now you’ve got me started… I love zapata westerns! Only, I’m not all that meticulous about which revolution and what time frame, even though I love history in general. My simple but somewhat faulty criterion is: does it have federales in it [which I define as mexican soldiers, roughly around 1900::)] Of course, with this you’d also get movies like Django, Man Called Django, Blindman, Stranger in Town, Night of the Serpent etc. counted in, which aren’t revolution-themed.
I see you’ve done your homework on that list. You can add these:
-A Town Called Hell/A Town Called Bastard (1971)
-El Bandido Malpelo (1971)
-Monta in sella, figlio di…! (Great Treasure Hunt, 1972)
I haven’t seen Great Treasure Hunt, but I’m looking for a copy.
Also: have you seen Trini or I Siete de Pancho Villa, or has anybody else? I’m looking for those too, especially Siete de Pancho Villa, which seems to be very rare (unreleased in Europe as far as I know).
Of course the Mexicans themselves have made tons of movies about their revolutions, but they are stylistically very different to say the least :D. I can’t recommend those, except Emiliano Zapata (1970), La Chamuscada (1971) and La Generala (1971); after 1968 they tended to focus more on the action then on the singing ;D Makes you wonder if the Mexicans took notes from the Italian spaghetti’s or US-made Mex-revolution movies, although they retain a typical Mexican flavor. But I’m off-topic.
UN HOMBRE Y UN COLT is just a Western, in my opinion. It has been awhile since I have seen it (we are talking about the Robert Hundar film, right?); but, I don't recall any real Revolution elements coming to play in the plot. I have the Spanish DVD for this, so I may watch it again, soon, and let you know. But, as it stands right now...I don't think it belongs on the list.
[quote=“Durango, post:21, topic:1004”]now you’ve got me started… I love zapata westerns! Only, I’m not all that meticulous about which revolution and what time frame, even though I love history in general. My simple but somewhat faulty criterion is: does it have federales in it [which I define as mexican soldiers, roughly around 1900::)] Of course, with this you’d also get movies like Django, Man Called Django, Blindman, Stranger in Town, Night of the Serpent etc. counted in, which aren’t revolution-themed.
I see you’ve done your homework on that list. You can add these:
-A Town Called Hell/A Town Called Bastard (1971)
-El Bandido Malpelo (1971)
-Monta in sella, figlio di…! (Great Treasure Hunt, 1972)
I haven’t seen Great Treasure Hunt, but I’m looking for a copy.
Also: have you seen Trini or I Siete de Pancho Villa, or has anybody else? I’m looking for those too, especially Siete de Pancho Villa, which seems to be very rare (unreleased in Europe as far as I know).
Of course the Mexicans themselves have made tons of movies about their revolutions, but they are stylistically very different to say the least :D. I can’t recommend those, except Emiliano Zapata (1970), La Chamuscada (1971) and La Generala (1971); after 1968 they tended to focus more on the action then on the singing ;D Makes you wonder if the Mexicans took notes from the Italian spaghetti’s or US-made Mex-revolution movies, although they retain a typical Mexican flavor. But I’m off-topic.
my thoughts also.[/quote]
Thanks for the info, i will add these ones to the list.
Haven’t seen Trini and I Siete de Pancho Villa unfortunately.
Monta in sella, figlio di…! (Great Treasure Hunt, 1972) seems to be concerned with a group of gunslingers robbing a Mexican fort, but the picture in the left corner of this page [url]http://www.spaghettiwestern.altervista.org/vari-west30.htm[/url] makes me think it has some revolutionary elements also… :
Added “The taste of violence” to the list after re-reading the summary Stanton has given. Viewing “The warth of god” made me realize Zapata westerns it’s not about referring to setting as Mexico as long as it looks like one.
How about “Bad man’s river”? anyone can help me with this one?
Bad Man’s River definitely has a revolution setting. It’s more of a comedy, but there’s also plenty of gunfights. I liked it, but don’t expect too much.
That’s right. And it has a scene copied from Bullet for the General, where there’s someone tied to the track to stop the train. It’s a comedy western with a revolution setting, similar to Three Musketeers of the West (also from 1973). Almost no action, stale jokes. In other words, totally forgettable. But that’s just my opinion.
I’ve had the articles going but when I tried to start one about the Zapata’s, I couldn’t. I drew a complete blank. I structure my articles with intro, film of the subgenre, aspect of the sub genre, film, aspect, etc… But I honestly couldn’t find enough aspects to write about. Could anyone help me with this? Just some characteristic such as atmopshere, or … You see? I can’t do it even now!
Maybe I can start us off with political aspects. What else?
If you’re going to be meticulous about it, remove these too:
not set in Mexico:
-O’Cangaçeiro (South-America)
-Viva Maria (location not sure, but I think it’s supposed to be a South-American country)
different period:
-Uomo avvisato mezzo ammazzato… Parola di Spirito Santo (1867 revolution against the French/Austrians)
little to no revolution content:
-Monta in sella, figlio di…! (I believe this is just a heist movie that happens to involve a raid on a fort occupied by a dictatorial Mexican governor)
-Un hombre y un colt (this is of the typical stranger fights against an oppressive land baron type)
Begins in south america, but i thought they come to mexico and then participate in revolution.
I was pretty sure this was the “right” revolution, at least it looked to me like that
[quote=“Durango, post:35, topic:1004”]-Monta in sella, figlio di…! (I believe this is just a heist movie that happens to involve a raid on a fort occupied by a dictatorial Mexican governor)
-Un hombre y un colt (this is of the typical stranger fights against an oppressive land baron type)[/quote]
We don’t have much of Zapatas, so i decided to leave the ones that have some elements on the list
Uomo avvisato mezzo ammazzato... Parola di Spirito Santo (1867 revolution against the French/Austrians)
I was pretty sure this was the “right” revolution, at least it looked to me like that
You’re right, I thought this was a sequel of sorts to They Call Me Halleluja, but it’s not. The only thing that’s still confusing are the soldier’s uniforms, I think the caps are either pre-1900 or they’re altogether wrong. But I’m no expert on this.
[quote=“Stanton, post:15, topic:1004”]Robert Hosseins excellent The Taste of Violence is also set in a revolution, not in a specific one, but it’s interesting to compare it with the Zapata westerns.
Same goes for O Cangaceiro (except for the excellent part).[/quote]
From around the 13 minute to 20 min marks, this TV show has around 7 minutes on “political” Spaghetti Westerns. It’s all in Italian (no subs) and features footage from old interviews with some of the major players:
I love zapata westerns! Only, I’m not all that meticulous about which revolution and what time frame, even though I love history in general. My simple but somewhat faulty criterion is: does it have federales in it [which I define as mexican soldiers, roughly around 1900::)] Of course, with this you’d also get movies like Django, Man Called Django, Blindman, Stranger in Town, Night of the Serpent etc. counted in, which aren’t revolution-themed.
I love zapata westerns! Only, I’m not all that meticulous about which revolution and what time frame, even though I love history in general. My simple but somewhat faulty criterion is: does it have federales in it [which I define as mexican soldiers, roughly around 1900::)] Of course, with this you’d also get movies like Django, Man Called Django, Blindman, Stranger in Town, Night of the Serpent etc. counted in, which aren’t revolution-themed.