La resa dei conti

As a big fan of Spaghetti Westerns, two of my all-time favorite directors are Sergio Leone and Sergio Corbucci. Out of all Spaghetti Westerns directed by neither Leone, nor Corbucci, Segio Sollima's "La Resa Dei Conti" aka. "The Big Gundown" is my personal favorite, and doubtlessly one of the greatest films the genre has ever brought forth. An exciting and extremely stylish film with brilliantly drawn characters, "The Big Gundown" is a masterly Spaghetti Western with a political message.

Jonathan Corbett (Lee Van Cleef), a famous gunman and bounty hunter, is sent to hunt down a Mexican small-time crook named Cuchillo Sanchez (Tomas Milian), who is accused of the rape and murder of a 12-year-old girl. Corbett is an experienced and successful lawman, but Cuchillo is very clever too. On the his long hunt Corbett gets to know Cuchillo, whose guilt he finds more and more doubtful. Although this is a very serious Spaghetti Western in most of its parts, there are some very funny characters, like the almost cartoonish aristocratic Austrian gunman Baron Von Schulenberg (Gérard Herter), a cold-blooded but extremely arrogant and almost Nazi-ish killer wearing a monocle and always looking neat as a pin.

Sergio Sollima's directing is truly outstanding. The acting is also great, especially the brilliant performances of Tomas Milian and Lee Van Cleef, two of my personal favorite actors. The score by Ennio Morricone is one of a kind, outstanding, even compared to most of the other Morricone soundtracks. In one ingenious part of the movie, for example, Morricone mixes Ludwig Van Beethoven's "Für Elise" with a Mexican guitar and his typical dynamic Spaghetti Western drums. The cinematography and settings are overwhelming in a manner that is en par with Leone. In short: "The Big Gundown" is a formidable gem that even Leone would be proud of, and an Italian Western highlight that no lover of the genre could possibly afford to miss! 10/10

What I liked about this film was an intriguing storyline, superb music by Ennio Morricone and Lee Van Cleef. The action scenes are almost on a par with Leone's films and Van Cleef is top-notch (more convincing as a 'good guy').

After watching my tape of this film, I found out that it was a (badly-cut-by-Columbia) 84 min version. This would explain some confusing sections of the dialogue/narrative.

I'm told that the fuller versions (there is one of 114 min) are superior. Let's hope this film gets a decent treatment on DVD (hello Sony-Columbia) - it certainly deserves it more than most.

This is the original installment from Cuchillo trilogy and again an awesome Tomas Milian . This is the first part from Sergio Sollima trilogy, starred by Tomas Milian, as the roguish Cuchillo and formed by ¨Face to face¨ with Gian Maria Volonte and ¨Run Cuchillo run ¨ with Donald O'Brien and this one . It deals with Jonathan Corbett , a real-life character well played by Lee Van Cleef , who pursues a Mexican bandit accused of rape and murder . The solitary , self-reliant Corbett tracks down Cuchillo who is wrongly accused of killing . The relentless chase is set against strong environment , risked mountains and hazardous trails. Later on , the dangerous pursuit includes a motley posse formed by Walter Barnes, Angel Del Pozo , Gerard Herter , among others . Now as absolute starring Tomas Milian , nicknamed Cuchillo , and supported by Lee Van Cleef as an obstinate pursuer . It will be a long and dangerous pursuit with continuous getaways . It's set during early Mexican revolution with Benito Juarez ruling . And the Cuban Thomas Milian, as usual, puts faces, grimaces, crying and overacting, but plays splendidly.

This Zapata-Western is superior than subsequent entries because it displays stirring adventures, shootouts, riding pursuits and is pretty amusing. It's an exciting S. W. with breathtaking showdown between the protagonists Lee Van Cleef , Tomas Milian and the nasty enemies as Walter Barnes and his hoodlums as Angel Del Pozo and the German officer Gerard Herter . Tomas Milian is very fine, he ravages the screen, he jumps, hit and run , besides receiving violent punches, kicks and wounds . Gerard Herter playing a cruelly baddie role as Prussian baron with monocle is terrific , subsequently the would play similar role in other Spaghettis . Furthermore, it appears usual secondaries of Italian/Spanish Western as the femme fatal Nieves Navarro or Susan Scott as a black widow , in addition a lot of familiar paella faces as Robert Camardiel ,Lorenzo Robledo, Luis Barboo , Fernando Bilbao, Barta Barry , Frank Braña and , of course, Fernando Sancho in his ordinary role as a bully Mexican . The film blends violence, blood, tension , high body-count and it's fast moving and quite entertaining. There is plenty of action in the movie , guaranteeing shootouts or stunts every few minutes. There are many fine technicians and nice assistant direction and excellent production design by Carlo Simi , Sergio Leone's usual , he creates a magnificent scenario with barren outdoors, dirty landscapes under a glimmer sun and a fine set on the final scenes . As always , the musician Ennio Morricone, composes a nice Spaghetti soundtrack and well conducted ; it's full of guttural sounds and emotive score . Interior filmed at Elios Studios and outdoor sequences filmed at Tabernas , Cinecitta Studios , Rome and of course Almeria, Spain.

Sergio Sollima's direction is well crafted, here he's less cynical and humorous and more inclined toward violence and too much action. Colorful and evocative cinematography by Carlo Carlini , reflecting marvelously the habitual Almeria outdoors . The picture was well directed by Sollima , it would be his last Western and following directing successes such as Pirate films as ¨ Sandokan ¨ and the ¨Black Corsario¨ . Rating : Better than average Western . Essential and indispensable watching for Spaghetti Western aficionados .

This is absolutely one of the best so-called spaghetti westerns ever, after Sergio Leone's films of course, and it rates very highly among all westerns. Unlike many other non-Sergio Leone westerns, the cinematography, camera-work, etc., are all very good and some scenes are very artistic and even worthy of Leone himself.

Lee van Cleef is excellent as the pseudo-lawman/bounty hunter with integrity who believes in "justice" and "progress" for society.

Ennio Morricone, as usual, provides a great score for the film. The song is rousing, while the music for the chase scenes is excellent. Morricone also does a folk-music/square dance version of the theme for the wedding party, which is a neat touch.

The story is interesting and well-developed, as well. In its full-length version, it is in fact somewhat deep, with van Cleef's Corbett being a fairly complex character who undergoes a significant character development in the course of the film. In the abridged American version, unfortunately, he is shown as simply bounty hunter who mercilessly kills all before him in cold blood, who never bats an eye at his job, making his character two-dimensional and making the end more flat, more perfunctory, and less convincing or meaningful. In the full-length version, though, he cares about justice, gives outlaws a choice (and a chance), and there is significant development on how he becomes so obsessed with finding Cuchillo that he crosses the boundary between justice and personal obsession. He then re-examines himself and the events in which he finds himself to come to a significant realisation near the end.

At the 61st Venice Film Festival, Quentin Tarantino named THE BIG GUNDOWN not only his favorite Spaghetti Western but one of the all-time Top 5 Westerns!; ironically, though I knew of the film's reputation and had actually already missed out on it on late-night Italian TV due to a power cut, I was all set to give it another miss because I had intended to attend a screening of the latest film by nonagenarian Portuguese film-maker Manoel de Oliveira during which he was also to be presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award...but when, during a Press Conference, Tarantino singled out this one as being the film to see at the "Italian Kings Of The 'B'" retrospective (which he and Joe Dante were presiding over), I just had to be there - since, unlike most other titles at the Festival, it was reserved just that one screening!

The show, then, was delayed by an unattended bag left inside the theater from the previous screening which, incidentally, had been Ferdinando Baldi's Spaghetti Western BLINDMAN (1972) and, given the paranoid state of affairs post-9/11, this necessitated the intervention of bomb disposal units/dogs/soldiers/police before anyone could be allowed to re-enter the hall and the projection of the next film could proceed! If that wasn't enough, Joe Dante - who was present at the screening and my brother and I could overhear him waxing lyrical to his wife about the film's qualities - had to leave the theater after the first few minutes of the projection because, for some reason, English subtitles were not supplied with the only available print!

Anyway, let's get to the film itself: from the accompanying interview with director Sollima, I learned that the Tomas Milian role was originally intended for Gian Maria Volonte', who was to have played a much older "prey" - but then the characters' ages were reversed. As it turned out, this was the first film to feature Milian's "Cuchillo" Sanchez character - a wily Mexican peasant and a dexterous knife-thrower - which he reprised in RUN, MAN, RUN (1968; also directed by Sollima and whose R1 DVD courtesy of Blue Underground I ordered following this viewing, also because it's the only remaining title from the company's "The Spaghetti Western Collection" set I have yet to watch!). The original treatment (by Franco Solinas) was much more politicized but, even if this element was eventually toned down, it's still palpable in the film's critical depiction of the upper-classes - arrogant, duplicitous and perverse - vis-a'-vis the struggling and downtrodden but lusty (and, by extension, virile) lower classes.

Lee Van Cleef has one of his best roles ever as renowned bounty hunter (with an eye on a place in the Senate) Jonathan Corbett; to me, his relationship with Milian's character is one of the strongest ever to be established within the entire Western genre, and it's this that elevates the film above most non-Leone Italian efforts. Ennio Morricone provides one of his most eclectic and haunting scores that's weird and exhilarating at the same time, especially towards the end of the film when the song (ironically called "Run, Man, Run" and with a heightened vocal rendition by Christy to match!) - which is also heard over the opening credits - is reprised. In contrast to the operatic and baroque styles adopted by the other two Sergios - Leone and Corbucci, respectively - Sollima utilizes a much more sober, humanist and, ultimately, realistic approach.

The complexity of this film's script belies the general low esteem in which the genre is held (being episodic in nature, with Van Cleef and Milian meeting up with a plethora of diverse characters during the course of the manhunt; one of the most memorable scenes is when Van Cleef goes to look for Milian's wife, a feisty prostitute who verbally abuses her husband for having deserted her but then lashes out at Van Cleef when realizing his true intent, after which the latter is cornered by the entire local community!); indeed, at the time, these films were more authentic than the examples - the Western was then on its last legs - churned out by Hollywood...at least until THE WILD BUNCH (1969) came along!

I remember when the film was reviewed in a journal available outside the venue of the Venice Film Festival, it was described as having allegiances with the giallo genre - Milian is accused of being a serial rapist - but, having rewatched the film, this element isn't sufficiently stressed to make that connection! One of its more interesting aspects, however, is the reciprocated respect that passes between Van Cleef and Austrian bodyguard/ex-military officer/aristocrat/marksman Gerard Herter (whose character Sollima admitted to having based on Erich von Stroheim). This, in turn, gives way to a terrific extended climax: first, we see Milian duel with the real culprit of the crimes he's suspected of, then Van Cleef's stand-off with the Baron, and finally the confrontation between Corbett and the villainous railroad tycoon who appointed him to trail Milian in the first place. The cast also features a brief but striking turn by Nieves Navarro as a nymphomaniac rancher(!) and Fernando Sancho as a Mexican policeman who, hating the revolutionaries as much as the Americans, is content to let them cut each others' throat.

I'm surprised, therefore, that the film has still to make it to R1 DVD but I'm glad I picked up the R2 edition: the remastered print is beautiful and the film contains a 15-minute interview (though the video proved problematic initially) with Sergio Sollima that was highly engaging, informative and even funny (his quips about the highbrow Italian films of the time, the critics' darlings as opposed to the largely neglected genre offerings, is priceless!); in fact, I wish he'd done a full-length Audio Commentary for the film, as I really could have listened to him talk all day!!