I enjoyed this a lot - three of the better known faces in the genre and all putting in great performances. I really like Volonteās transformation. Solid spaghetti western all around.
I really lik the filmās central plot or character descent. But it has some really cornball moments like the fiddle ho down scene andā¦well thats about it but a very big one.
Yeah I think every SW, even the great ones have a cornball moment or too. Day of Anger is in my top 10, but I hated that musical dance number with the girl singing lol.
oh man that scene was terrible - remind me to fire her from her contract this weekā¦ sheās killing business.
I liked her somehow
With the singing
I finally got to see this with English audio last night on the SPO release I obtained second hand from Japan. As mentioned by others, the audio quality isnāt all that great on the disc, but it was nice to hear Milianās and Bergerās voices in the original shooting language.
Although I really love to hear Milian speaking his heavily accented English, this is nonetheless the only of Sollimaās westerns which I donāt mind watching in Italian because Milian does his own Italian dubbing too (even though his lips donāt match the words perfectly) and you get to hear Volonteās own voice as well.
As regards the movie, the English audio did little to change my opinion of it. I still, contrary to most people on the board, rate this as Sollimaās worst. My ranking for Sollimaās three contributions remains accordingly:
- Run Man Run
- The Big Gundown
- Face to Face
Edit: Turns out Milian was dubbed in Italian by Pino Locchi so Iād rather watch this one in English after all.
There are few singing scenes in SWs that donāt annoy me. Mostly they are just time fillers, just like the also annoying fistfights.
I really have to think hard to remember a singsong that didnāt bother meā¦
The saloon girl singing in Fury of Johnny Kidd worked well I thought. Very sombre and sad which fitted the mood and kind of set the tone for the film. I guess the key to its success was that it was connected to the plot and feeling of the whole piece rather than just being a musical interlude.
Yes, a true plot connection could help. With ātrueā I mean more than the fact, that the singer plays a role in the movie. Something like, the girl sings about her relation to the loner or something happens during singing (the girl watches something strange/interesting/horrifying happening).
Unfortunately I havenāt seen Johnny Kid.
I like the woman singing in Son of Django, they just start singing for no reason, I know some will find it stupid though.
I must agree with the most people here, āFace To Faceā is a masterpiece.
Newbie here, and I might as well jump into the discussion as this is my most recent viewing 
I really liked Faccia a faccia - I gave it four stars just because five is for āmost fabulous of forever and everā in my scale But I still think this is a good movie. Perhaps itās because Iām watching a lot of Italian films from the early '70s lately, and the political subtext is everywhere, but this one didnāt seem more heavy handed than the average. Thatās just my opinion though; what really stood out for me was the interaction and contrast between VolontĆ© and Milian. I found it very compelling on a psychological level - the old ānature vs. nurtureā debate.
Iāll go even further, and say that in some way āthe Professorā doesnāt change; itās more like his education and social status tamed and silenced a side of his character that has always been there. You see it from how his faƧade of propriety and Victorian sexual repression easily starts to fall off since the very first scene in Texas, where the handmaid comes on on him, then with Belle at the mansion, where he says something along the lines of āIām still a gentleman, but Iām working on itā, and then of course when he rapes Maria. Itās a level of sexual aggressiveness that Bennet never shows, to the extent that Annie complains to him about it (er, the girl might have wanted to reconsider her āideal boyfriendā standards there!). He just doesnāt have it in him. He kills because he has been raised in an environment that is very ālaw of the jungleā, but doesnāt get particular satisfaction from it. He kills to have something to eat and to protect his people. Fletcher never experienced this, and in my opinion thatās why he falls so easily for that feeling of power that a gun can give you.
So, in a nutshell, I see the evolution of the characters as rather consistent, and maybe even less dramatic than at first look, because I think it is more about them revealing their true nature rather than simply throwing away their old moral standards for some new one (or no one at all).
Welcome Poggy. Interesting points. BTW what font are you using for the quote under your avatar as is only nonsense characters in my browser.
Carlos, if you see it like this
youāre seeing it right, itās just a smiley made of Japanese characters because I couldnāt think of any cool quote when I signed up (sad, I know). If itās messed up (I can see it in Firefox) Iām changing it.
Ah I see. That makes sense as I was seeing the little boxes that windows uses for unavailable characters.
poggy, you really worked yourself into Fletcherās soul. I havenāt seen this flick for a long time, but I think now it IS time for another viewing.
Welcome round here!
Good analysis of Face To Face by you Poggy
Thank guys 
I have a weakness for character driven stories, I guess - itās the kind of stuff I tend to focus on (the fact that perhaps I have an embarassing posthumous crush on GMV might have helped me to pay extra attention ::)).
Youāre not the only one!
We have a member from Hungary, Jill/Sieglinde (I donāt think she has been active lately) who has a crush on both VolontĆ© brothers
[quote=āpoggy, post:52, topic:566ā]Newbie here, and I might as well jump into the discussion as this is my most recent viewing I really liked Faccia a faccia - I gave it four stars just because five is for āmost fabulous of forever and everā in my scale But I still think this is a good movie. Perhaps itās because Iām watching a lot of Italian films from the early '70s lately, and the political subtext is everywhere, but this one didnāt seem more heavy handed than the average. Thatās just my opinion though; what really stood out for me was the interaction and contrast between VolontĆ© and Milian. I found it very compelling on a psychological level - the old ānature vs. nurtureā debate.
Iāll go even further, and say that in some way āthe Professorā doesnāt change; itās more like his education and social status tamed and silenced a side of his character that has always been there. You see it from how his faƧade of propriety and Victorian sexual repression easily starts to fall off since the very first scene in Texas, where the handmaid comes on on him, then with Belle at the mansion, where he says something along the lines of āIām still a gentleman, but Iām working on itā, and then of course when he rapes Maria. Itās a level of sexual aggressiveness that Bennet never shows, to the extent that Annie complains to him about it (er, the girl might have wanted to reconsider her āideal boyfriendā standards there!). He just doesnāt have it in him. He kills because he has been raised in an environment that is very ālaw of the jungleā, but doesnāt get particular satisfaction from it. He kills to have something to eat and to protect his people. Fletcher never experienced this, and in my opinion thatās why he falls so easily for that feeling of power that a gun can give you.
So, in a nutshell, I see the evolution of the characters as rather consistent, and maybe even less dramatic than at first look, because I think it is more about them revealing their true nature rather than simply throwing away their old moral standards for some new one (or no one at all).[/quote]
Some very interesting thoughts. I also never thought that Volonteās transition was done too quickly in this film. Itās also my favourite of his SW performances. I do love his characters in the Dollar films but have to admit, the more time goes by, the more i find his character in Bullet For The General very irritating. Nice to have another woman on board too, itās about time! 