Keoma (Enzo G. Castellari, 1976)

(Harmonica12) #161

I saw this movie recently and it is now one of my favourite Spaghetti Westerns. Nero was great as usual, the action was amazing and even the fistfights were good which is usually a rarity for the Western genre. The character of Keoma was very likeable and inspiring I thought, nearly everything in this movie worked. Except for the music which I thought was a bit, hit and miss. It went from being fitting if not a little over the top. To what sounded like gargling and I thought it was completely unnecessary to quote exactly what was going on in the movie.

Overall this is one of my favourite westerns and an overall amazing movie.

(Silence) #162

Some people say so but I would trust Bill…

(Chris_Casey) #163

Bill is absolutely correct!

(TetsuPhoenix) #164

I love the soundtrack, even that crazy banshee woman singing the theme song. It fits the movie perfectly, is like a greek chorus telling the story.

(TheBigSmokedown) #165

Sort of a trashy movie, which is Castellari’s style. I’m not sure whether that is a bad thing, because it sort of makes me like it more; but I guess it also makes it harder to argue it’s a great piece of film-making. Four stars, because I’m trying to be objective.

I also love the soundtrack. I think it’s helpful when a director uses songs to describe what’s happening on screen during crucial moments, since it stops me from getting confused and I don’t need to always be looking at the screen to know what’s happening. :smiley:

(TetsuPhoenix) #166

This has to be Enzo’s less trashy movie i have seen from him, both western and non-western. It has a great atmosphere and look, the dusty semi-deserted ghost town looks from more some apocalyptic movie.

(sartana1968) #167

was very good until the end, they killed the end!! the end gunfight it’s a slow motion with no sound!!
castelari what are you thinking when you are made the end??? >:(

(TheBigSmokedown) #168

[quote=“sartana1968, post:167, topic:311”]was very good until the end, they killed the end!! the end gunfight it’s a slow motion with no sound!!
castelari what are you thinking when you are made the end??? >:([/quote]

What?! The ending is amazing!

(Stanton) #169

Yes, probably the only slo mo in the film which really worked, while all the others were forgettable or pretty shitty.

(sartana1968) #170

amazing? come on! that’s the only reason i don’t want to see it again

(Silence) #171

No I’d have to agree that the ending was very amazing!

(Col. Douglas Mortimer) #172

I thought the ending was good too. The only complaints I have about this film is A: The vocals in the music, B: Franco Nero looking like he would rather make love, not war. C: Overly preachy dialogue.

Other from those minor issues, I think its a great film.

(TheBigSmokedown) #173

Those are plus points for me, especially the first. I love the way the vocals mirror the action, however ridiculous others may find that.

(JOKipper) #174

I’ve just watched the film for the first time, and I’ll have to say that it’s one of the better films in the genre, and that it’s quite remarkable in an overall sense.
The camera-work is outstanding…Castellari’s camera is almost always moving, and most scenes have foreground objects in the frames, adding depth. It’s very skilled work, yet it isn’t distracting.
The music was indeed hit-or-miss, and this is probably the major failure of the movie. Whatever quality Cohen’s music has is missing in this imitation, and the female singer basically sounds like Yoko Ono. But there are times that it’s quite good, such as when the synths are brought forward in the mix. I can’t fault the director for trying for a different sound (there’s no real reason that the surf-guitar sound should always represent the Spaghetti Western, especially by the 1970s), and it’s certainly better than the mellow rock soundtrack to 4 of the Apocalypse.
The scriptless plot seems to work very well, as it should when good actors and a skilled director are in control and understand what direction the film is always going.
I couldn’t decide whether to give the film 4 stars or 5 stars. I settled on 4 because it does have a few distracting flaws. But, overall, I think it’s an amazing and must-see film.

(Bill san Antonio) #175

I agree with your comment about music, I also like it even though there are moments which are quite bad, mainly because of the male vocals. But yes, for such a different film from late 70’s I prefer something different than the usual Morricone-style.

And welcome to the forum!

(Col. Douglas Mortimer) #176

LOL

(Hoover Valentine) #177

When I first started watching it the music annoyed the hell out of me. By the end of the movie the horrible music became one of my favorite things about the film.

(Stalagmite) #178

You know, I always find it amusing how I read the last page before my mini review and people already point out what I’m gonna say (whether loosely or right on the money).
Just watched this movie, camera work is fascinating and definitely is one of the better (if not best) “late era” spaghetti movies. I found the music to be a bit annoying (perhaps a bit of Morricone would have worked wonders?) but maybe it’s the kind of stuff that grows on you.
Franco Nero is an amazing actor and this film is a fine spaghetti recipe.

I’ll go ahead and give it 5 stars.

(p.pereira) #179

Same opinion here.
OST available for streaming here:

(ModernDjango) #180

[quote=“p.pereira, post:179, topic:311”]Same opinion here.
OST available for streaming here:

http://por-um-punhado-de-euros.blogspot.com/2011/01/bandas-sonoras-keoma-de-guido-maurizio.html[/quote]

I also agree on the music growing on you. But for me the things that really stand out about this film are the cinematography and the performance by Franco Nero. Like Django ten years before, Keoma is not a character that is easily forgotten. Some of this is due to Nero’s performance and some is due to the dialog which is at times even better than Django.

This movie gets 4 and a half stars from me. For voting purposes, Keoma’s beard knocked it up to 5.