1965 - Western/Drammatico - 2h 12m
Regia: Sergio Leone
Cast: Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, Gian Maria Volontè, Mara Krupp, Luigi Pistilli, Klaus Kinski, Josef Egger, Pands Papadopoulos, Benito Stefanelli, Roberto Camardiel, Aldo Sambrell, Luis Rodriguez, Tomas Blanco, Lorenzo Robledo, Sergio Mendizabal, Dante Maggio, Diana Rabito, Giovanni Tarallo, Mario Meniconi, Mario Brega
In New Mexico, a bounty hunter called halfhand due to always use the right hand, and left us to shoot, and former colonel in the army now also he is a bounty hunter, Douglas, Mortimer, combine to capture and kill El Indio, a famous mexican outlaw just made it out of prison by the henchmen of his criminal gang, and ready to rob the bank of El Paso called the most impenetrable of the country.
Second chapter of the dollar Trilogy, is the confirmation that the Italian western is having its success, now gaining the acclaim of those who doubted that a genre so new for us Italians could be successful even in the United States. A much more mysterious and let's say adventurous story of the first chapter where we tried to get acquainted with the elements of the western.
Clint Eastwood and Lee Van Cleef
The father of the Italian-style western, Sergio Leone, has no limits with this film, first of all extending the duration of the film and putting many more characters even secondary who responded present and contributed to make the success of the film. I must be honest that the first chapter will remain something unique but this new story, is the right stone to give continuity to the trilogy, and make it very captivating.
First of all I would like to congratulate the set designers who have chosen such a wonderful place as New Mexico, which in the midst of the Rocky Mountains and its wonderful panorama also brings that sense of western that is needed for such a film. The town of El Paso is a fence for the whole story (although the film was shot in Castelfranco in Miscano in Campania, where the crew recreated the town of El Paso), it is the typical village of the Wild West where among a few houses and taverns, is the emphasis of history. A town almost as beautiful as that of the first chapter but much more at the center of everything, and where the beating heart is the bank considered unpenetrable. I have to say that as a bank, it was made much more modern than the time in which the story is set, and it does not seem at least as far as I perceived a Bank of the early '800.
The Bank of El Paso
Very interesting to see the desolation around this city made of few inhabitants and nothing more, Where is the lair of the criminal gang protagonist of the film. The difference with the city of the previous chapter is that it is finally a constant theme of the film where the taverns are much more shown. The famous duels against one of the main characters are the backbone of the film as it should be in a western movie, and see who shoots first type-style slow-motion is what's really incredible, you seem to be one of the two duelists, and the director was the goal that he wanted to propose. Note that in this story there is that hint of mystery that was missing in the first chapter, or it was only sketched, where one does not know really how far you can push the protagonist to find the criminal, and the criminal is able to find the way to escape even at the last always having an ace in the sleeve.
Sergio Leone, Lee Van Cleef and Clint Easwood in a break on set
On the role of Clint Eastwood I have no words, it's amazing how he can play the role as best as possible, and be one with the character. Of course it is very similar to the character portrayed in the first chapter, unnamed and past who seeks the criminal to kill him and pocket the sum of money. A true bounty hunter, with piercing eyes and lionlike courage, for an actor who was already showing what dough he was made of. Then of course we could dwell on why once again you do not know his real name, or his past but this also passes because when the actor originally from San Francisco pulls out the gun is a spectacle to see him. And finally he decides not to work alone.
Already because if Eastwood is the main element of the film is also Lee Van Cleef, the actor who best impersonates the western genre perhaps after John Wayne. From the eyes to do threatening type so much that at first I thought he was the villain, which instead turns out to be the missing part of Eastwood that is the mind. Unlike his colleague, he always manages to be one step ahead of him, in finding the right choice to hit and not start fourth. The part of the bounty hunter but more well-groomed, who looks almost like a modern sniper for the way he prepares the plans, excellent scene where from the bag he had with him pulls out four different rifles is stunning. He needed to give that extra leap to the character of Eastwood, who alone is not there would have made it this time. To note also the way he comes out of the most dangerous situations, in a quiet way as if he was not afraid of anything, we will also discover his sweet side, which did not seem at first.
The criminal El Indio
And if we were pleased by the character of Ramón Rojo, thatthis time Gian Maria Volontè has brought out the best of himself, with the character of the criminal El Indio, crazy and sadistic as well as cruel, it seems the joker for the meanness and madness with which he creates his plans. He could only play the gang leader, brilliant as he decides to rob the Bank of El Paso and how he manages to escape from the traps by never being hunted. I believe that the Turin actor wanted to understand his character and create a criminal different from the normal, and not just the usual enemy of a jerk. Then the way he builds duels has class, with a music box that when he stops playing one of the two duelists must shoot first. The character of El Indio has also sometimes overshadowed the figure of Monco, for the way he acts, a pride for Italian cinema.
An attention is also given to Josef Egger, the old eccentric in the first was the character of Piripero, and now a kind of prophet, he is always able to get to know you all and to give great advices in this case, the Maimed; and from among the members of the bank there is also a certain Klaus Kinski, then unknown, but who in later years was to become the fetish actor of the German director Werner Herzog, not that one of the best German actors. Kinski's class here in the role of Wild, crazier than his boss so much that in my opinion if there had been no Will, I believe that he had been the antagonist, brings that beautiful wacky wickedness that will also be seen in other future characters.
Ennio Morricone in 1965
The soundtrack composed by a legend such as Ennio Morricone, now a collaborator of Sergio Leone, who this time created a theme very similar to the previous but much more enpatic in certain scenes. Where there was the important scene or an element was found for the svogersi of the next scene, the Roman composer put as a kind of Bell to signify that something new was in the air. In a nutshell an exemplary film that was not on par with the first, but that gave the right follow-up that served for the soul of the story that is remarkable and compelling.
by Giacomo Fantini rating: 3,35 of 5
16 July 2021
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