Yes he was.
Yes he was and his sister in the movie was his real life sister if Iām not mistaken.
I enjoyed this movie in spite of the lackluster scoreā¦also seemed somewhat unbalanced as far as the first and second halves, although that bottle punching scene was fantastic!
I wouldnāt agree necessarily that this is better than Keoma/Mannaja but itās an enjoyable film and a fitting end to the era.
California is my personal Gemma Gem. Thereās a simple reason for that. For me Gemma is too much of a sunnyboy and in California heās as far away from being a sunnyboy as possible.
for me, this film was one of the most disappointment.
that means not, that I think itās a bad movie: the story is ok, there are some really nice scenes, the locations are really good ā¦
but all in all, when I watch California I donāt get āmyā SW-feeling. I canāt really say why. Maybe the score, I donāt like it ā¦ in my opinion itās to funny, specially in the first half.
I like Keoma or Mannaja much more, although I donāt really like the score there.
I often thought about the reasons, but I still havenāt found a good answer.
Well, itās the least funny one of the Gemma-SWs I suppose. And the end isnāt that hilarious either.
IMO California isnāt too funny in the first half. The first time I watched it (many years ago on TV) I was a bit dissapointed cause the movie was such melancholic and the music sounded too 70ās for me. Maybe itās because Iām just older now but I like California much more and think itās one of the best performances (and movies) of Giuliano. A movie you shouldnāt watch in a bad mood. 
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I didnāt mean, that the story is too funny, itās the music ā¦ the look of the first part is very bleak; rain, mud and fog.
these are ingredients, which I like normaly in a SW. itās the music that ruins these sad atmosphere.
I have to agree, Gemmaās performance is very well in this film and itās nice to see him not as the sunnyboy, which he played in his most other SWs.
as I mentioned, I donāt think itās a bad movie. there are enough ingrediants for a good SW.
till now I have watched it three times, but - sorry - I couldnāt get a ride on my chair.
Yes, that was a nice change. Was it just me or did he seem to be really unnatural with a cigar in his mouth? Half the time it wasnāt even lit and the other half he looked like a teenager trying it for the first time. 
At least in this movie heās finally old enough to smoke 
This is my favourite Gemma film as wellā¦ I like him in all his movies, he shows similar toughness in his acting in Pistol for Ringo, Return of Ringo and Silver Saddle
For me Gemma is indifferent. Not good, not bad either.
I feel like I shall give this one another chance. After including the charcetr of randominmy anti hero article, I became moreinterested init. Alsoby the factthat he only kills three people in the film. Donāt know why that interests me but oh well.
Makes the movie more realistic to me.
Cause in another thread there are some posts about Heroes in SW. California isnāt a Anti-Hero. He is a broken Character who had enough seen in the war and just wanted to forget. I thought his character (and some of the feeling of the movie) is closer to a Film-Noir (or Drama) character seen in a lot of movies after the second world war. Itās interesting that he kills his nemesis with his hands and not shoot him. Maybe now the War is really over for him.
Does this film get better with a second viewing? I have not seen it in a whileand when I first saw it, my expectations were too highI think.
Also, when I first viewed this, I was very new to the genre and after seeing The Great Silence, Iwas, for some reason, Fascinated with bounty hunters and only really watched it to see bounty hunters. Wasnāt much bounty hunting in the whole movie. Only in the beginning. Now, I will just watch the movie for what it is.
Uhh difficult question. The problem I liked it the first time and the second time also. I think I saw it once in the 90ās somewhere on TV but I cannot remember anymore if I liked it or not. Maybe I liked it the second time more cause the second time Iām looking moreon the details. Also the second time itās a bit depressing movie so I cannot say if youāll like it more. Maybe you should wait some time (or years!) and then try it again.
Most films get better with a 2nd viewing.
Just try it Korano, if you like to do so. It 's always interesting to see a film a 2nd time within a short time.
California has also become better for me, but itās still not a great film.
My initial rating was only 3/10, which means I was disappointed. Now itās an ok film.
Well, a couple of years might be a while. When I watched Matalo! for the firsttiem, I didnāt really get it. After a second viewing, I place it in my top 5! I just let myslef sit back and enjoy whatwasputin front of me. I triedto look for creative genious in everyscene and foundscenesthatlookso smalland pointless are greatscenes.I donāt mind depressingfilms. I watched thisfilmon a dark rainy day and it mmight have been overkill.
This happensto me a lot. I watch a movie I think is mediocre then my brain makes e think I liked the film better than when I watched it. Same thing goesfor when I watched 100 rifles. Iāll give this one another shot.
I just have God forgives ā¦ I donāt! in my DVD player. The first time I watched the crappy Comedy Version (which I hate), the second time the sinister Version on crappy DVD Version and now Iām watching the Movie with a better Quality and I enjoy it much more.
So give it a Try (donāt have to be years ā¦) ;D
Well Paco, I watched it again and you know what, I thought it was very good! Like I said in the last westerns post, I was still a new fan. The spaghetti gunshot nises annoyed me and after seeing Kema, I thought all twilight spaghetis had to have the deeper sounding gunshot. Didnāt bug me this time and it hasnāt bugged me for a while. I liked the dark, gloomy, depressive feel with alll the great ghost towns and mud and rain. GREAT fight scenes. Very down and dirty. Very well choreagraphed. Didnā finish it because my disc kept freezing up. Not a scratch on the disc but it still gets jumpy at the dialogue between emma and Harmstorff in the ghost town. I am pissed off!
Hi Korano, good to see that you like it now better. Have you written a review ?