But for the american westerns the term twilight is not used for all of the later westerns, but for the type of films which were dealing with the myths of the old westerns by presenting aged heroes which had problems to live in a changing world.
They were called Twilight Westerns because many of them were situated in a later time, often (but not necessarily) after the turn of the century, at least after the frontier was closed.
Peckinpahâs Ride the High Country, The Wild Bunch, The Ballad of Cable Hogue, Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid are archetypical Twilight Westerns. The modern days Junior Bonner also.
Hawks El Dorado and Rio Lobo, which are also presenting old heroes and were made late in the genre history, donât belong in this category.
Westerns like The Oulaw Josey Wales, Nevada Pass, Jeremiah Johnson, The Hunting Party, Valdez Is Coming, A Man Called Horse are also no Twilight Westerns.
This film has not much of a so called gothic feel, only lots of mist in a few scenes, thatâs why these later Spags are often called Twilight westerns.
Mannaja was made to cash in on the success of Keoma, so there are some similarities like the overall atmosphere or the heroâs straggly looks, but the greatest similarity to Keoma is simly the score with the Leonard Cohen like singing (but here without the female voice).
And Peckinpah, no, no, this film is as far from Peckinpah as a western can be, especially in itâs use of slo mo combined with some spurting blood.
I think the only SW which has a âgothicâ atmosphere is probably And God Said to Cain. Also to a lesser extent Vengeance, made by the same director.
Maybe also some parts of Django the Bastard.[/quote]Calling this movie not gothic is like saying Rose Kennedy doesnât have a black dress, or Pamela Anderson never had sex, or George W. Bush isnât an idiot. This is probobly the most gothic of any spaghetti western. I believe that this didnât rip off keoma. This one is more gothic and violent than keoma. Sure they are similar but I believe that the directorâs style was just similar. Martino was a famed director of horror films and he brought that to the spaghetti western. They used different locations. Keoma was somewhere in Abruzzo, Italy while Mannaja was made in Manziana. And if Mannaja did rip off Keoma, why didnât it use as much slow motion. One of the most notable aspects of keoma is the slow mo gunfights. There is only one slow mo gunfight in mannaja. If this was a rip off, it would look more like keoma but it doesnât. The character isnât a halfbreed, doesnât have evil brothers, doensât even use the same gunshot noise. These are the reasons Manaja DOESN"T RIP OFF KEOMA. I love Keoma and I have NOTHING AGAINST you Stanton but I just couldnât hold my tongue.
[quote=âstanton, post:103, topic:292â]You really think Pam is a virgin?[/quote]What I ment was of course sheâs had sex. Saying pamela anderson ever had sex would be saying yes. she has and yes to whatever context i was using it in.
No problem, you need no excuses for saying your opinion.
The Keoma/Mannaja similarity thing was written by me in a misunderstanding way.
My fault, I had changed my post while writing it, and thereby also changed by mistake the original meaning.
Mannaja is not a Keoma rip off, but as far as I know it was made in the wake of Keomaâs success.
What I originally wanted to say was, that there are only a few similarities between both films, like the look of the leads, like some of the atmosphere.
Only the score is very close.
Gothic atmosphere is an unprecise term mostly associated with horror films. For me it has something to do with shadows, with an atmosphere described by words like creepy, weird, uncanny.
So I donât see anything âgothicâ in Mannaja, only some foggy scenes which donât look very inspired.
I would like to comment about the end so of course thiswill have Spoilers. I think Steiner got it too quick. They really built him up to be a complete and utter shit head. Then all he gets is an axe to the chest. At that point, they should have brought in Tony Anthony and Ferdinando Baldi to write how he gets it. Those two were vicious with their villains. If you combine Get Meanâs Baldassarre killing and Blindmanâs Battista killing, then you get what should have happened to John Steiner. He should have been blinded, have his balls kicked in, had scorpions poured down his shirt, been shot in the leg then blasted with a four-barreled shotgun. Now that would be an exit! And satisfying to say the least. Oh, and then Merli could axe him in the chest after he is dead.
Well I just watched this for the first time and thought it was great. For me it had the Keoma-like feel but not in a rip-off type way. Good gritty movie that I was in the mood for tonightâŚand I stayed awake for it!!!
I really enjoyed Merli in this and I think I will have to get one of the Italian police movies he was in. I understand Forced Impact is probably one of the better ones?
Merli was the main thing that put me off this filmâŚI thought he was an odd looking chap and for me just did not feel right in this film. Too seventies smoothie.
I think he reminded me of a guy my mum was mates with in the 70s. Total yuck, smooth, up his own butt creep when me and me mates were dirty grebo bikers (pre punk Phil). So on reflection it was actually my mumâs mate in the 70s that put me off this film.
[quote=âstanton, post:85, topic:292â]A boring film, badly directed with unimaginative action scenes and uncharismatic actors (exept Merli).
Only thing I like is the score with the songs resembling Leonard Cohen.
Imo Merli was the best thing in this lousy movie.[/quote]
Well, that was me writing this, but these were excactly my feelings when I had watched Mannaja first.
It hasnât become a masterpiece after a 2nd watch, but now I think itâs quite an ok western, a watchable movie, but Iâm still surprised that it made several top 20 lists.
It was cheaply made in the unimpressive looking italian landscapes (or landscape substitutes), which look here (thanks to an improved photography) better than in their cheap SW counterparts a few years earlier. But the landscape may look better, the use of it is still rather unimaginative.
The actors are also not that well. Merli is good, but his antagonist Steiner gives only a pale baddie, his 2 dogs add more to his character than his acting. Even worser are his ugly henchman (didnât they knew about the idea of the red hoods?) and Steinerâs girl, which is acted by an absolutely untalented actress.
Some of the action scenes are still bad (the shootout before Merli is captured, the revolt of the miners), others show a certain ambition (the crosscutting between the stagecoach massacre and the dancers), but none are exciting.
But the film itself is mostly a good enough revenger and deserves a watch. Much better than Martinoâs earlier SW Arizona Colt Returns.
And I like the soundtrack.
The soundtrack and the fact that Philippe Leroy still looks like âYankeeâ,only 12 years older,are noteworthy.
Merli is good,the idea with the axe is good the movie is good - not more.
3 for me
Since you prepared a thorough and intelligent reason Stanton, I will respect your opinion but I think they used thse locations intentionally. Not out of lack of funds. But I do believe they didnât have enough money to rebuild the Elios Town set.
