Les Longs Jours de la vengeance

With the fist scene in a rock quarry, things start with a bang, and rarely let up. This "Spaghetti Western" has above average photography, music, and interesting characters. Even though the story will be the quite familiar revenge for a wrong, Giuliano Gemma makes things lively and interesting, with his bag of tricks. It should also be mentioned that Nieves Navarro plays a very intriguing and mysterious character, and you are never quite sure whose side she is on. There is enough originality to distinguish "Days of Vengeance" from the average "Spaghetti Western", and thus this should be considered one of the above average non Leone Westerns. The Wild East DVD also has a very entertaining and informative interview with Nieves Navarro, where she talks about many actors she has worked with, including Lee Van Cleef. MERK

I first have to say I that I saw the Italian uncut (123 min.) version which is really not bad. This movie initially should have been directed by Duccio Tessari, director of the 2 Ringo movies, both with Gemma but he had'n the time to do it, so the producers took "Stan Vance". The plot is quite interesting even if it is a simple revenge story: you get little by little to know why the main character searches revenge and it's never obvious what is going to happen next. The photography and the make up of the movie are not so good, but it has nice desert landscapes and a good music score. So, for all the spaghetti Western fans this is highly recommended, but possibly in a uncut version: I even have a German version of this movie running just 100 min but it's not the same thing when something is missing, even if it's not strictly necessary.

My personal favorite among the many westerns Giuliano Gemma appeared in! Gemma portrays a prisoner with a ridiculously long beard (obviously inspired by the Count of Monte Christo here) who escapes after 3 years. Nonetheless, he quickly begins to hunt the 3 villains who got him sentenced although he was innocent: the killer Gomez (who is forced with a gun to shave off Gemma's beard first!), the corrupt sheriff Douglas (who has married the prisoner's girlfriend in the meantime) and the boss of the gang, Cobb, an honorable citizen it seems... It's a straight revenge story with a great cast of supporting actors: the 4 Mexican killers sent by Gomez, the doctor (Pajarito), the funny hangman, the two beautiful ladies (Nieves Navarro and Gabriella Giorgelli)... everybody is just perfect for the part they play! The terrific musical score by Armando Trovaioli with its trumpet theme sticks to the memory, too.

This movie has some minor faults, but overall it is a very entertaining flick.

When it comes to spaghetti westerns, it seems you can't go wrong with a Giuliano Gemma movie. I have seen most of Gemma's westerns and they have all been very good. This one is no exception.

The music score is superb. It's good enough to want to buy the soundtrack (if you can find it). The credits listed on my copy say the music is by Armando Trovaioli. IMDb's listing also credits Ennio Morricone. It's no surprise that Morricone had something to do with this score, because it is definitely that good.

The action is a bit slow during the first 70 minutes of the movie, but the story keeps you interested, and when the action heats up it gets even better. The acting is pretty decent overall. The dialogue is a bit confusing in a couple of places, probably due to a poor translation of the original Italian into English, but it's pretty minor, and doesn't interfere at all with ones ability to understand what's going on.

IMDb lists the US version as being 90 minutes long. My copy runs for 103 minutes. Perhaps it is the UK release.

Another reviewer states that this movie has a Gothic horror atmosphere. I don't really see that in this film. If it is there, it is not nearly to the extent that one sees in "Stranger's Gundown" (Django the Bastard) or "And God Said to Cain."

I recommend this movie to all spaghetti western fans.

Long Days of Vengeance is remarkably gripping for a movie whose story makes little sense - and carrying a 'comic' subplot that makes sense even less. Although it's the only western by the evidently accomplished and serious-minded director Florestano Vancini, he clearly understands the genre as it has developed in Italy by 1967. His job is to animate the often illogical action with a vibrant mise-en-scene, featuring often eye-popping visuals that facilitate the razor-sharp editing. It is visually exceptionally powerful, counterpointing its dynamic framing and movement with a brilliant Morricone-esque score by Armando Trovajoli. Vancini has a decisive visual approach; scenes and sequences are blocked and framed in a highly explicit way, announcing to the viewer just how this particular event will be explored, while maintaining tremendous flexibility in moving between different characters' point-of-view within scenes.

The writers (including the inventive Fernando di Leo) have already grasped the obligatory scenes of the Italian western: the prison escape; the barber shop stand-off; the extended barroom battle; pitting two gangs against each other; the hero suffering a debilitating, scarring beating; the interrupted hanging, and here each is staged as a standout set-piece. (The barber shop stand-off is especially effective as a suspense sequence, while using its excruciatingly extended timescale to unpack the hero's backstory.) Yet the story is constantly pushed forward, leaving the viewer little time to reflect on how unlikely the hero's actions usually are.

Giuliano Gemma is the Count of Monte Cristo here, out for revenge (two years after portraying Odysseus' return home in Tessari's magnificent Return of Ringo). Vancini lets Gemma's beauty speak for itself, and he observes the former stuntman's dangerous physical moves, swinging up buildings, between roofs and under trains, without nudging us. The topline cast acquit themselves very well, particularly Nieves Navarro and Francisco Rabal as a poisoned couple with a dark backstory. The patrician Navarro is especially powerful, constantly switching affiliation, yet seeming haunted by her own betrayals. Special mention also to Conrado San Martin as chief villain Cobb, playing a deranged lookalike of Sir Christopher Frayling, author of the definitive book 'Spaghetti Westerns'. (It's a remarkably prescient homage, considering that Long Days was released in 1967, and Frayling's book wasn't published until 1981.)

However the film's comedic/romantic sub-plot featuring Manuel Muniz and Gabriella Giorgelli is thin, contributing almost nothing to the story, and detracts from its dramatic development. It seems likely that this comic strand was seen as an essential feature of a Gemma movie, but it causes often jarring tonal shifts as it collides with the dark and violent central narrative. If it weren't for this unnecessary element, Long Days of Violence would have a much higher critical reputation. Yet even with this strand, it remains an outstanding example of the genre, deserving a much more prominent place in the canon.