Friday, October 26, 2012

THE MERCENARY (1968)


“Ford has John Wayne, Leone has Clint Eastwood, I have Franco Nero.”

Sergio Corbucci is cult and one of the most influential figures of Italian spaghetti western genre. After his grand success of ‘Django’ his teaming up with Franco Nero gave some of the most entertaining spaghetti western to watch without fail for all die hard fans of this genre. His western has everything on platter that we expect from genre- brilliant extreme wide shots, spectacle of blazing gun action witch stylish macho in search of bounty and climax with gun duel. But than he brings something extra too- machine gun instead of Winchester guns in western (Django), psychopathic villain & mute western hero (The Great Silence) and here a political edge stuffed in routine formula.

Sergei Kowalsky is gringo to rely for ambitious Mexican named Paco and his bunch of bounty hunters. He hired Sergei in his ambitious quest for revolution. With his company the amigos keep on robbing banks, trains, army but the gringo is too demanding man. Not the best Ennio Morricone’s score but love that particular whistling sound with Nero’s appearance. Compared to Leone, Corbucci’s spaghetti westerns tried to push the action and violence with modern ammunition whether its machinegun, tanks or an airplane dropping bombs; quite hard to imagine in western genre before. The climax here is just compelling powerhouse till the last frame.

Surely an essential spaghetti western from the man who gave us ‘Django’ & ‘The Great Silence’.  

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