#8 - The Mercenary
The Mercenary (also known as A Professional Gun) is the third Sergio Corbucci spaghetti western I've seen in four months, following Django back in January and The Great Silence late last year. As with The Great Silence, the music was composed by the great Ennio Morricone. As with Django, Franco Nero took the lead role.
Here the lead role is the titular mercenary, a Polish immigrant who is ridiculously competent when he is paid on time by Tony Musante's Mexican revolutionary. His plans always work; imagine if you will a cross of Danny Ocean and The Man With No Name who is obsessed with being paid and you'll have a pretty good idea of his character. He's lethally dangerous with any weapon (he shoots down a biplane with a long rifle shot), improvises quickly (as when he turns an automobile into a moving bomb) and utterly loyal as long his employer has paid in full.
Musante is very passionate and is great at inspiring his men (not to mention the beautiful Giovanna Ralli) but his efforts always fail unless he pays The Mercenary to assist. Eventually this dynamic cannot stand, and a dramatic series of double-crosses puts all three of them in danger from the Mexican army as well as Jack Palance, whose opportunistic criminal character was humiliated by them early in the film.
I didn't realize it until I was writing this post, but there is an actual named sub-genre of Westerns called Zapata Westerns which are set during the Mexican revolution of 1913. This film is a stellar example of the genre, in that the white guy (usually American, but Polish works) essentially runs the revolution for passionate but incompetent Mexicans, most of whom become cannon fodder for the superior weaponry of the white guy. If this sounds vaguely racist, it's probably because it is. Corbucci mostly avoids the political subtext and uses the backdrop as an excuse for a lot of violence and a little gore. I'm not sure if that's laudable or not, but if you're a spaghetti western fan you'll probably enjoy this anyway. It's not as good as either Django or The Great Silence, nor is it as good as Sergio Leone's contribution to the Zapata Western genre, Duck, You Sucker! If you don't like spaghetti westerns, there's nothing here that will change your mind, except possibly Giovanna Ralli, who is extraordinarily beautiful.
How Much Fun I Had in the Theater, 2013
Rank. Order - Name. Date; Theater.
Here the lead role is the titular mercenary, a Polish immigrant who is ridiculously competent when he is paid on time by Tony Musante's Mexican revolutionary. His plans always work; imagine if you will a cross of Danny Ocean and The Man With No Name who is obsessed with being paid and you'll have a pretty good idea of his character. He's lethally dangerous with any weapon (he shoots down a biplane with a long rifle shot), improvises quickly (as when he turns an automobile into a moving bomb) and utterly loyal as long his employer has paid in full.
Musante is very passionate and is great at inspiring his men (not to mention the beautiful Giovanna Ralli) but his efforts always fail unless he pays The Mercenary to assist. Eventually this dynamic cannot stand, and a dramatic series of double-crosses puts all three of them in danger from the Mexican army as well as Jack Palance, whose opportunistic criminal character was humiliated by them early in the film.
I didn't realize it until I was writing this post, but there is an actual named sub-genre of Westerns called Zapata Westerns which are set during the Mexican revolution of 1913. This film is a stellar example of the genre, in that the white guy (usually American, but Polish works) essentially runs the revolution for passionate but incompetent Mexicans, most of whom become cannon fodder for the superior weaponry of the white guy. If this sounds vaguely racist, it's probably because it is. Corbucci mostly avoids the political subtext and uses the backdrop as an excuse for a lot of violence and a little gore. I'm not sure if that's laudable or not, but if you're a spaghetti western fan you'll probably enjoy this anyway. It's not as good as either Django or The Great Silence, nor is it as good as Sergio Leone's contribution to the Zapata Western genre, Duck, You Sucker! If you don't like spaghetti westerns, there's nothing here that will change your mind, except possibly Giovanna Ralli, who is extraordinarily beautiful.
How Much Fun I Had in the Theater, 2013
Rank. Order - Name. Date; Theater.
- #6 - Harvey. Sunday, January 27; Capitol Theater.
- #4 - True Romance. Sunday, January 20; Cleveland Cinematheque.
--- Above this Line, Awesomeness --- - #2 - Lincoln. Tuesday, January 8; Westlake Regal
- #5 - Django. Tuesday, January 22; Capitol Theater (Cleveland Cinematheque production)
- #8 - The Mercenary. Friday, February 8; Cleveland Cinematheque.
- #1 - The Well-Digger's Daughter. Sunday, January 6; Cleveland Cinematheque.
--- Below This Line, I Was Bored --- - #7 - Only Yesterday. Sunday, January 27; Cleveland Cinematheque.
- #3 - 8 1/2. Sunday, January 13; Cleveland Cinematheque.