Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Per un pugno di dollari (1964)


A wandering gunfighter plays two rival families against each other in a town torn apart by greed, pride, and revenge.

Not the first, but by far the most influential and best known spaghetti western masterpiece, creating its first international star, cementing its director's reputation as one of cinema's greatest and setting the standards for the genre in attitude, mise en scene, cinematography and sound (score by Ennio Morricone).

Halliwell***: "A film with much to answer for: it began the craze for 'spaghetti Westerns', took its director to Hollywood, and made a TV cowboy into a world star. It turned the Western into a brutal baroque opera, a violent clash between individuals."

Maltin***: "Sagebrush remake of YOJIMBO single-handedly invented the "spaghetti Western", made an international superstar of Eastwood, and boosted the carrerers of Leone and composer Ennio Morricone as well...Amusing, violent, and very stylish."


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