DAY 22:
L’uomo venuto per uccidere (1967) - Director: Leon Klimovsky - 3/10
I didn’t mind this one as much as some people seem to have, that being said, there is no point in gainsaying what has already been stated about the film, it is definitely very American in its overall disposition and completely at a loss for a style distinctive enough to distinguish it from innumerable other works of this kind. I guess it is not so hopeless because it kept my attention throughout, but Klimovsky’s simplistic craftsmanship happens to be on the nugatory side here.
The sentimentality inhering in the storyline, flabby writing and Masi’s old-fashioned score only tend to exacerbate things further and make the film feel at least ten years older than it really is, some of the film’s shootouts are edited in an incredibly cumbersome fashion too. The wimpish attitude of Wyler’s character and the banal redemption arc do not redress the situation either, so what you have here is a pretty mediocre affair with very few redeeming qualities; I suppose it moves at a somewhat steady pace and features some more character elaboration than usual even if is of the corny kind, but in all honesty, do not expect too much, this is strictly pedestrian stuff.
Alleluja e Sartana figli di… Dio (1972) - Director: Mario Siciliano - 2/10
I guess the film is not quite as much of an abject failure as Trinity and Sartana… Those Dirty Sons of Bitches, but why do these movies have to last for as long as over 90 minutes, this being almost 100 minutes long, when it is patently obvious that under no condition should their running time ever exceed the 70 minute mark? This is unacceptable and frankly speaking, should not be allowed under any circumstances. Even at the x1.25 speed the flick seems abnormally protracted and the fact that the storyline retreads most of the familiar ground does not remedy the situation to any extent either.
This is essentially about a couple of miscreants assisting a congregation of Evangelicals to ward off scoundrels who want to lay hands on their land, but in actuality, this farrago boils down to a number of really corny vignettes strung together in a largely nondescript, uncouth fashion. Some jokes sporadically provoke laughter after a fashion, but most simply fall flat and seem to prolong this folderol ad nauseam. All things considered, I suppose this could have turned out worse as evidenced by that other film, but let’s face it, the movie constitutes a substandard comedy fare with not much to offer in the way of a fully-fledged, engaging plot and most of the time, it solely presents a challenge not to space out completely whilst sitting through this dreck.
