On l'appelle Trinita

(aka: THEY CALL ME TRINITY)

I have to admit I'm not one for comedy westerns but this one was actually funny in parts. It's almost as funny as SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL SHERIFF (1971) and I would almost consider it a welcome addition to my DVD collection were it not for the fact that the current Direct Source Media DVD weren't so awful.

Trinity (Terence Hill) a dirty, dusty drifter-turned bounty-hunter comes to town to pay a visit to his horse-thieving half-brother Bambino (Bud Spencer) who's pretending to be the real sheriff. Bambino's looking for the best way to rustle some of the Colonel's horses before he leaves and he's not interested in letting Trinity cut in. In the meantime, the Colonel (Farley Granger) is doing some plotting of his own, not only to get rid of Bambino but also to displace some Mormons who are settling on some land he wants for his own cattle.

The fights, the stunts and the gunplay Trinity and Bambino play on the Colonel's men is hilarious. I like it when Bambino uses the bottom of his fist to hit the bad guy's on the top of the head. And the ending fist fight scene at the Mormon's camp cracks me up. No wonder this film made Hill and Spencer popular in Europe.

Like I said, the DVD is a travesty with a transfer that's watchable but looks like it was lifted from a VHS source. The print itself the transfer was taken from is pretty grainy with bad splices and an audible hum in the soundtrack. It deserves a failing grade.

The TRINITY series needs the Anchor Bay DVD treatment, really bad. Since these Euro westerns were so popular, I'm surprised they haven't secured the rights to it yet.

7 out of 10

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Mythic film that started the golden stage of spaghetti-Westerns, as well as the legendary duo Spencer-Hill.

Directed precisely by one of the pioneers of this genre, Enzo Barboni, here under his pseudonym, EBClutcher, as was usual at that time, like Carlo Pedersoli (Bud Spencer) and Mario Girotti (Terence Hill), this was a strategy that was used so that these films, in principle made to amuse the European public with its peculiar style of adapted western and in a certain way, parodied, also reach the Anglo-Saxon public, and disguise a little the Italian flavor of these productions.

However, it is precisely that parody, carefree and also comical tone that encumbro to this genre, and in particular, to this film.

Here the protagonists are not straight and honorable agents of the law who punish the thugs and bandits, but they themselves are those bandits, two brothers to be exact, one the youngest, is called Trinidad, attractive, scoundrel, sympathetic, rogue , flirt, vague and anti-hygienic, but fearsome and deadly with the revolver, they nickname him the right hand of the devil.

And on the other hand is his brother, ¨the boy¨, of great stature, grumpy, gluttonous, disheveled and with strong differences with his brother, with whom he nevertheless shares the same unrivaled skill as a gunman ¨ the left hand of the devil¨.

The destinies of both will cross without that they look for it, in a remote town where the boy of falsely makes happen like the sheriff, with the only intention to wait for two comrades with those who to sack the bank of the town, but the arrival of his brother Trinidad, and his particular gift of getting into trouble will completely disrupt the plans of both.

What we have then, is an atypical western so far, where protas are far from being heroes, if not rather two nice scoundrels who will be carried away by events, which usually resolve shots, or hammer, Yes, always with a sense of humor and a kindness, because both brothers are really good-natured, only tanned in the harsh world of the wild West replete with gunmen, thieves, exploiters and all kinds of "actor".

Very well set, of course, in Spain, specifically in Almeria, in the desert of Tabernas, where almost all the films of the genre were filmed, Barboni shows us a Far West quite realistic and approximate to how it should have been in reality, arid , dry, miserable towns exploited by greedy magnates and their thugs, fugitives, bandits, prostitutes, drunkards, people of dubious morality, disheveled. dirty, with beards and dusty hair, the purpose was to break with the classic image of the old films of John Ford or Raoul Walsh, for a type of western as I said before, more casual, more comical.

The chemistry between Spencer and Hill works like a charm and is what sustains a script sometimes hilarious and witty, but it is the connection between these two that makes the film, with a wonderful soundtrack, the initial theme is already a classic, used even by Quentin Tarantino in his tribute, which is what it is, to the genre, Django unchained.

If something could be attributed to this film, it is perhaps a too long duration for what actually has to be counted, which makes in some sections a little cloying, cut ten or fifteen minutes would have benefited enough.

In conclusion, great and hilarious film to which the years have not sat badly but quite the opposite, it looks with total sympathy and nostalgia.

Thank you.

just bought this and the sequel on dvd. every time i see a new american market copy of this movie the picture and sound just get worse. that no one has given this film the treatment it deserves... original sound/language, subtitle options, dubbed version option, letterboxing, restored print and sound, etc... makes a thoughtful person wonder.

my sometimes too protective mother let me watch this movie as a kid and watching it now i wonder why. i think she was a sucker for sexy leads. it embodies everything that is/was deemed tasteless by those who would know and really don't. it's the long gone pre pc violence of bugs bunny cartoons, three stooges dysfunction with a twist of simpsons atheism. it begs no qualitative analyses of point or moral only craft. and craftwise it's glorious. cheap, direct, clever and simple. somehow it all adds up to something more than meaningless debate on harmful vs. harmless, not to mention it's hella funny.

i like it all from the burt bacarachish neil diamondish theme song to the dubious decision to dub. (and by the way this film is very well dubbed. if you don't feel so i'm guessing you haven't watched many asian films.)

clucher's film is not just a great western it's a great movie period. like it's protagonist it's carefree, dirty (really dirty), and decent. if i was unbiased i'd give this movie a 7.5 or 8 out of 10. but this movie sits close to my heart. especially when enduring the endless flow of garbage at todays cineplexes. 10 out of 10.

some favorite funny lines

"our weapons are faith and love." brother tobias

"only love shall combat evil..." sarah and judith

"god is with us" brother tobias

thanks mom

'Lo chiamavano Trinità' is one of the most charming and funny comedies ever made. The incredible duo Spencer/ Hill is fabulous. When you watch 'Lo chiamavano Trinità', it's like you get a good feeling all the time (you will get the same feeling if you watch the sequel). 'Lo chiamavano Trinità' is very unpretentious - and the simple jokes hits you all the time. It has also wonderful music (the sequel has even better music). Trinity is for me without doubt one of the most charismatic characters ever in filmhistory. I have to mention a quote:

Mescal: It's mierda! (When tasting the farmers soup)

Rating: 8 of 10.

I first saw this Trinity movie in the mid-seventies and laughed and snickered through it. Recently, I watched it again, and found that it held up well over the past decades, and recommend it highly. The humor in this movie is both subtle and broad. The lead actors, Terence Hill and Bud Spencer, slyly parody spaghetti western stereotypes without hamming it up. They do a masterful job at underplaying their characters' brotherly dislike of each other. There is plenty of broad humor too. Trinity is so scruffy and dirty that when he sits down to eat, puffs of dust fly up. The production values are generally pretty high; this doesn't look like a cheap movie. But the dubbing, as in any dubbed movie, is very obvious. Still, this is a highly enjoyable movie.