Tag: western

The Hunting Party

The Hunting Party is a 1971 movie directed by Don Medford.

WHAT HAPPENS?

A rancher hunts down the men who kidnapped his wife using long-range rifles.

ONE LINE REVIEW

The Hunting Party features a superb cast of actors but the true star of the movie are a collection of long-range rifles.

THE ACTORS

The impressive cast is highlighted by Gene Hackman’s impossibly callous and vicious Brandt. His hunting trip is interrupted by his wife’s kidnapping – which leads to Reed’s crew of bandits becoming human prey. Hackman is dangerous and vile in his treatment of women – associating his wife with property. It’s a cold, cruel role and Hackman delivers.

Reed’s presence is felt throughout the movie, although physically he appears miscast as outlaw Frank Calder. His role suggests a tenderness but is lost in a series of disjointed scenes. Similarly, Candice Bergen’s Melissa is a confusing role. While she expertly conveys her character’s anger and grief, the motives are never clear.

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Requiem for a Gringo

Requiem for a Gringo is a 1968 Western directed by Eugenio Martin and Jose Luis Merino.

Requiem for a Gringo tells the story of Ross Logan, a bounty hunter and astrologist, who seeks vengeance for his brother’s death. Logan relies on his gun-fighting skills and celestial intuition to defeat a band of cruel bandits.

There is something endlessly appealing about a Western that strays from convention. While Requiem for a Gringo features a formulaic blueprint, it is a wildly stylish, unique and violent movie.

Lang Jeffries has the face and manner of a nondescript Western lead. He’s stoic and at times professorial. There’s rarely a time his Logan Ross is not dominating the crew of bandits who murdered his brother. Yet, he’s an astrologist adorned in a leopard print shawl who plans his ultimate revenge based on an eclipse.

The real flavor of Requiem for a Gringo comes in the eclectic collection of hired guns working for the oafish Carranza.

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The Shooting

The Shooting is a 1966 movie directed by Monte Hellman.

The Shooting tells the story of Willett Gashade, an ex-bounty hunter turned miner who is summoned by a mysterious woman to guide her across the desert. Along the way, they are joined by a gunslinger and the journey turns into a tracking expedition.

There is a simplicity to The Shooting that ultimately creates a unique aura of intrigue. Similar to Two Lane Blacktop, Hellman maximizes his low budget restraints to focus on the existential conditions surrounding his characters.

The result is a swirl of mystery that allows the viewers to offer their own context.

This can be both enlightening and madly frustrating.

Warren Oates plays Gashade, a miner who returns home to discover his brother has been shot dead, while the other has fled camp. He is accompanied by the young and simple Coley. Oates presents as a hardened, worn leader. He tells Coley “From now on, you’ll be dependent on me.”

Oates plays Gashade with his usual blend of enigmatic cache. He is expressive displaying both earnestness and cruelty. There are moments when you can deeply empathize with him and others where you suspect his past is filled with regretful actions.

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El Topo

El Topo is a 1970 Acid Western directed by Alejandro Jodorowski.

Here’s my five-word review of El Topo:

What the fuck was that?

Thanks for reading.

In full disclosure, I chose to watch this bizarre Acid Western without subtitles – making an incredibly complex movie even more difficult to comprehend.

I’m pretty sure I could have closed my eyes and imagined the whole thing and came away with more insight.

Anyway, El Topo tells the story of a mysterious gunfighter who crosses the desert on a journey that is equal parts mystical, religious and sexual. El Topo, or “The Mole”, faces and conquers four desert masters before being left for dead by his lesbian companions. He is reborn in an underground colony of dwarves and cripples and swears off violence. He becomes a beggar before freeing the cripples and exacting vengeance on their killers.

Beyond the language barrier, the challenge of El Topo is unraveling Jodorowski’s heavy layers of disjointed symbolism. Within the movie’s first 20 minutes, El Topo’s naked son buries his teddy bear and mother’s mirror in the sand, then a variety of crazed bandits fetishize women’s shoes and simulate sex with lizards and captured monks.

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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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