Buon funerale amigos!... paga Sartana

The first Sartana (1968), by Gianfranco Parolini, is such a dark and brooding spaghetti western gem, that I can't help but wonder what could have happened to the rest of the Sartana entries in his, admittedly, more skillful hands.

Gianni Garko returns for the fourth time to play the titular black-clad anti-hero, after being replaced by the suave George Hilton for A Fistful of Lead. Garko is typically good as the amoral Sartana, in a plot that combines in typical Carnimeo fashion, mystery and action. After old prospector Benson is killed, several people try to get their hands on his land. Nuggets of gold, discovered in his burnt down shackle, suggest that the old prospector hit a motherlode. A corrupt banker and a Chinese saloon owner each will try to convince Benson's niece, now the sole heir of the property, that the land is nothing but acres of sand and therefore worth nothing. Sartana, as usual, is out for himself and will try to play everyone. Of course, things are not always what they seem. There are enough twists and turns to keep things adequately interesting plot-wise.

But plot is barely the reason I love spags. It's the pure style that I look forward, those little moments of pure cinematic gold scattered in the form of stylish shootouts, off-beat characters, weird angles and close-ups, and style-wise, there isn't enough to go around here. The production seems kind of rushed, which probably was, given the low production values. With this being the 4th Sartana entry, everyone seems to be on autopilot by now, and Carnimeo just gets things over in a workmanlinke way. Which is why I wish Parolini would have worked on the sequels. Carnimeo, never an A-list name even by spaghetti standards, seems to be more of an employee instead of an artist, just getting things on budget and on schedule for the producers.

Anyhow, suffice to say there are lots of better spaghettis out there. If you're a seasoned veteran, and need a quick spaghetti fix for a Sunday afternoon, Have a Good Funeral Amigo will do just fine. Just don't expect anything mind-blowing.

Here, I would like to refer to some artistic categories that are paid less attention to. First of all, I would like to praise the artistic contribution of the decorator, especially the clothing designer (Daphne Ciarrocchi, Luciano Sagoni) for the protagonists in the film, the set designer on the interior look (Giacomo Calo, Carducci), the director of photography (Stelvio Massi).

The music is at the level of Bruno Nicolai.

Director Giuliano Carnimeo, screenwriter and coauthor of the story Giovanni Simonelli with Robert Gianviti did a good job of introducing the character of Li Tse Tung / Peng. An unusual character. Otherwise the owner of the casino, of Chinese origin. The role of Li Tse Tung / Peng was convincingly played by George Wang.

On the whole, with the character of the murderous Sartana (Gianni Garko) and his deadly handling of cards, it seemed a very impressive innovation. From an aesthetic point of view, it is a successful, acceptably stylized spaghetti western, which makes it above-averagely watchable.

(1970) Have a Good Funeral. My Friend/ Buon funerale amigos!... paga Sartana DUBBED SPAGHETTI WESTERN

According to Wikipedia "Have A Good Funeral, My Friend" is the 4th of 5 original Sartana movies. It stars Gianni Garko playing the iconic role as he at the time of his arrival to an old friend who happens to own a mine after the gist was discovered to be shot and murdered. And comes across two rivals, a greedy banker and a Chinese casino owner who intend to own the mine after the niece. As the niece automatically becomes the heir since it was her uncle who owned the mine but that he was murdered in cold blood.

One of the better Spaghetti Westerns as it consists of nifty sequences such as a playing card used as a book mark.

Sartana is part of a series and is not meant to be on the level of Eastwood films. It does not have to be. All though there are 5 official films in this series 4 of then star Gianni Garko. This is the third one. Sartana does nothing more except want money money and more money. He can shoot and scheme is way out of anything. The throwing of cards is a wonderful idea if one really understands spaghetti westerns. The score by bruno nicolai is incredible, it is one of his finest scores. The gunplay is awesome. That is the idea, Sartana is not supposed to get hurt. He is somewhat of a mystical figure, and this particular film has more humor than the ones in the rest of the series. I highly recommend it. Other titles in the sartana/series are I AM SARTANA YOUR ANGEL OF DEATH LIGHT THE FUSE SARTANA IS COMING and the first one IF YOU MEET SARTANA PRAY FOR YOUR DEATH.

Garko and Carnimeo cooperated in some good Italo-Westerns in the late 60s/early 70s, most remarkable is the "Sartana"-Series. This is definitely one of the best Sartana-Movies; tough, cynical and with a lot of humor, seasoned with all herbs of an excellent italo-western. The plot has some twists, good shoot-outs and a decent body count. The soundtrack's fine, good work done by Bruno Nicolai. The cast is standard with lot's of Italian b-movie heroes (ruffini, dell' acqua...) I had a lot of fun with this movie and it's worth watching it more than one time. Check out "Gli fumavano le Colt... lo chiamavano Camposanto",another good movie with Garko.