My First Plate of Leone's Spaghetti.

Rating: 10/10 (31 January 2012)

Whilst I did not start watching Euro "genre movies" until 2011,there was always one Italian director who I would constantly hear getting mentioned by directors and Film buffs:Sergio Leone.Despite all of the praise ,Leone somehow ended up being a director that I decided I would start watching "One of these days."Luckally for me,that day arrived a lot sooner than expected,when I was surprised to discover that a friend had kindly sent me a DVD of a Leone film.Feeling that the perfect moment had arrived,I got myself all set to experience a Leone Spaghetti Western for the very first time.
The plot:
After being given a seat in an expensive carriage,due to the owners feeling sorry for the poor "pesant"Juan Miranda suddenly bursts into action,when his family appear from out of no where and take control of the carriage.As Miranda's family take anything of value from the train.
Leaving the now empty train behind in a celebration mood,Juan and his family can't believe their eyes when they see a masked man riding a motorbike.Pulling out his gun,Juan shoots at the motorbikes tires and stops Sean Mallory in his tracks.Calmly getting off his back,Mallory slowly walks over to the near-by empty carriage and chucks a stick of dynamite inside!.Gobsmacked that someone could blow up a section of the carriage so casually,Juan keeps Mallory under guard so that he is able to take a look at all of his personal documents.Nearing the bottom of the pile,Juan suspects that he has struck gold,when he finds a paper the shows that Sean has a wanted bounty on his head relating to some activates that happened in Ireland.
Before Juan and his family can begin to consider a way to make some easy money out of a wanted man,Mallory unleashes his "trump card",which is that he is completely covered in explosives from head to toe underneath his clothes,and that if anyone even tries to kill him he is more than happy to set off the next "big bang".
Feeling that he should try and use Sean's skills to his advantage,Juan begins to try and become Sean's best new "friend".Relaxing for breakfast,Juan surprises Mallory and his own family when he suggests to Sean,that due to the Mexican revolution beginning to gain momentum Juan feels that they both have a fantastic opportunity to get rich.Remembering all of "The Troubles" that he himself had experienced during the revolution in Ireland Mallory instantly turns down Juan's offer.Not taking no for an answer,Juan's family follow Sean to his "hide out",where they help him to blow up a building which is filled with opponent's to the Mexican revolution.
Feeling uneasy about Juan pulling his family head first into being part of a ruthless "revaluation",Sean does everything possible to deter Juan from becoming an accidental participant in the revelation. Sadly for Mallory he discovers that he is one step behind,as Juan gets drawn more and more into taking himself and his family down a revolutionary road that is filled with darkness and despair.
View on the film:
Since having heard quite a bit about the violence in Sergio Leone's films,my initial expectation was that this wonderful film would have a high count of bullets & octane.At around the half way point of the film,I began to relies that instead of going for a "smash and grab" approach.Leone had instead made something extremely thoughtful which has themes and ideas that become noticeable on repeat viewings.
Looking at the excellent screenplay it is very interesting to see Dario Argento's (who had earlier been one of the main writers for Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West) almost forgotten 1973 film The Five Days of Milan as a non-Western companion piece to this film,with Leone and Argento both attempting to show "the truth" behind revaluations and giving both of their films a strong comedic side.
Whilst Argento goes for a much more slap-stick approach to the comedy.Leone goes for a wonderfully dry sense of comedy which perfectly blends into the movies very serious moments.For the main centre theme of the film,Leone brilliantly shows the ruthlessness of a revaluation taking place,as Juan Miranda (played by a brilliantly intense Rod Steiger) starts to unwittingly get pulled into the events that are taking place around him,as his refusal to let John Mallory (played by a fantastic,bitterly regretful James Coburn) ,who is still disgusted at what he saw of a past revolution-first hand travel on his own come back to haunt him.
One of the most chilling images in the film is of a mass grave shooting,that has Leone deliver a perfect wide tracking shot to show the terrible genocide that is engulfing the country.For the tastefully done special effects and action scenes,Leone brings director Antonio Margheriti (who would later make the sadly under rated 1970 Spaghetti Western And God Said To Cain)into the mix,who gives all of the special effects a tremendously realistic gritty look.
Along with Margheriti's effects work,Leone shows that for his last ever Spaghetti Western he is going to do everything to go out with a real bang,as the gripping first 30 minutes of the movie show Juan and his family rob a carriage filled with the elite (that also features some shots that Peter Jackson re-did in the final Lord of the Rings film) bare,which whilst being a fast paced thrilling part of the film,also allows Leone to show what Juan is about to lose.