Goodbye Horse, hello Motorcar - another revolution!

Rating: 9/10 (22 July 2000)

Of all Leone's supposed "spaghetti" westerns it is this that is perhaps the most undervalued & least revered, which is a huge shame, because "Fistful of Dynamite" is on a par with the Dollar films and almost reaches the stratospheric heights of the WEST & AMERICA movies.
It's interesting how his westerns are like chapters in history - consider WEST as being a true cowboy western of the late 1800s, AMERICA covers Chicago gangsters of the 1920s and 60s; while DYNAMITE acts as a fulcrum between the dying western era of the late 1890s and the birth of a new 20th century revolution of the motor car.
And this allegory is visualised quite perfectly by the two main protagonists, Steiger, an old style cowboy cum Mexican bandit unaware that his era is almost over. And then we have Coburn as the 20th Century Man: a new modern breed of terrorist (or bandit if you like) with new-found technologies (liquid dynamite in a bottle) and early materialism (the motorbike replacing the horse).
Steiger has no greater desire than to rob banks and take care of his family just like hundreds of bandits before him, but realises very slowly that the world he lives in is in turmoil and change is on the way.
The Mexican Revolution is like an American version of WW1 where the new supercedes the old and Steiger finds it more & more difficult to realise his dreams. That is until Coburn rides into view.
Steiger is impressed with this Modern Man, seeing him as some kind of Saviour to replenish his thirsty desires. Yet Coburn has seen it all before - the killings, the revolutions, the plottings back in Ireland as a member of the IRA fighting for a cause just like the Mexican Revolution he now finds himself immersed in.
After a hesitant start they become firm friends but each has his own reasons why he does what he does. In spite of Steiger's viciousness he really only cares about family values. If the government had treated people such as himself with these values & virtues then he wouldn't have to resort to such extreme measures.
By the end of the film and numerous gunfights, betrayals & escapes they both realise that this particular revolution is too big even for them and they decide to go North and head for America.....
A classic Leone film typical of the man, although not quite so operatic or vast as the earlier WEST film and even though we are given enough background on both characters we still feel remote from really caring for them, unlike Bronson, Fonda, Robards & Cardineli in WEST.
BUT Steiger gives a wonderful performance as the "little man" fighting for (and against) change, fighting for his family and later, fighting for his people. His faith in God severely tested during one memorable scene in the cave hideout where his family have been massacred through betrayal of a friend.
Coburn's performance comes a close second. He is like a middle class intellectual compared to Steiger's working class hero and yet they both seem to depend on each other.
Leone has this wonderful talent with character development and how he can pull at our heart strings as our heroes suffer the kind of inhumanities they hand out to others.
DYNAMITE lacks the style of WEST & AMERICA, and the flashbacks are a little lumpen & crude. The settings also seem a little less grandiose & beguiling compared to the refined township world of Jill McBaine from WEST.
The music from Morricone (who else!?) is a little more eclectic & scatty than his previous works: for the first time he adds some random sound effects & chants which goes against the operatic style of the master. But having said that, there are some excellent & familiar haunting scores interlaced between the avant-garde.
A very good movie overall but doesn't quite convince or hang heavy in the mind like WEST.
****/*****