Uccideva a freddo (1966) - Director: Guido Celano - 5/10.
This is more of an early style entry which is greatly variegated by the extremely cynical, psychopathic protagonist or anti-hero to be more precise; though the film introduces more of a regular leading man in the middle which subsequently gives rise to a romantic subplot of sorts, the motion picture predominantly relates the sanguinary vagaries of the central character who gains ground by means of murder, defraudation, manipulation and good manners and this is where movie’s primary strength lies; through employing the semblance of piety and probity, he wins the favor of the townsfolk and then proceeds to enrich himself through his arms trafficking scheme.
Although the execution turns out mostly standard without any prominently differentiating qualities, the unabashed psychopathy of its central character distinguishes the work; in spite of some superficial similaries to Black Jack in terms of how vile the protagonist is, that film likewise includes some mitigating circumstances and justification for the main hero’s savagery, whereas this oater’s leading man callously drifts through the storyline, disposing of people standing in his way and resolutely securing pecuniary advantages wherever and whenever he can with no scruples whatsoever. Though the flick does not really abound in action and tends to put more emphasis on drama, it succeeds by reason of its intriguing central character as well as the satisfactory, albeit somewhat offbeat, story progression.
Tutti fratelli nel West… per parte di padre (1972) - Director: Sergio Grieco - 3/10.
The good news is that the film is not so bad in that both the technical execution and the cast prove solid enough to make the work somewhat more entertaining than it otherwise would be. The bad news is that there is simply not enough meat on the bone and the storyline feels largely vacuous and too bland to sustain one’s attention throughout film’s duration. The underlying premise is passable, but there is simply not enough elaboration and variety to make it stick, so the viewer is simply forced to sit through the string of predominantly lame jokes with not much in the way of a interesting story to anchor them in the narrative.
As a consequence of the aforementioned factors, the work comes to exhibit the characteristics of a lazy cash grab with a manifest want of originality and enthusiasm for the handled material which in turn telegraphs a sense of helplessness and effects tedium in the process. Sabato and Stander do their best to animate the production and by and large, manage to improve the experience to some extent, but there is only so much they can do within their limited capacity and there is only so much Grieco’s technically solid rendition may amend when the tale is this nondescript and devoid of surprises to begin with. Not atrocious by any means, but considering the talent behind the camera as well as in front of it, it should have turned out considerably better and more memorable.