The Western genre changed forever with the release of Sergio Leone's landmark Spaghetti Western "A Fistful of Dollars," but not necessarily for reasons you might think when it comes to a movie deemed a "classic."
The story is weak, most of the acting bordering on comical and there's no depth to speak of, but the Akira Kurosawa-inspired style of "A Fistful of Dollars" makes it entertaining and a rather fascinating watch from a stylistic perspective. Leone did things with a camera that Hollywood hadn't seen before (probably I admit I wasn't there), an approach that made the Western more entertaining yet more dramatic and tense.
Clint Eastwood stars as Joe, or more popularly, "The Man with No Name," in the role that launched the "Rawhide" star's film career. When he comes upon the Mexican border town of San Miguel – where you either get rich or get killed – the anonymous gunslinger puts himself at the center of a bloody feud between the Baxters and the Rojos, playing them off of each other for his financial gain.
The Man with No Name is essentially the Western's first true anti- hero. That's the primary contribution "Fistful of Dollars" makes to the genre – it pushes past the black-and-white cowboy heroes and wanted bandits dynamic. "Joe" has one character-revealing moment when he takes pity on a woman named Marisol (Marianne Koch) and her family, who are captives, in a sense, of the Rojo brothers. Otherwise, he's a troublemaker with money on his mind; we just like the guy because he's a badass who is less slimy than the rest of the characters.
The script annoyingly drifts between too overt and not explicit enough, but eventually it becomes clear that the only dialogue worth paying attention to is the clever quips, and that it doesn't matter how a point of tension or violence is reached, but how it looks and feels when we get there.
Leone isn't at the peak of his powers here by any stretch, which should be obvious given this was his first foray into Western territory and second film ever, but he gets enough right to open the door to a shift in thinking about how these movies are made. "Fistful" is an experimental playground for camera angles and various perspective shots. Cinematographers Massimo Dallamano and Federico Larraya play a lot with lighting, incidentally creating Eastwood's trademark squint. You might argue that Leone and crew stumbled upon greatness and that this movie is a combination of stumbles and sure-footed landings.
The secret weapon is Ennio Morricone. The composer's score feels familiar to modern audiences, but it's his creativity using raw sounds and singular instruments in striking patterns that ultimately redefined the genre. He brings the tension, mystery and swagger to the film. He even recognizes when silence works better than anything he could write. In so many ways, his music really glues this experiment of a movie together.
Movies that rise to the top in spite of their weaknesses by means of style and creativity are extremely rare, and they're usually an indicator of a film that's a game-changer to the art form. "A Fistful of Dollars" qualifies. It's a film that is much more important than it is great.
~Steven C
Thanks for reading! Visit Movie Muse Reviews for more
The story is weak, most of the acting bordering on comical and there's no depth to speak of, but the Akira Kurosawa-inspired style of "A Fistful of Dollars" makes it entertaining and a rather fascinating watch from a stylistic perspective. Leone did things with a camera that Hollywood hadn't seen before (probably I admit I wasn't there), an approach that made the Western more entertaining yet more dramatic and tense.
Clint Eastwood stars as Joe, or more popularly, "The Man with No Name," in the role that launched the "Rawhide" star's film career. When he comes upon the Mexican border town of San Miguel – where you either get rich or get killed – the anonymous gunslinger puts himself at the center of a bloody feud between the Baxters and the Rojos, playing them off of each other for his financial gain.
The Man with No Name is essentially the Western's first true anti- hero. That's the primary contribution "Fistful of Dollars" makes to the genre – it pushes past the black-and-white cowboy heroes and wanted bandits dynamic. "Joe" has one character-revealing moment when he takes pity on a woman named Marisol (Marianne Koch) and her family, who are captives, in a sense, of the Rojo brothers. Otherwise, he's a troublemaker with money on his mind; we just like the guy because he's a badass who is less slimy than the rest of the characters.
The script annoyingly drifts between too overt and not explicit enough, but eventually it becomes clear that the only dialogue worth paying attention to is the clever quips, and that it doesn't matter how a point of tension or violence is reached, but how it looks and feels when we get there.
Leone isn't at the peak of his powers here by any stretch, which should be obvious given this was his first foray into Western territory and second film ever, but he gets enough right to open the door to a shift in thinking about how these movies are made. "Fistful" is an experimental playground for camera angles and various perspective shots. Cinematographers Massimo Dallamano and Federico Larraya play a lot with lighting, incidentally creating Eastwood's trademark squint. You might argue that Leone and crew stumbled upon greatness and that this movie is a combination of stumbles and sure-footed landings.
The secret weapon is Ennio Morricone. The composer's score feels familiar to modern audiences, but it's his creativity using raw sounds and singular instruments in striking patterns that ultimately redefined the genre. He brings the tension, mystery and swagger to the film. He even recognizes when silence works better than anything he could write. In so many ways, his music really glues this experiment of a movie together.
Movies that rise to the top in spite of their weaknesses by means of style and creativity are extremely rare, and they're usually an indicator of a film that's a game-changer to the art form. "A Fistful of Dollars" qualifies. It's a film that is much more important than it is great.
~Steven C
Thanks for reading! Visit Movie Muse Reviews for more