Blindman (Ferdinando Baldi, 1971)

Hey, I just watched Blindman again and I must say I really like this movie. The idea is great! 50 women in distress! That must be an alltime record for a western! The pace is very fast so we donā€™t get a chance to think and neither does our hero because all his plans seem to backfire. With terrible results for our lovely ladies. Sending them unarmed and scantily clad into a desert full of wild and armed-to-the-teeth misogynist desperadoes doesnā€™t sound like a good idea to begin with though. But I liked the way the bad guys were dressed. A sort of early Mad Max with a touch of latino. Anyhoo, wouldnā€™t it have been cool, if at the end when Domingo has been blinded, both wouldā€™ve missed each other. Then there could have been a sequel in which two blindmen were looking for each other in the west and constantly shooting the wrong guys. Great huh?! No?!- well I would like to see it!

I liked the soundtrack, sort of Morricone light. Does anyone know how I could obtain it?

See ya on the trail!

The soundtrack is really worth getting for this film, it is great music.

I obtained mine from HILLSIDE C.D PRODUCTIONS in the U.K, just do a search on google.

Thanks, Iā€™ll check it out.

You can watch Blindman online here:

http://www.freemoviescinema.com/movies/detail-326.html

Thereā€™s some other spaghettis too.

[quote=ā€œBill san Antonio, post:24, topic:203ā€]You can watch Blindman online here:

http://www.freemoviescinema.com/movies/detail-326.html

Thereā€™s some other spaghettis too.[/quote]

This angers me, because I just bought two of these moviesā€¦

Ah well, at least I can see the Grand Duel for free. Not a big deal, heh.

Always nicer to have an original though. :slight_smile:

I notice that an alternative title given for BLINDMAN in its database entry is VENGEANCE OF THE BARBARIANS (US)
Can someone confirm this please ?

In the UK, VENGEANCE OF THE BARBARIANS is the correct title for the US release of GET MEAN. The UK title is a fairly accurate description of the plot, since the Tony Anthony character time travels back to 12th century Spain and gets embroiled in a war between the Spanish and the Moors.

I was going to correct the database entry, but then wondered if the US really did use that confusing title instead of BLINDMAN.

Sounds indeed like an error, IndioBlackā€¦ As you say the title would be more appropiate for Get Mean.

Iā€™ve deleted it

[quote=ā€œPJayBe, post:17, topic:203ā€]Just finished watching Blindman having finally tracked a copy down.
Philip[/quote]
Without going off to find it - Iā€™ve got this on dvd as one of those Greek releases that were done in reddish card sleeves. From what I remember, this was a great version - widescreen, uncut(?) ā€¦ certainly all the nudity and violence seemed to be intact, and it had removable Greek subs. These can be usually found on ebay pretty cheap and seem remarkable value for money, compared to other (the Japanese and the German ones). I think there are about 8 or so in the set - I certainly remember getting my dad (well, he got me into westerns, as a lad) a bunch of 'em for not a lot of dosh ā€¦ Companeros; Django Kill and Massacre Time for sure. Anybody else got or seen this version and can confirm its ā€˜uncutnessā€™?

Having received the Koch Media version of this a couple of weeks ago it was time to give it a viewing last night and I must say I enjoyed it. Not a top 10 film for me but well worth the asking price.

Lots of fun elements around the blind protagonist but over all a nasty, violent little genre piece with more naked women in it than Leyton Baths changing room after aquarobics. In fact, it was the volume of nudity that really stuck with me. (strange that) By which I mean, it was way over the top of even what we would expect in a modern film despite the fact that it seems pretty mainstream today to have what amounts to soft porn in a pop music video.

I suspect the reason for this was the time of the filmā€™s release. In the early seventies the restrictions on nudity in films was really lifted for the first time and it seems that film makers of the time did their best to include as much flesh as possible whenever possible. Prior to this time spaghettis were full of dead and mutilated bodies but very few naked ones. When given the freedom to push that boundary the chance was grabbed with both hands. (so to speak) The same was true of films in the U.S too, not just in italy. As a consequence I think you are likely to see more tits in a film circa 1971 (i.e. Blindman) than you are in its equivalent from today. (if such a thing exists)

Anyway, naked women aside, it was a good solid spaghetti with some decent central performances (although not Ringoā€™s best) and one which I would recommend to anyone who hasnā€™t seen it yet.

watched this tonight and thought it to be an impressive,stylish spaghetti western with a little bit of everything thrown in and never a dull moment.it has action,humour,nudity,pretty women and violence some of which is quite brutal.ringo starr is almost unrecoginisable as the beloved brother of the main villain.he surprisingly certainly looks the part and of course doesnā€™t speak in his native liverpool accent which would have been funny.ridiculous premise for the film really but it works.yes, it is rather violent towards women but this is evened out somewhat at the climax with the brutal fate of the villain.immensely enjoyable film and one of the best spaghetti westerns.8/10

I was awake very early this morning, so I watched this film, not for its sleep-inducing qualities, by the way

Canā€™t say I really liked it
The violence directed at women is quite nasty, like some others have mentionend here, especially during a scene in which they are chased (and many of them shot) in the desert by the Mexican bandits

There could be yet another reason for the amount of nudity than the one Phil mentioned above. Blindman was nearly entirely an American production, made in Europe (Spain and Italy) for financial reasons. The majority of Spaghetti westerns were (in the first place) aimed at the Italian market (especially the southern Italian market, that is: south of Tuscany, so including Rome, Naples etc). Italian censors were very lenient as far as violence was concerned, but far more reticent towards nudity and sex.
Other spaghetti westerns from the period lack this amount of nudity, as far as I know

Production design of the movie is okay, performances are adequate and even though the script seems a bit jumpy, the story holds your attention. But Baldi, a former college professor and a specialist in classic Greek drama, must have felt very uneasy directing it. One of the problems is that itā€™s rather hard to accept a blind person as a sharpshooter, even if he has been given a horse to guide him (and to make us clear that things are not to be taken seriously). It takes a Corbucci to make such a premisse work. Baldiā€™s direction is heavy-handed and as a result some scenes will make many viewers cringe

Itā€™s not dull, but I never really got into it
Judge for yourself

[quote=ā€œscherpschutter, post:33, topic:203ā€]Itā€™s not dull, but I never really got into it
Judge for yourself[/quote]
Itā€™s a shame you didnā€™t like it, i think itā€™s a good film and Baldiā€™s best western in my eyes.

Do you like the stranger films though?

I first viewed the film via the english language version on the old SPO disc ( which is considerably cut), and did not enjoy very much.
Then the next viewing was the Koch media release and enjoyed much more.

However, the next viewing is a fan version which is even longer than the Koch versionā€¦

[quote=ā€œENNIOO, post:35, topic:203ā€]I first viewed the film via the english language version on the old SPO disc ( which is considerably cut), and did not enjoy very much.
Then the next viewing was the Koch media release and enjoyed much more.

However, the next viewing is a fan version which is even longer than the Koch versionā€¦[/quote]
I first also saw the Japanese (cut)disc, it does also have the same version as the koch dvd on there but Italian language only, i watched it after the cut version on fast forward and it seems that every scene of action or nudity was stronger.

Ennioo, any insight as to what extra bits are going to be in this version you are getting your hands on.

Just had a quick flick through and there seems to be more violence still:

The scene where the women are getting washed is longer.

A scene where Anthony kills someone is longer.

I will report on all the extra scenes after I have viewed this version.

[quote=ā€œYodlaf Peterson, post:34, topic:203ā€]Itā€™s a shame you didnā€™t like it, i think itā€™s a good film and Baldiā€™s best western in my eyes.

Do you like the stranger films though?[/quote]

I sure do like the first Stranger movie:

http://www.spaghetti-western.net/index.php/A_Stranger_in_Town_Review_(Scherpschutter)

Itā€™s not that I hate Blindman (Iā€™d give it 2,5 out of 5), I just didnā€™t really love it like the above mentioned movie (4/5)
Tony is okay, and I have nothing against oddities like a blind gunman, but I think Baldiā€™s approach didnā€™t work; I think heā€™s better with more classical material, like The forgotten pistolero, Texas Addio or Preparati la bara

And I think the violence against the women was over the top
Those scenes are okay (at least tolerable) in an exploitation flick, and I guess Blindman is a sort of combination of pop art, spaghetti western and trash cinema, but to me it was a concoction that didnā€™t really work

But Iā€™m interested in other peopleā€™s views

The decent budget and exploitation elements are just some of the things I like about the film, and is hard to believe the same guy directed the last western I watched Carambola.

But then again some may prefer Carambola to Blindmanā€¦

For me Blindman is by far Baldiā€™s best western (and film?), I was surprised about the directing qualities, which I hadnā€™t expected after watching his early films (even if The Forgotten Pistolero is another good one). But I always assumed that Tony Anthony, by bringing in his Stranger experience, is probably the real one who was responsible for the movieā€™s craftsmanship.

For me the strange mixture of Blindman works astonishingly well, so well that this flic is still in my top 20.