Review 110
A Fistful of Dollars (1964)
Aside from The Good, The Bad, The Weird (which, looking back, probably lacks in the proper formula for a Western), I never used to watch Westerns. It seemed like people had this assumption that you either liked them or you didn't. For whatever reason, I wasn't sure I would enjoy them. Sure, The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly (or Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo) was a classic with one of the most famous soundtracks known culturally from the brilliant Ennio Morricone, but I stayed away, thinking it wasn't my type of film and it'd be best to stay away. I ended up watching The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly way back, but I didn't fully take it in because I still had this idea that Westerns weren't for me... Later on, I watched Once Upon a Time in the West (note all these films are from Sergio Leone) and really saw potential. But it was only recently that my boyfriend discussed the meaning of riding into the sunset, always looking for improvement, that I decided it was time to sit down and watch a Western properly. I wanted to start at the beginning of Sergio Leone's epics (or the first of the Dollars trilogy) - so I started A Fistful of Dollars. It stars Clint Eastwood as the Man with No Name, Gian Maria Volonté as the main antagonist (Holy shit - this is the guy from Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion! Never thought I'd see him again), José Calvo (un español! Je pensais qu'il était un italien aussi!), and Marianne Koch. I was excited to check this one out, guys, I really was. But was I satisfied...?
The Man with No Name (referred to as "Joe" for the rest of this article) (Clint Eastwood) happens upon a town and quickly learns from the barman (José Calvo) that he should leave the town - there are two gangs that run the town and few insiders survive, let alone outsiders. However, "Joe" decides to take it upon himself to help the town out by turning the two gangs against each other.
Now, if you know A Fistful of Dollars, then you probably know that the plot is identical to that of 用心棒 or Yojimbo for us non-Japanese-speaking individuals (但是我动汉语,所以我可以董一些字). Apparently, the only difference is that Yojimbo takes places in ancient Japan and features a samurai and A Fistful of Dollars is a Western. But I never actually saw Yojimbo, so I can't hate on the remade plot or make a comparison. Still, I'm sure 黒澤明 (Kurosawa Akira) got it down super well in Yojimbo, along with the ever-wonderful 三船敏郎 (Mifune Toshirō), so kudos to them. Anyway, I'll get around to watching Yojimbo at some point and, when I do, I'll put my two cents in. Whatever the case, I enjoyed the story of A Fistful of Dollars. I mean, it wasn't anything spectacular, but it was cute. And Gian Maria Volonté played a pretty damn evil man, but I like that as he did it well. Clint Eastwood was, well, a bad ass of course and absolutely loveable. There's just something about how a man holds a pistol, smokes a cigar, and wears a poncho.
But seriously, I got a few good laughs in the movie and I thought it was fun. Since I had seen The Good, The Bad, The Ugly, I could definitely tell this preceded as it lacked the visual elements that were refined for the last Dollars trilogy film. It tried some things, but again, it was nothing special in the cinematographic department. That came later. Still, I enjoyed it. The plot kept me, but to me, I've watched these Westerns more for the people than the plot. I really look at how the character goes about things because usually the plot is pretty simple (based on the few that I have seen) - someone wants money, someone wants revenge, a bad guy is the source. You better hope your actors play the parts well or else you get a bland movie with a nothing plot. But Clint Eastwood was real good. I mean, he plays the anti-hero well and was pretty inspiring (made me wish I could fight in such a manner and come out as cool, but maybe that's just me). And again, Gian Maria Volonté was good - I was definitely convinced.
I took the whole film as a kind of little experiment from Sergio Leone, where he was learning the tricks of the trade, figuring out what he wanted. Given the tiny budget, yet rather avid following that came, he definitely got a second, third, nth chance. So the film isn't his best, but I still had fun. Next up - For A Few Dollars More.
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