At amazon iāve read a german review,in which the writer asserts that Schulenberg is vicarious to Erich von Strohheim.
He said that Sollima was a fan of Strohheim and therefore he contributed this character in āThe big gundownā
Iāve never heard of him,but he was āThe man you love to hateā in the days of silent films,it might well beā¦
[quote=āLankyFellow, post:181, topic:335ā]At amazon iāve read a german review,in which the writer asserts that Schulenberg is vicarious to Erich von Strohheim.
He said that Sollima was a fan of Strohheim and therefore he contributed this character in āThe big gundownā[/quote]
That is correct.
This Sollima also says in the interview on the Koch Media DVD.
Erich von Strohheim was one of the greatest directors in the silent era. And probably the most extravagant.
He also acted in his films, often giving decadent officers. He later acted in the classics La grande Illusion (Renoir, 1937) and Sunset Boulevard (Wilder, 1950). Also in Billy Wilderās 5 Graves to Cairo. And he was indeed born in Austria.
Letās talk about La Resa dei Conti, perhaps the greatest of the non-Leone films!
You forgot a few films by Corbucci, or. 
Well, for a considerable time this was called the best non-Leone
I guess The Great Silence is now widely considered as the best SW not made by Leone
According to Philip French, the author of the influential āWesterns, aspects of a movie genreā, and a man who doesnāt appreciate Italian westerns (to put it mildly), a small canon has been established, that even he recognizes as valuable.
According to French this canon
ā(ā¦) consists mainly of Leoneās Dollar Trilogy and his Once upon a Time in the West, and a couple of films by Sergio Corbucci, most notably his influential Django (ā¦) and The Big Silenceā (French, pag. 152)
For me, The Great Silence is the best non-Leone Western. But I also think THE MERCENARY is better than THE BIG Gundown. And Django ā¦ hm ā¦ difficult. Maybe not better, but much cooler. 
Really ? Where and when?
In Germany only Silence, Mercenary, Django were seen on the same level as Leone or even better. And Django Kill got a reputation then for being something special in a different way.
I think this is a very subjective subject. There are lots of well made and influential Spaghettis (even more that arenāt, though.) Butb whoās to say what is the best non Leone?
I like The Big Gundown. Iād give it 5 stars any day. But Iād pause before calling it the best non leone. And Iām not saying it isnāt. But itās definitely a matter of taste. Big Gundown is pretty heavy handed in itās political message. Not very subtle at all. A more clever film-maker (or scriptwriter) would possibly disguise this better. And as a result, Big gundown does feel a bit preachy.
[quote=āStanton, post:216, topic:335ā]Really ? Where and when?
In Germany only Silence, Mercenary, Django were seen on the same level as Leone or even better. And Django Kill got a reputation then for being something special in a different way.[/quote]
I read this several times on the net
Corbucciās reputation in Italy has never been very good, only recently critics have started to look differently at his work. He had the reputation to be a rather vulgar person and film maker. Italian critics are aware of the fact that his work still needs to be analyzed seriously. Thatās one of the reason I put so much energy in the reviews of his movies. Itās very hard to introduce a really original thought or idea on the works of Leone, but when youāre doing a Corbucci, youād better not be a lazy person, because you have to do it (nearly) all by yourself. Heās generally considered to be the crown prince of the spaghetti western, but few critics have spent much energy on analyzing his work.
Well, at least there was a vote among sw fans at old swwb years ago and then TBG was chosen the best non-leone film.
TBG isnāt really one of my favorites but if I had to recommend one sw to someone who has seen only Leone films Iād probably suggest to watch The Big Gundown. It has LVC and itās not weird enough as some Corbucciās might be and thereās certain amount of the epicness of the Leone films.
[quote=āscherpschutter, post:218, topic:335ā]I read this several times on the net
Corbucciās reputation in Italy has never been very good, only recently critics have started to look differently at his work. He had the reputation to be a rather vulgar person and film maker. Italian critics are aware of the fact that his work still needs to be analyzed seriously. Thatās one of the reason I put so much energy in the reviews of his movies. Itās very hard to introduce a really original thought or idea on the works of Leone, but when youāre doing a Corbucci, youād better not be a lazy person, because you have to do it (nearly) all by yourself. Heās generally considered to be the crown prince of the spaghetti western, but few critics have spent much energy on analyzing his work.[/quote]
Yeah, I know that Corbucci hasnāt the best reputation in Italy. No wonder they had to notice all his newer films, which in Germany mostly werenāt released.
And you had already said somewhere else that Companeros has a better reputation there as The Mercenary, which is also hard to believe for me.
I think in Germany apart from the fans of the Italian genre films of the 60s and 70s and the western fans not many filmbuffs have ever heard of Sollima. But that goes for most of these genre directors of these days.
I gave this a 4 (I wish I could give it a 4.5). Great film.
BTW, Silence, I find it ironic that youāre complaining about dictators when you have Che Guevara as an avatar. That being said, I am not a supporter of nazism, fascism, communism, or any other extremist ideology. Just my 2 cents.
Itās okay if itās being done for the correct reasons, and against the appropriate victims.
I watched this one recently and it was just as great as itās reputation suggests. And after seeing a rather over-the-top Milian in Vamos a matar, compaƱeros, itās great to see a more grounded performance of his (not that I donāt like over-the-top Milian). Van Cleef was great too, and both their characters were very well-developed and memorable. Honestly, there isnāt a lot to say about The Big Gundown that hasnāt already been said, I wouldnāt cut a second of that movie.
Actually, I know what to add : MarĆa Granada. Isnāt she the cutest thing? She looked so small beside Lee Van Cleef, awwww. 
The fact that she had such a short cinematic career is frankly criminal, I sure would have liked her to be a spaghetti western regular.
Five stars from me. I love this one.
For me, Sollima is an amazing director and I love all his films. I wish he had made more.
Had the chance of seeing this last week on the big screen. A nice 35mm copy with swedish subtitles. Third time I see this film, great.
Just saw it as well and I strongly agree with your statement. The over-the-top aspect of Companeros is what keeps it from being one of my top non-Leoneās. Itās certainly one of the better spaghetti westerns, but not on the same level as this or The Mercenary. And to whoever mentioned earlier the need for a 4.5-star rating: I would place this there as well, along with The Mercenary.
I just saw the Big Gundown for the first time, on a DVD of the Franco Cleef restoration.
All I can say is that everything Iāve ever heard about how great it is was dead on !
What a great flick !
Lee Van Cleefās Corbett is a great character with much more depth than Angel Eyes, and has become my new, favorite LVC character over Col. Mortimer.
My favorite line is when Corbett says to Cuchillo ; " You must have come out of your mother running."
[quote=āEl Gorila, post:227, topic:335ā]I just saw the Big Gundown for the first time, on a DVD of the Franco Cleef restoration.
All I can say is that everything Iāve ever heard about how great it is was dead on !
What a great flick !
Lee Van Cleefās Corbett is a great character with much more depth than Angel Eyes, and has become my new, favorite LVC character over Col. Mortimer.
My favorite line is when Corbett says to Cuchillo ; " You must have come out of your mother running." ;)[/quote]
Wow, I must say I envy youā¦I wish I had seen The Big Gundown on the Franco Cleef restoration version the first time I saw it. Unfortunately, it was a crappy full screen tv-rip of the cut version of the film. This is one of those westerns I hold up there with the Leone ones in real quality and greatness. I donāt know what I was thinking when I gave this a 4 but I wish I could change my vote. If you enjoyed Tomas Milianās performance in this one you should check out the sequel (or prequel to some people) called Run, Man, Run.