Mercenario: Der Gefürchtete

One of Corbucci's better westerns. The story concerns a bandit (Musante) who wants the legitimacy of being a "revolutionary", but needs the help of a hardened professional (Nero) to do it. Palance gives the movie some of its best moments as a gay gunslinger ( a rival mercenary) out to revenge himself on Musante for humiliating him. Not much plot, but Corbucci's fluid direction keeps it from growing stale and the god performances from the stars make it worth watching. Also look for fun, cynical dialogue and story elements from genre expert Vincenzoni. Contains the dark undertones present in other Corbucci (and Leone) westerns, but not to as great an extent as his masterpiece, "The Great Silence".

Last week, I came across a sale of Italian DVDs of several Spaghetti Westerns; I managed to purchase 4 of them and, being one of 2 I hadn't watched before, this ended up as the first I checked out.

Actually, I had missed this on late-night Italian TV; considering that a similar 'political' Spaghetti Western directed by Corbucci and co-starring Franco Nero and Jack Palance, namely COMPANEROS (1970), had been a bit too much tongue-in-cheek for my taste, I expected this to be in the same vein. However, while certainly lighthearted in comparison with Corbucci's DJANGO (1966; which I should revisit again in a couple of days) and especially THE GREAT SILENCE (1968), it's a more balanced proposition than COMPANEROS (particularly with respect to Palance's performance - quietly menacing here as opposed to the campiness of the later film) and, thus, superior to it in practically every way.

Nero has already matured quite a bit from the youthful gunslinger in DJANGO; here, he's basically playing a variation on Clint Eastwood's iconic Man With No Name figure in Sergio Leone's "Dollars Trilogy" (incidentally, Nero's own voice resembles that of Enrico Maria Salerno - who used to dub Eastwood in those films!). Indeed, the ongoing game of cat-and-mouse revolving around Nero, Palance and Mexican revolutionary Tony Musante is clearly inspired by the tricky relationship that went on between Eastwood, Eli Wallach and Lee Van Cleef in THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY (1966)! This is most evident in the numerous scenes where the taciturn Nero gets the brash Musante out of trouble or, conversely, 'sells' him to the authorities...and even more in the rather splendid showdown between the three characters, undoubtedly the film's highlight - given another dimension by being set in a bullring with Palance sporting a wig (he's nicknamed Curly!) and Musante made up as a clown!!

Despite her belated entrance in the film, Giovanna Ralli makes quite an impression as a fiery Mexican woman who hitches up with Musante; Euro-Cult and Spaghetti Western regular Eduardo Fajardo is also on hand as the requisite figure of oppression (who, at one point, is made to eat a living lizard by Musante!). While the comedy never quite descends into spoofiness and the political content is thankfully downplayed, the action sequences are very well handled...and the film is further blessed with a memorable theme tune by the one and only Ennio Morricone (with a little help from his friend and protégé Bruno Nicolai).

The second collaboration of Sergio Corbucci, the Italian Western's most important director besides Sergio Leone, and Franco Nero, one of the genre's greatest actors, after the ingenious "Django" from 1966, "Il Mercenario", a movie set in the time of the Mexican revolution, and therefore late for a Western, is a must-see for every fan of the genre.

Sergei Kowalski (Franco Nero) gets hired by short-tempered revolutionary Paco Roman (Tony Musante), in order to help his squad of unexperienced rebels with their campaign for a free Mexico. While Paco is a crook, but also an idealist, becoming more and more idealistic after his troop is joined by beautiful and idealistic Columba, a woman whose father was a revolutionary , the Polish is a typical anti-hero, witty and cool and somehow sympathetic, but mainly concerned on his own benefit.

The acting is great, specially Franco Nero as the Polish, and Jack Palance's performance as one of the villains. Another villain is played by Eduardo Fajardo, who played the villainous Major Jackson in Django. The score of this movie, composed by Ennio Morricone, is just brilliant (how couldn't it), the cinematography is great as well as the locations. My favorite film by Corbucci is still the incomparably brilliant "Il Grande Silenzio" ("aka. "The Great Silence") of 1968, "Django" of 1966 being my second-favorite due to its immense entertainment- and cult-value. Maybe not quite as brilliant as "Il Grande Silenzio" and not quite as influential as "Django", "Il Mercenario" is nonetheless an exceptional Spaghetti Western with a great sense of humor that I would recommend to everybody, not only genre fans. 9 out of 10!

This is one of the better Spaghetti westerns from the late 1960's. Franco Nero, Tony Musante, and Jack Palance are all in good form. My DVD copy is a cheap one and seems badly edited but the fun and vibrancy of the film still comes through. A cool political western the theme of which was continued in Sergio Corbucci's next film Companeros (another very good 'Spaghetti Western').

Revolution, repercussion, robbery, shootout, greed, treachery, cynicism, retribution, all comes together in this fervently crafted, stylishly filmed and unabashedly violent spaghetti western flavoured with Mexican spices. The Mercenary is fun, amusing & thrilling from start to finish, and is laden with political underlinings that provide more depth & richness to its plot & characters.

Directed by Sergio Corbucci (Django & The Great Silence), while there is a playful, adventurous vibe to how the events unfold and are presented, the film doesn't hold back on brutality when the occasion calls for it. Corbucci's direction isn't as precise as in aforementioned classics but he nonetheless exhibits sufficient control over all aspects to give us another satisfying extravaganza.

Franco Nero plays the eponymous opportunist with charisma & pizzazz as he aids an idealistic peasant, finely acted by Tony Musante, in leading a rebellion in return for monetary gains. The on-n-off collaboration & fluid rapport they share with each other is what keeps the drama flowing. And then there is Ennio Morricone's terrific score that effortlessly elevates certain moments to new heights.

Overall, The Mercenary is a fascinating combination of skilful direction, solid acting & spirited soundtrack, and is easily amongst the finest examples of zapata western. A spicy mix of action, humour & violence that delivers the desired goods and also serves as a critique of Hollywood's handling of Mexican revolutions, Corbucci's film is engaging & entertaining in equal measure and comes thoroughly recommended.