Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo (1966)

C'era una volta il West (1968)

 

 

A mysterious stranger with a harmonica joins forces with a notorious desperado to protect a beautiful widow from a ruthless assassin working for the railroad.

 

A masterpiece Western that elevates the genre onto a level of pure myth; it is immaculately composed like an opera with leitmotifs for each main protagonist, beautifully photographed in John Ford territory and full of memorable scenes, both humorous and vicious - and Henry Fonda's first appearance in the movie is a genuine shock.

Halliwell***: "Immensely long and convoluted epic Western marking its director's collaboration with an American studio and his desire to make serious statements about something or other. Beautifully made and very violent."

 

Maltin***1/2: "Sergio Leone's follow-up to his "Dollars" trilogy is languid, operatic masterpiece...Fonda (brilliantly cast as one of the coldest villains in screen history). Exciting, funny, and reverent, with now-classic score by Ennio Morricone; not to be missed."

 

Yôjinbô (1961)

A crafty ronin comes to a town divided by two criminal gangs and decides to play them against each other to free the town.

Highly influential, much copied Kurosawa masterpiece is flawlessly scripted and staged, tough, very violent and witty, and Mifune plays as if he was born for the role.

Halliwell****: "Masterful, beautifully composed, witty movie that inspired the 'spaghetti Western' cycle when it was remade by Sergio Leone as A Fistful of Dollars."

Maltin****: "Superb tongue-in-cheek samurai picture, the plot of which resembles a Western; Mifune is perfection as samurai...Beautiful on all counts..."

Sergio Leone

Per un pugno di dollari (1964)

On the set: Clint Eastwood and Sergio Leone

Sergio Leone

Bio:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergio_Leone

Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo (1966)

A bounty hunting scam joins two men in an uneasy alliance against a third in a race to find a fortune in gold buried in a remote cemetery.

Although extremely long (3 hours!) this final entry in the Dollar trilogy is arguably the best due to a fully coherent and interesting narrative, stylistic bravura, a splendid cast of three leads playing against each other and one of Morricone's most memorable scores.

Halliwell***: "Intermittently lively, very violent, and interminably drawn-out Western with a number of rather hilarious stylistic touches."

Maltin***1/2: "Third and best of Leone's "Dollar" trilogy...Long, funny, and flamboyant, with memorable Ennio Morricone score; the quintessential spaghetti Western."

Per qualche dollaro in più (1965)

Two bounty hunters with the same intentions, team up to track down a Western outlaw.

In many aspects a continuation and expansion not just of the first entry of the Dollar trilogy, but also of the Spaghetti western catalogue, highly stylzed and full of grim humour, but its ending drags on a wee bit too long.

Halliwell**: "Vague, inflated, sometimes good-looking sequel to A Fistful of Dollars, with customary violence and predictably mean performances."

Maltin***: "Slightly draggy but still fun; don't miss the scene where Van Cleef strikes a match on the back of Kinski's neck! Trademark atmospheric score by Ennio Morricone."

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."

Per qualche dollaro in più (1965)

On the set: Sergio Leone, Lee Van Cleef and Clint Eastwood