Tag: spaghetti western

Companeros

Companeros is a 1970 Italian Western directed by Sergio Corbucci and starring Franco Nero.

Companeros tells the story of Yodlaf Peterson, a Swedish arms dealer who forms a shaky alliance with El Vasco, the leader of a Mexican revolutionary group. They aim to protect Professor Xantos, the intellectual head of a student resistance group, from military leader General Mongo and mercenary John, the Wooden Hand.

Companeros is a fun, stylish Italian Western that essentially represents the greatest hits of Sergio Corbucci. It’s a vivid, cleanly shot movie that is equal parts violent and campy.

The characters follow the formula created in earlier Corbucci movies – Franco Nero is the suave foreign mercenary who reveals a soft heart, Tomas Milian is the hardened gunslinger turned revolutionary, Eduardo Fajardo plays a boisterous Mexican general and Jack Palance takes another turn as a warped but quirky villain. There’s also yet another female revolutionary who plays the love interest.

And of course, it just wouldn’t be a Corbucci movie if Nero doesn’t let a machine gun rip….

Nero basically plays his role from The Mercenary, only he swaps Polish roots for Swedish. He’s suave, self-assured and playfully stoic. Again, he arrives in town to sell weapons, then gets mixed up in a revolution. Along the way, his professional lone wolf persona gets assimilated into a buddy comedy. There’s a fun running joke between his character and Milan’s El Vasco regarding a silver coin.

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Navajo Joe and The Mercenary

Navajo Joe (1966) and The Mercenary (1968) are each Italian Westerns directed by Sergio Corbucci and scored by Ennio Morricone.

Sergio Corbucci is often referred to as “the other Sergio” when movie folk discuss Italian Westerns. He is certainly less famous and commercially, his movies can’t rival Sergio Leone in terms of revenue and prestige.

However, while Leone makes epics – Corbucci makes unique, stylized, enjoyable Westerns – several of which are likely unappreciated. While Django and The Great Silence have recently earned a reputation for their gritty, dark quality, Navajo Joe and The Mercenary are two of his best – or at least, most entertaining movies.

Besides Corbucci’s direction, the common link between the two movies are the outstanding scores created by Ennio Morricone.

If you enjoyed Kill Bill, Volume 2, you’re in for a treat.

The Mercenary tells the story of Sergei “Polack” Kowalski, a hired gun whose robberies lead to a revolution against Mexican authorities. Kowalski makes a series of deals with Paco, a silver mine worker, and the pair steal money and weapons from the Mexican Army. Throughout their adventures, they are tracked by Curly, an American mercenary. In the process, Paco becomes a famed revolutionary.

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Django Kill, If You Live, Shoot!

Django Kill, If You Live, Shoot! is a 1967 Italian Western directed by Guilio Questi.

Tomas Milian’s Django is betrayed by his gang following a robbery and left for dead. He recovers and becomes entangled in a bloody battle for gold between corrupt townspeople and a homosexual gang. The movie is wildly unique for its genre, as it presents a surreal Old West landscape that is layered in contemporary references.

Django Kill features a conventional Western story: a mysterious stranger comes to town and finds himself in the middle of a battle between locals and outside forces. Gold and greed are at the heart of the issue and the hero encounters an emotionally wounded love interest.

The presentation beyond the story is what makes Django Kill a fascinating movie.

The lead character, Django, is cast throughout the movie in soft light – almost in a nod to his feminine facial features. His outfit of an unbuttoned leather vest, oversized medallion and headband is decidedly atypical for Western leading men. Similarly, his actions stray from the rugged determinism that defines the genre. He’s bold and physical, yet oddly passive – as highlighted during his capture by “the Muchachos”, an outlaw gang of homosexual cowboys.

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The Tarantino Influences: Django

Django is a 1966 movie directed by Sergio Corbucci. The music, themes and style were inspirations on Tarantino’s Django Unchained, Hateful Eight, Reservoir Dogs and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

Django tells the story of a mysterious drifter who drags a coffin through town and ends up in the middle of a bloody feud between Southern confederates and Mexican revolutionaries. He battles both groups, using his secret weapon of destruction. Along the way, Django rescues a prostitute and attempts to leave with a bounty of gold.

The main influence on Tarantino can be found in the most glorious theme song of all time.

Behold the grandeur….

Django has a lot going for it but this introduction is the clear high point of the movie. The song is hypnotic – it’s a grand, soaring, even powerful presentation of a mysterious drifter dragging a coffin through mud. Take the song away and you still have an intriguing visual but it loses its potent flavor. This theme is strictly reserved for a dynamic hero – which defines Django for most of the movie.

Tarantino borrows the theme song and gives it to his Django, who proves to be a more worthy hero than the original. We also see the great lettering and font in Tarantino’s version and clearly there is an homage to mud. Of course, mud isn’t exclusive to either movie – but in Django, its presence fills the background similar to snow drifts in other spaghetti Westerns.

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The Tarantino Influences: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly is a 1966 Sergio Leone Western. The movie’s themes, style and cinematography are major influences on most of Tarantino’s works.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly tells the story of three drifters who are seeking a bounty of buried money. The three men form ephemeral alliances with each other during their pursuit, constantly scheming to secure the riches for themselves.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly is a unique entry for this project. The movie is continually cited as one of the greatest Westerns ever made, along with being a huge influence on Tarantino’s works – particularly during the second half of the director’s career. Although it’s possible that Tarantino references The Good, The Bad and The Ugly in all of his movies. Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction and Jackie Brown all borrow from the movie’s classic ending – a standoff in a Civil War cemetery. The atmosphere of Kill Bill, Volume 2 – particularly during the scenes with Budd and later Bill – are lifted entirely from The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

The spacious scenery of the desert, which highlights Leone’s movie, is littered throughout Tarantino’s second half volume of movies. The opening scene of Inglorious Basterds borrows heavily from Leone’s introduction of Angel Eyes, while Django Unchained and Hateful Eight mimic the characters’ motivation and study ideas of trust.

On its surface, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly is a simple movie. The characters are all motivated by the same thing – yet take different routes to achieve their goals. They are simply characterized – Blondie is the good guy, Angel Eyes is bad and Tuco is ugly. Yet all three characters are con men and tricksters – each both adapting to and taking advantage of their landscape, which is being devastated by war.

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The Tarantino Influences: The Great Silence

The Great Silence is a 1968 Western directed by Sergio Corbucci. Considered to be his finest work, the movie appears to have influenced Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight and Django Unchained.

The uniqueness of a Western in a snowstorm is striking – the movie’s opening is an expansive shot of a snowy trek, which illustrates the struggle of all involved. The horse can’t find its footing and both animal and rider are defeated by the conditions. It’s a gorgeous opening not in a majestic way but rather because it signals a gritty, unpolished tone to follow. There is both a bleakness and beauty in the landscape – something that Tarantino emulates in The Hateful Eight and Django Unchained.

For a movie that’s ultimately defined by its viciousness, the opening is campy. A newly hired sheriff encounters a group of hungry bandits that have been pushed into the wilderness. The sheriff appears hopeless from the start – first in an odd one-off scene with the Governor of Utah and then as the bandit crew spares the sheriff’s life in exchange for his horse – which they solely want to eat. The bumbling, freezing sheriff is then picked up by a carriage, which carries the movie’s protagonists in Silence and Loco.

The plot’s origins are a bit convoluted as Loco and the town’s Justice of the Peace are engaged in a shady murder for bounty scheme. Silence arrives in town due to a letter sent to him by a young widow who wants to exact vengeance for her husband’s death at the hands of Loco. It’s a bit comical to see the protagonists in such close proximity and makes the movie’s first 30 minutes far-fetched. However, we know we’re headed for a showdown between the two leads.

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