Bonnes funérailles, amis, Sartana paiera

(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.

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.

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.

This entertaining installment in the 'Sartana' series suffers from some bad pacing and not nearly enough action to sustain my ADD-addled brain. However, the action it does have is wonderfully realized...including an expertly handled horse chase where the bad guys all find their way to their graves (you'll see what I mean). The plot has to do with a land dispute between Sartana, some lady and a Chinese saloon owner...but who gives a sh!t? Unfortunately, the director thinks we do because he spends an unholy amount of time on plot when we just want to see Sartana shoot people. The Chinese dude's constant quoting of Confucius gets old fast (and is it me or do most Chinese people in Spaghettis quote Confucius?). Slightly recommended.

2 Sartanas in one year? One can only imagine how excited people must have been back then. This may have more story than the previous entry but I reckon it also marked the funural of Sartana - or at least the series itself really satisfied as many viewers as it could. There comes a point where you reach an end. Is it a high note? Probably not the best, but still a decent effort and entry I reckon.

The shootouts are there, the Sartanisms are there to a degree (though as I've said before, you could argue they are borrowed from other Spaghetti Westerns) ... if you are a fan, flaws will not come into account and you'll just enjoy. If you just like the genre, you could worse, on the other hand, there are so many other movies out there ... which to watch first?