Disney Versus Tarantino ~ Duel In The Old West
Shot in the Tuscan mountains of Spain, director Giovanni Veronesi has created a decidedly strange and rather quirky western which continually vacillates between wholesome family entertainment and dark, surreal Tarantinoesque depravity.
Famous gunfighter Johnny Lowen (Harvey Keitel) decides to hang-up his sixshooter and return to the home and family he left some twenty years ago. In his absence his wife has died and his son (Leonardo Pieracconi) has grown-up and is now the town Doctor. Doc is married to a beautiful Indian maiden, Pearl (Sandrine Holt) and has a young half-breed son, Jeremiah (Yudii Mercredi).
Retirement doesn't come easy for Johnny. Jack Sikora (David Bowie), another notorious and reportedly psycho outlaw is on his trail. Jack is determined to kill Johnny, thereby securing for himself the reputation of "fastest gun." Johnny's refusal to strap on his sixshooter angers Jack and his gang. They try to change his mind by taking their hostilities out on...
Guilty Pleasure
A true Spaghetti Western replete with the usual cast of characters, poor acting, seemingly dubbed dialog, cliches galore etc. (Did they really have sunglasses in 1882)? The added bonus of course is Keitel and Bowie. You must have a sense of humor to appreciate this truely funny Italian view of the wild west. Many will think me crazy, and I hate to admit it, but I really enjoyed this film.
The less said the better...
I think Keitel is a fabulous actor who can be proud of appearances in some of the greatest roles in all of moviedom. I also think Bowie (while an outright musical genius) is usually at least an interesting -if not good - actor.
Although the beautiful cinematography of expansive panoramic scenery teases the viewer into thinking the film will be worth watching, sadly, it's really not worth the time it takes to watch the opening credits. I blame the director because there are so many cringe-inducing scenes; I also don't want to believe the aforementioned talents could waste their time on this tripe.
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