Spagvemberfest 2023 - or the crows will drink our beers

[JohnBaxter]

Last night i watched another Valerii film i’ve been wanting to see for a while, namely Il Prezzo di Potere - The Price of Power. Subsequently, i have now seen all of his westerns and may conclude that his best film is also his most famous, Day of Anger (not counting My Name is Nobody, but that wouldn’t have been a better film if the scenes directed by Leone were to be subtracted from the evaluation). I also think the inconsistency of his films (they’re never outright bad) may be an example of how people sometimes tend to blame or credit the director as though he was the only one involved who could influence the outcome. Taste of Killing, for instance, was a rather weak run-of-the-mill bounty killer story with less than excellent acting performances (it’s been a while since i watched it, so my memory might be slightly distorted) but i still think he did a solid job as director on it.

Well, considering this one, i enjoyed it. It leaves you in the mood of a political thriller rather than a western, but watching it was still an injection both to revisit other western favorites of mine as well as discovering new ones (and that’s basically the reaction i wished to get by starting watching some SW:s again). Although most of the sets were borrowed from OUTATITW, that fails to ruin the fact that they look wonderful, and as others have pointed out, it certainly benefits from the vivid towns and mass scenes, even though they don’t look much like the authentic 19th century Dallas. The cast is great too, with hardly a weak performance. The best scene ought to be Willers and Jeffersons confrontations in the dark, which really provokes that good, excited “western” feeling within me. The rest of the film is, as stated, more thriller-like, but it’s interesting right trough and further elevated by Bacalov’s score.

The only really big issue i have with this film is the lack of a really big and interesting twist or critical plot moment. I’ts “merely” a tight and well-acted thriller in a western settingAs for the grade (my usual decision angst kicks in) I’ll give it a 7+/10 for now (which could be upgraded if the film continues to grow for me).

[makesthemovie]

Spagvember Fest 2023 Day 9

First time watch

Dove si Spara di Piu

https://www.spaghetti-western.net/index.php/Dove_si_spara_di_più

**** 1/2 out of *****

I enjoyed this film immensely, a somewhat overlooked gem in my opinion. That’s it’s a loose interpretation of the immortal Bard Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet makes it even better. Instead of the Capulets and Montagues, we have the Campos and Mounters families battling it out, though the Campos family are clearly the aggressors, hating practically every Caucasian that lives in California.

Romeo and Juliet are played respectively by future husband and wife couple Peter Lee Lawrence (for some odd reason credited as Arthur Grant) and Cristina Calbo. Like Shakespeare’s immortal couple, the Thunderbolt hits Johnny and Giulietta the very moment they first meet, realizing almost immediately the hatred between their families is pointless. Ms. Calbo even recites a little of Juliet’s balcony soliloquy, imploring Lawrence’s Johnny to forget his family as she will hers.

The talented but highly erratic Peter Martell does an excellent job as the Western version of Tybalt - Prince of Cats, now Giulietta’s brother instead of her cousin. Like the Bard’s character, Rodrigo Campos has made it his near psychotic mission to ride California of his family’s enemies. He and Piero Lulli’s character Sheriff Cooper have this somewhat platonic thing going on after they both survive shooting each other point blank, an unnamed superstition binding them. Lulli is his usual best as the corrupt lawman.

Herr Bruckner and his company Explosive Media have done a fantastic job with this release, everything looking very vibrant, along with great audio tracks. The only disappointment for me is that the featurette Shakespeare in the West didn’t have English subtitles.

[LankyGringo (Brian)]

Day 10

Minnesota Clay - The Spaghetti Western Database (spaghetti-western.net)

Corbucci’s second attempt at a spaghetti western and the one where his promise really began to shine through. It was nice to finally see this one on Blu-ray - though it isn’t completely flawless, it looks very nice and is a huge step up from any release I’ve seen before.

The story is simple enough - a man escapes from prison where he is doing time for a crime he didn’t commit. He sets out to prove his innocence but his task is made more difficult by the fact that he is going blind.

It is interesting to see the happy ending tacked on at the end of this one, compete with subtitles. I have to say though that imho the sad ending is the only way to go. It really gives meaning and poignancy to the film. The happy ending, on the other hand, really doesn’t make much sense and takes away from the impact of the film as a whole.

All in all, a fun film to revisit and especially on Blu-ray.

[Wai_Yan_Aung]

2. Viva Maria! (1965)

Louis Malle wonderfully delirious romp is dared I say an absolute delight. I’ve heard some criticism about first half which is all about their routines, but with fabulous stage performances and the two stars you just can’t take your eyes off it was for me it was every bit involving experience and a very fun one. And Malle with his cinematographer Henri Decaë had visually some interesting stuffs going on where they dove into heavily stilled shots and mirror illusions, which they later traded for kinetic, free-flowing camera movement (I was particular floored by the third musical performance. It was stunning sequence). Once revolution start tho it never stops. Whether serious or comical there are lots of well put together huge action sequences, waves after waves came in here for enough entertainment value.

Being a precursor to Zapata Westerns Viva Maria! just like all that followed has full on revolutionary spirited and served as a criticism on ruling class and the Church. Delivering blow like that with slapstick comedy has left it with fair shares of drawbacks but I think Louis Malle managed to craft a mostly successful, winning movie with light political commentary in final product.

[Bill_san_Antonio]

9. Buchs: Bullet for Sandoval

• I think this is rather underrated film. It belongs to the bleakest films of the genre, film without any heroes. Great music too. 7/10

Sadly the bluray ain’t that good, the newly dubbed scene really jumped out with different voice for Hilton. Picture quality was so soft it made my eyes sore.

[Companero_M (Martin)]

22: Joaquín Luis Romero Marchent’s Fedra West (1968)

The last time I watched Fedra West was during Spagvemberfest 2018, and unfortunately I haven’t been able to find a better version of this movie since. There is still only the English-dubbed, scratchy one and the Spanish-dubbed one, which looks even worse (two screenshots can be seen in my old post). Both also seem to be too short. One can only speculate about the original running time of Fedra West, even the website of the Instituto de la Cinematografía y de las Artes Audiovisuales with its Catálogo de Cine Español is silent on the matter.

Fedra West’s plot is based on the ancient Greek myth of Phaedra, Theseus and Hippolytus, although in somewhat muddled form, laying emphasis on its oedipal implications (“Father, I want to kill you! Stepmother, I want to …”). In the myth’s original version (which has been subject to many mutations over the centuries), Phaedra, the second wife of Theseus, king of Athens, falls in love with Hippolytus, Theseus’s son from a former marriage. Hippolytus, appalled by his stepmother’s desire, rejects her, and Phaedra’s love turns into hate. She defames Hippolytus in a letter to her husband and commits suicide. Theseus banishes his son from Athens, summons a curse, and Hippolytus is dragged to death by his chariot horses.

All three main actors in Romero Marchent’s Phaedra adaptation deliver good performances, especially Brazilian actress Norma Bengell in the title role, but also Simón Andreu as Hippolytus (both in their first Western) and James Philbrook as Theseus, depicted as a tyrannical ranchero with a bad temper. Fedra West plays more like a 1950s melodrama than a Western, let alone a Spaghetti Western. According to Kevin Grant, it “is a sterile rendering of a tempestuous story” (p. 173). I appreciate the film for its careful technical execution, its somber atmosphere, its complete lack of irony, and its old-fashioned 1950s Hollywood style, which marked a return to his roots for director Romero Marchent after venturing a little deeper into Spaghetti Western territory with his previous western, La muerte cumple condena (1966).

In the thread dedicated to Fedra West, Phil_H and autephex had good things to say about the movie, Toscano and aldo commented favorably on it during Spagvemberfest 2021, and scherpschutter wrote an informative review.

Next: La taglia è tua … l’uomo l’ammazzo io (1969), directed by Edoardo Mulargia.

[aldo]

@Companero_M

There is still only the English-dubbed, scratchy one and the Spanish-dubbed one, which looks even worse

Darn! I’d hoped you had discovered a new print … That’s a shame, as this is rather a good movie (what there is of it to see on the crappy scratched print)

[Admin (Sebastian)]

Spagvemberfest Day 10: Matalo! (Canevari)
Leone on Mescalin. An acid western. Much has been said about the movie, good and bad. With its anachronisms, wannabe-artsiness and experimental style overall (not to mention the cruelty shown or alluded to in some scenes) the film manages to put most viewers off. It is not a great spaghetti western, but I do like it because it at least is different. And if you put yourself in a fictitious older self’s shoes, when you were a young person in the 60s, then this hippie rock and roll outlaw western must have been spot on for a bad boy/girl movie watcher. Biggest downside in my opinion is that it’s just confusing and hard to follow. BluRay again excellent, thus finishing my Blood Money box set.

[aldo]

@Bill_san_Antonio

Sadly the bluray ain’t that good, the newly dubbed scene really jumped out with different voice for Hilton.

Who makes these bonehead decisions !!! … Someone’s going to have to fix their errors and put the Spanish audio back in again.

[aldo]

@makesthemovie

Explosive Media have done a fantastic job with this release, everything looking very vibrant, along with great audio tracks.

Just wondered if the English audio on this release is an improvement on the Wild East DVD, which was noisy as f**k, made worse by a de-noise filter .

[aldo]

@Bill_san_Antonio

Shoot The Living and Pray for The Dead
-Great film, one of Kinski’s best spaghs. 8/10

This must be a typo … surely you mean 10/10 ?

[ElDavido]

@aldo

@makesthemovie

Explosive Media have done a fantastic job with this release, everything looking very vibrant, along with great audio tracks.

Just wondered if the English audio on this release is an improvement on the Wild East DVD, which was noisy as f**k, made worse by a de-noise filter .

I remember that someone complained about too much DNR, and that it looked like an upscale Has anyone campared EM and WE?

[aldo]

Wild East’s DVD was pinched from Koch Media DVD and suffered the usual problem of softening the image when converting to NTSC from PAL.

[aldo]

Day 10:

‘Bullets Don’t Argue’ … or, Le pistole non discutono (1964)

I kind of felt sorry for Rod Cameron in this, as he looks a bit past his prime … still, he’s able to pull the beautiful chicks, here we see him as ‘Pat Garrett’ on his wedding day … yeah, so she’s 30 years younger! … and he resembles ‘Bagpuss’

TRIVIA: Cameron would play ‘Garrett’ again in Dennis Hopper’s 1971 oddity, ‘The Last Movie’

The movie is ok … fairly entertaining, but rather old fashioned. Horst Frank is great as ‘Lonesome Billy’, quite a menacing villain that is more in tune with what will be in the next few years of Euro westerns.

Interesting from an historical perspective of the genre, but not a hidden gem

6/10

[Gingerbread80 (Ginger)]

Day 10: Taste for Killing (1966) (a.k.a. Lanky Fellow/For the Taste of Killing) D-Tonino Valerii. Starring Craig Hill, George Martin, Piero Lulli and Fernando Sancho. Hank “Lanky Fellow” Fellows is an unusual bounty hunter who watches from mountain tops with his telescopic rifle for bandits planning on attacking US Army gold and money shipments. Hank enters the good graces of local industrialist Collins (Lulli) after offering his services to the Omaha City Bank, and helping foil an attempt by a group of bandits, led by Sanchez (Sancho), and their attempt to rob the bank while dressed as US Army troops. The town’s US Army shipment line then becomes the target of another Mexican bandit, named Gus, and his banditos, including the colorful, machete-wielding Mingo. Hank quickly goes after Gus for both profit and personal reasons. The movie definitely grew on me after watching it a second time. The first time I watched it, I got lost in the plot. Especially, regarding Collins and Hank’s deal to double his money, as well as the kidnapping subplots. Watching it a second time, some of the complexities of the story came together more seamlessly. The character of the quirky old man added humor to the plot. However, I was left wondering if he was delusional or was his constant talk of having gold at the bank the truth. We never find out. I enjoyed how we find out that Hank’s job of watching US Army shipments is a continuous process. Like Sisyphus pushing the boulder up the hill every day. Only for it to slide back down. Only Hank’s Sisyphus is on top of the hill, and sniping at bandits. Rating: 4/5.

[QuickDraw (Lewis)]

@aldo

yeah, so she’s 30 years younger! … and he resembles ‘Bagpuss’

I thought surely not, but then looked at the picture and I can totally see what you mean! Pretty striking resemblance there! haha

[LankyGringo (Brian)]

@aldo

he resembles ‘Bagpuss’

You’ve nailed it.

[Mickey13]

Dos hombres van a morir (1968) - Director: Rafael Romero Marchent - 6/10.

Though the story is not anything special, the good cast as well as the ever-reliable execution by Marchent firmly raise the work above the average. The superior quality of filmmaking manifests itself particularly in the way the movie progresses: the narrative flow turns out very smooth with no choppiness or jitters to be found along the way; even though the film itself might not stray from genre’s inveterate motifs too much, Marchent’s proficient touch ensures that the tale consistently rivets one’s attention and does not languish at any point by delving into some redundant impasses en route.

The straightforward story about a couple of lawmen who take on the corrupt mayor colluding with a group of local henchmen might not promote the flick to genre’s higher echelons, but at the end of the day, it works just fine and proves quite solid when combined with elements of a family drama as well as with the undercover agent subplot. Most crucially, though Martell’s character is technically the leading man of the yarn, it is Lulli who steals the show as the amicable law officer the treatment of which is further reinforced by the sound English dub for his part; the alacrity with which Lulli approaches the role basically carries this movie and it is through his participation that the film acquires the sparkle it comes to exhibit. The inevident, unconventional casting choice paradoxically works extraordinarily well and it is such a shame Lulli did not take center stage more often, as he fulfills the task most commendably here and displays his acting versatility with much verve and elan.

[TheSwede (Pete)]

Film #10: Dead Men Don’t Make Shadows - First viewing out of 5

SWDB PAGE: Inginocchiati straniero... I cadaveri non fanno ombra! - The Spaghetti Western Database

[DrGonzo703 (David Gordon)]

Day 10. Movie No. 6. Vengeance Is A Dish Served Cold.
Kind of a muddled mess of a script, only partially redeemed by some really good cinematography in spots. Was hoping for more from Kinski, sort of like he just sleepwalked thru the little he had to do. A fun watch overall, though.