistic than most characters in this genre as is the film itself, but I still find them less memorable, I genuinely couldnā€™t describe them if you asked me to. I agree with you on Petroni, but ironically I find Tepepa a more realistic than most character and more entertaining than El Chuncho. I am a bit biased though because I prefer Milian to Volonte, I think bringing Tepepa to life was more his doing than it was Petroniā€™s.

I canā€™t remember where, but Iā€™m quite positive Iā€™ve read somewhere that the riding sequence that ends the movie was not Solinas idea and that he was not happy it was added.

Anybody else remember this?

Titoli, I have taken the liberty to move this discussion to the filmā€™s thread, hope you donā€™t mind.

Iā€™m not sure that Tepepa actually has a casual relation to violence. Petroni said about Tepepa that it is a film with social intension. It seems to me that, among other things, Petroni intended to question the attitude towards violence prevalent among some leftist groups at the time. While Petroni obviously wants us to sympathize with the revolutionaries, in the film that is, it seems that he at the same time questions the proportionality of their use of violence.

Take the rape of Consuelo. In Quien Sabe? Adelita asks why, as she herself was raped as a child by aristocrats, should Don Felipeā€™s wife be spared? And in Tepepa the aristocrat woman is not spared. But I donā€™t think Petroni wanted to justify this act of violence. He questions it.

The same for Price, who set free to leave in peace even if he knows the revolutionariesā€™ hideout, takes advantage of this knowledge to lead Cascorro here. It means Price is willing to let Cascorro butcher the whole community following Tepepa, men, women and children, to get his revenge. Proportionate?

So when Paquito shoots Price, it is certainly not because the doctor didnā€™t like Mexico. It doesnā€™t make sense. Immediately before this, Paquito has saved the doctor twice. But eventually Paquito realizes that Price has given them away to the army, like his own father did before. He had betrayed them after all. For this reason he shoots him.

So what did Petroni actually think about it? That of course we donā€™t know for sure. But neither Tepepa nor Price gets away with it. Tepepa has to pay, and so has Price.

I fond it. It is in Nocturnoā€™s interview with Petroni. See Petroni on his westerns (interview) - The Spaghetti Western Database :

[Nocturno] In some versions, so I found out, the finale has been changed by removing the scene of Tepepa riding off, with the music of Morricone played in the background

[Petroni] Youā€™re right. As far as the finale is concerned, changes were made from the beginning. I first removed this final scene because Solinas had not written the scene himself and didnā€™t like the allegory of it. Then I realized the scene worked quite well, so I put it back. You are referring to, letā€™s call them, censorship problems. I found out that Paramount, for the American market, had again removed this final scene with Tepapa riding off. Most probably, this had something to do with the ambiguous nature of the main character. In those days it wasnā€™t considered to be very wise to treat a character who had committed several crimes, even horrible ones, as a hero, let alone to mythologize him.

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Thanks for sharing this - I hadnā€™t read this interview before.

As I have watched Tepepa a couple of times lately, Iā€™m a little puzzled as to who actually played the roles of Consuelo, the aristocrat woman raped by Tepepa, and Marieta, Tepepaā€™s bed companion and trusted comrade in arms. I take it that the Mexican seƱorita dancing at the fiesta and going to bed with Tepepa is the same woman as Marieta.

The SWDB has Paloma Cela as Consuelo. Iā€™m probably wrong, but it seems to me that Paloma Cela is Marieta rather than Consuelo.

Who then played Consuelo? My guess would be Anna Maria Lanciaprima, who the SWDB has as Maria Virgen Escalande, Consueloā€™s house maid. I have never seen a picture of Lanciaprima though. But if she was the same women who contended for the Miss Italia title in 1968, she would have the right age. Anyway, Alba Maiolini is Maria Virgen Escalande, or so it seems.

I call on @Carlos and @JonathanCorbett

Paloma Cela in A Town Called Bastard:

Marieta in Tepepa:

Consuelo in Tepepa:

Maiolini is definitely the maid.
I wrestled with this about a month or so ago when I watched Tepepa and could not reach a conclusion so I determined to return to it later. They all three have the same upper lip :slight_smile: At least you came up with a name for the rebel girl as I couldnā€™t understand what Tepepa called her. Consuela in close up

As morgan said, Paloma Cela is Marieta and Anna Maria Lanciaprima is Consueloā€¦

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Thanks both. I think Cela is perhaps most easily identified in Tepepa during the dance at the fiesta. Is this Lanciaprima then?

.

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In Florestano Vanciniā€™s Bronte Anna Maria Lanciaprima plays Lucia Sampieri

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Iā€™ve updated the filmā€™s page. Seems that the mix-up stems from Giusti (or before him).

I just rewatched the uncut version of this film last night for the first time in years, I was surprised by how good it was, much better than I remember it being. Very moving and affecting portrait of a deeply flawed ā€œfolk heroā€. IMO itā€™s one of the strongest spaghetti westerns ever made, surely itā€™s Petroniā€™s strongest film, although admittedly Iā€™ve never been a huge fan of Death Rides a Horse. I think Tepepa displays an understanding of what the Mexican Revolution was actually about more so than the Corbucci films or Duck You Sucker (all of which I love deeply, btw), and it makes it unique in the genre. Morrinconeā€™s score is great and I love the beautiful, but reserved, widescreen photography. Too bad this doesnā€™t have a US video release, I think this climbed into my top 5 fave Spaghettiā€™s with last nightā€™s viewing.

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Yeah well, whatever floats your boatā€¦ Top 40 for me on a good day.

Definitely overseen by a lot of folks, for sure. Quite an achievement

Yes - couldnā€™t agree more.

You should submit a top 20 list. With Tepepa in top five it might just have an impact!

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I think I will!