(A Fistful of Dynamite, Duck You Sucker, Once Upon a Time... the Revolution, Italy - 1971)
by Mike Lorefice & Vanes Naldi 6/20/01
Cast:
James Coburn, Rod Steiger,
Maria Monti, Rik Battaglia, Franco Graziosi, Romolo Valli
Genre:
War
Director:
Sergio Leone
Screenplay:
Sergio Leone, Sergio Donati, Luciano Vincenzone
Cinematography:
Giuseppe Ruzzolini
Composer:
Ennio Morricone
Runtime:
158 minutes
Mike: Although Leone wasn't going to direct this
movie, it seems fitting that he wound up taking over after complaints from
the two stars (who ironically weren't his choices, as he wanted Jason Robards
and Malcolm McDowell). Leone's 2nd trilogy, the Once Upon a Time films, progressed
through American history in chronological order. His previous film, Once
Upon A Time In The West, was set in the late 1800's when the west was
dying. His next film, Once Upon A Time In America
covers the prohibition area through the 1960's.
Maybe I'm foolish, but I don't really consider this
a true western. Not only is it first and foremost a revolutionary war movie,
but the cowboys had gone out with the introduction of autos. Regardless,
it's a strong movie whose settings aren't much different than Leone's previous
classics even though the technology and weaponry has improved.
In typical Leone fashion, the movie is rather
obtuse. The dialogue is scarce, so it relies heavily on a typically wonderful
soundtrack of Ennio Morricone. The soundtrack is fairly different this
time with chants (such as "Sean Sean" for the flashbacks of the Irishman)
and noises replacing the operatic elements we saw in the grandiose west.
The highlight of Morricone's work is the scene where old style bandito
Juan Miranda (Rod Steiger) opens door after door in the bank and keeps
finding refuges rather than gold. He got the new world man, firecracker
John Mallory (James Coburn), to team up with him so they could steal money,
but the joke is on him because the former IRA explosives expert has suckered
him into becoming a war hero instead of a cheap thief. Scenes like this
are scored for comedy because this guy that's suddenly a hero to hundreds
would have been happier having found even a dollar behind one of those
doors.
Vanes: Morricone,
an avant-gard musician, is so good at using noises and make them mean something
in the overall soundtrack. He said many times that in a way every thing that
makes noise is music. I recall the first scene in Once Upon a Time in the
West where they used a metal ladder and other DIY props to simulate the noises
in the ranch, and made music out of it. Just amazing
Mike: The film takes a cynical and mocking
look at war in general. Although the Mexican Revolution is the specific
subject, the film actually has elements and atrocities from future wars
from the trench warfare of WWI to the attire and mass extermination of
WWII.
Vanes: I was
recently watching a documentary on Leone's career and one of his best friends
said that the mass shooting scene is kind of an autobiographic look at
what happened in WWII. In particular, it was based on the massacre of the
"Fosse Ardeatine" in Rome where the Nazis killed hundreds of people. Even
today, the memory remains and it's one of Rome's biggest tourist attractions.
Mike: War makes people do a wide variety
of things they wouldn't normally do. Sometimes it can change people for
the better like Steiger's character who after getting suckered by Coburn
a few times embraces his role as a brave revolutionary who leads by example.
Sometimes it make people do bad things though, like the doctor who is forced
by a Nazi looking leader from the other side to identify revolutionaries
that would then be exterminated. Ultimately, war, especially this type,
is mainly a bunch of less fortunate people sacrificing their lives for
a cause that may or may not be good or solve anything. The film is hardly
here just to bring out the bad aspects in war though. In the end, it's
about the main characters searching for what's really important in their
life and changing when they come to certain realizations.
Vanes: This is one
aspect I really liked because it doesn't picture anybody as the "bad guy,"
and war itself is the only thing that is portrayed as a tragedy. Thus, the
film doesn't rely upon the "underdog hero vs. despicable villain" formula
like many western and war movies.
Mike: What makes the story work so well
is that, although we care about the main characters, there are no clear-cut
good guys and bad guys. Juan was a bandit. He was one that loved his kids
rather than the typical cold-hearted killer, but he was still a murderer
and a rapist. John killed for Ireland, but he still killed. Most every
action in war is justifiable to someone. You have to make choices, some
you believe are right, but others that can't stand at the time (betrayal
is a key theme) and are forced to live with for the rest of your life.
Killing is still a tragedy, especially in war when you don't know who or
often even why.
The main thing that hurt the movie for me was
Steiger. He looks enough like a Mexican, I suppose, but his accent is pretty
weak and inconsistent. Coburn is much better because he knows how to carry
himself, be cool, and makes the right facials. He doesn't always come off
as being particularly Irish though.
As is always the case with Leone's films the production
alone makes it worth watching. This isn't his most innovative film, but
it has all the flashbacks and close-ups he's known for. What makes it different
from his others are several awesome explosions. The bridge blowing up has
to rank at or very near the top of all movie explosions. It's not just
that explosion, but the anticipation built up before we finally get it.
That said, the explosions are real explosions shown in real time with no
editing and no fake effects.
Vanes: The
awesome thing about one of the bridge scenes is that actually it required
more than one take. As always, Leone wanted realism so he actually called
an explosive expert to blow up the bridge. He told him the signal to start
the detonator sequence would be "Via," which in Italian means "Let's go"
or "Let's begin." Leone, talking to another crewmember, said "Via" without
recalling what he said before, so the expert blew up the bridge. Franco
Delli Colli (the cameraman) screamed at Sergio that he didn't film anything
because obviously he wasn't supposed to yet. He was mortified asking Sergio,
"What are we gonna do now?" Leone just replied, "Let's go eat."
Mike: The train collision is also amazing. The
movie is "long" and can be "slow moving," but since it's more violent (you
can see the allusion to The Wild Bunch), it probably would play better for
the average viewer than some of Leone's better movies.
