I first saw this film back in the 80s - the UK âBanditsâ VHS - and absolutely hated it. Not just for the way its female characters were relentlessly abused (I was a rather right-on student at the time) but because of its rambling plot, its failure to be either a comedy or an adventure, and the fact that it was almost all talk and no action. The only redeeming feature was Susan George, who I had quite a crush on at the time, and the fact that she goes through the film dressed like a vagabond made her curiously seem all the more attractive.
Fast-forward about 35 years and Iâve just watched an excellent print of this on YouTube (from the indispensable Grjngo channel). Much more positive impressions this time round. Itâs still a grotesque anti-romance, with all the eccentricity and vulgarity of Corbucci at his least restrained, but it made me laugh a good few times, it has a grittily authentic look and the story came across as quite compelling. Like others on this thread, I still dislike the way Sonny is treated (up to and including attempted rape), and the way she falls in love with her abuser seems to echo Susan Georgeâs controversial performance in Straw Dogs. But Milian clearly relishes playing an even cruder version of Vasco - Che Guevara beret and all - and Telly Savalas also seems to be enjoying himself.
I got the impression that Corbucci was parodying and perhaps expressing disillusion with some of the ideas in his previous films. In Sonny and Jed, the âsaviour of the poorâ ends up failing them, and whereas A Professional Gun and Companeros end with extravagant machine gun massacres, here Milian can barely get the thing to shoot, and the rich landowner rides away unscathed. That makes the final Jed v Franciscus confrontation a bit of an anticlimax, and yet in retrospect it seems to work.
Itâs hard to say how inspired Ennio Morricone was by this film. His soundtrack basically consists of just two pieces of music - âSonnyâ and âSweet Susanâ. Yet âSonnyâ is one of his most wistfully beautiful themes.
I would still say the best thing about this film is the gorgeous Susan George. When I tweeted about watching it and tagged her in, she replied saying she had âgreat memoriesâ of the film and she loved playing Sonny. Which, after all her character gets put through, is nice to know.
Nice to know she enjoyed it indeed.
And interesting points you make about Corbucci possibly parodying his own ideas from previous films. I seem to remember @Bill_san_Antonio commenting some years back that he thought the film was heavily influenced by Feliniâs La Strada and I can definitely see that connection too.
Havenât seen the film in some years but liked it a lot back then.
I re-watched it recently, and I probably liked Sonny & Jed a bit more then before, but it still remains a lesser Corbucci. There are some really well directed scenes (at least), but most of the films runtime it plods along without bringing much ideas into it. It is still a far cry from what Corbucci once was able to do only a few years before.
Morriconeâs lazy soundtrack seems also to be done quite quickly without anything new. And Milian is annoyingly repeating his worst Milian personations. As a result the film too often bores me, only gets towards the end a bit exiting here and there.
Just finished watching this a few minutes ago on YouTube and really enjoyed it. Itâs not a particularly well made film and I wouldnât recommend it to most people (even on this forum), but it did a lot of thing I personally loved. Particularly the ending where Sonny calls out Jed for his crimes and chooses to leave him. It was incredibly refreshing to see after how horrifically he treated her during most of the movie. While the film may actually end up on my personal top twenty, I donât think most other people will feel the same way.
As an aside, this is the only Spaghetti Western Iâve seen that has actual spaghetti in it.
This is the same man who insisted on wallowing around in actual pig crap, which included having his face shoved in it, so it shouldnât be too much of a surprise. Iâll take the straight milk any day.
Iâve just finished it and I gotta say, I really loved it. I think the start is a little rough but it really picked up once Sonny and Jed became more friendly with one another. I particularly loved the post-marriage montage of them going on a crime spree and getting their photograph taken. It was surprisingly funny too, and itâs not all the stupid slapstick humour that I dislike in other Spags like My Name is Nobody. This easily deserves a spot in my top 25.
On a side note, Corbucci REALLY loves his maxim machine gun finales, doesnât he?
I donât like slapstick in spaghetti westerns either. I remember Milian looked pretty weird here. The first scene was great and Telly Savalas was great too.
Wasnât a lover of this oneâŚwanted to like it because of Milian, George, Savalas and Corbucci but I thought the two lead characters were little more than a pain for the majority of film. I agree it did make me laugh a bit a few times, and I liked the different kind of story, but ultimately I thought it was a big missed opportunity considering who was involved.
This movieâs page in the SWDb has been upgraded to the new âSWDb 3.0â format. Please have a look and let us know if thereâs something you can add (information, trivia, links, pictures, etc.). It will likely feature in one of Tarantino and Avaryâs podcast episodes so I thought better redo this page now, before hundreds of people take a look at it. Now is our chance to improve it in all aspects!
