adrianovasconcelos

I know little about Director Giuseppe Colizzi but two of his collaborations with Mario Girotti aka Terence Hill and Carlo Pedersoli aka Bud Spencer deserve recognition: GOD FORGIVES... I DON'T! (1967) and ACE HIGH (1968).

GOD FORGIVES carries a rather serious-faced Terence Hill in the lead, and a smaller role with a similarly close-faced, even dour Bud Spencer. That seriousness would start to change the following year with ACE HIGH, where the first signs of the trademark Hill- Spencer comic complicity began to emerge, though largely on the back of yet another memorable Eli Wallach performance after his Tuco in THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY.

GOD FORGIVES opens with a superb poker game sequence, in which the dark, half hidden faces of the card players suggest impending violence. It is a key momentum-giving entrance that sets the mood for the rest of the film and, in particular, it introduces the viewer to the two real enemies: Hill and the deceptive mass murderer Bill Santo Antonio, convincingly portrayed by Frank Wolff.

The poker sequence leads to other very good scenes, notably when Hill is tortured in a well, Bud Spencer breaks his cross, and the explosive ending.

GOD FORGIVES is one of the better spaghetti Westerns, with some sharp dialogue giving weight to the action. 7/10.

I had never heard of Director Paul Landres but I see from the IMDB bio notes that he directed VAMPIRE (1957) and other horror flicks, in addition to TV work.

FRONTIER GUN is not exactly a film that I will remember for long, or even one that I hope to re-watch. Its middling B&W cinematography starts off overly dark and pasty, but at least male lead John Agar as Sheriff Crayle and Barton MacLane as his father Simon Crayle, a famous lawman and fast gun, stay your eye, as does Bob Strauss as convincing top baddy Yubo.

Creepy feelings swing in when we learn from Crayle Sr that his son the sheriff has a hand problem that prevents him engaging in shootouts, so poor Agar is looking for a transfer to Boot Hill if he carries on wearing the tin star... but he's too much of a man to give it up, plus he wants to show Daddy Simon that he does not need his nose wiped.

Thankfully, beautiful Joyce Meadows takes a fancy to the new sheriff. Problem is, that ogre Yubo is really out to snuff out Crayle Jr, who has ordered him outta town, and he is mean enough to deceive Simon and shoot him dead - so now the fan is blowing it in all directions!

Just as thankfully, the cliché-riddled script suddenly takes an unexpected twist: unlike the cowardly populace in HIGH NOON, the residents of Honcho attend a church service armed up to their teeth and they tell their wives to buzz off, throw caution to the wind and march to the sheriff's aid, forcing evil Yubo into a one-on-one duel with Crayle Jr.

Thus the nice handicapped fella gets his nice supportive gal, off into a dark and pasty B&W sunset. THE END 6/10.

In his - thankfully - long life and career, Clint Eastwood brought many masterful and memorable moments to the screen. In MYSTIC RIVER, he presents the viewer with many of those, notably thanks to a superlative screenplay by Lehane and Helgeland, which clinically examines the many facets of the truth, and how the character Jimmy Markum, superbly played by Sean Penn (who deservedly picked up the Best Actor Oscar for it) wrongfully does what he sees as justice and gets away with it. His inflexible drive to avenge his daughter's demise causes him to treat Tim Robbins as the sacrificial lamb that he had been since childhood, when he was raped after meekly getting into a car with the rapist. Here Robbins gets into the car of a Markum thirstying after revenge to the point of lying to force Robbins to confess to a crime he did not commit.

Both Robbins (Best Supporting Actor Oscar) and Penn post superlative performances. Interestingly, their actions, strengths and weaknesses are mirrored by their wives: Laura Linney supports hubby Markum no matter what, even if he has murdered the wrong man; Marcia Gay Harden is as weak as hubby Robbins, and as tragically as unwittingly betrays him, suggesting to the ravenous Markum that Robbins might be involved in his daughter's murder.

Ultimately, the script and Eastwood's direction surgically and inexorably skin the many appearances that pass for reality in the minds of people. Eastwood's sublime yet sober approach is, in my view, what adds real greatness to this work and to that end, it is helped by superlative cinematography, great action sequences, and, most of all, a lucid and highly intelligent script.

MYSTIC RIVER is a must-see masterpiece. 10/10.