IMDb RATING
7.1/10
3.5K
YOUR RATING
A history professor has a chance meeting with an infamous outlaw and eventually assumes leadership of his gang.A history professor has a chance meeting with an infamous outlaw and eventually assumes leadership of his gang.A history professor has a chance meeting with an infamous outlaw and eventually assumes leadership of his gang.
Gian Maria Volontè
- Professore Brett Fletcher
- (as Gian Maria Volonté)
- …
Carole André
- Cattle Annie
- (as Carol André)
Ángel del Pozo
- Maximilian de Winton
- (as Angel Del Pozo)
Aldo Sambrell
- Zachary Shot
- (as Aldo Sanbrell)
- …
Giovanni Ivan Scratuglia
- Taylor Henchman
- (as Ivan Scratuglia)
Lidia Alfonsi
- Belle de Winton
- (as Lidya Alfonsi)
Federico Boido
- Sheriff of Purgatory City
- (uncredited)
Featured reviews
There are few Italian westerns that have more satisfaction for the viewer in my mind than 'Faccia a Faccia' does, Intelligent, fluid characterizations with shifting moral sands, there is nothing typical or predictable about this film. I cannot recommend it highly enough. Morricone's soundtrack is one of his best as well.
Volante & Milan both are excellent but it's really Volante's character arc that drives the narrative & he is top notch in every respect. Highly recommended film that should be on every serious spaghetti western film fan's top 10 list IMO. It's a fairly complex film for the genre & challenges the viewer on many levels. Intelligent film making within the confines of the genre. Don't miss it!
Volante & Milan both are excellent but it's really Volante's character arc that drives the narrative & he is top notch in every respect. Highly recommended film that should be on every serious spaghetti western film fan's top 10 list IMO. It's a fairly complex film for the genre & challenges the viewer on many levels. Intelligent film making within the confines of the genre. Don't miss it!
Among those who know my tastes, many will be surprised that I say a spaghetti western is a masterpiece. Because I hate spaghetti westerns. I hate the pace, music, zooms and other camera angles, I hate actors, gun shots and fists fights sounds. I hate everything in spaghetti westerns, especially if they tell the exact same schemes which the American ones already bring to us. I speak of the good guys vs evil guys schemes. With the expected f...happy ending. BUT But if the spaghetti westerns bring us something different from the SCREENPLAY and ONLY the screenplay, such as this one or for instance THE GREAT SILENCE and a handful of others, with no happy f...endings, then I can be highly interested in spaghetti westerns. This said, I won't add much to the other comments, this film was a true delight for me. The topic reminded me James B Clark's ONE FOOT IN HELL or Spencer G Bennet's BOUNTY KILLER where the main characters - Alan Ladd for the first and Dan Duryea for the second - began as the good guys in the beginning and then slowly became bad as the story resumed. You had here very excellent character's study with a good focus on their psychology. And very sad stories too.
That's what I love. Nothing else.
That's what I love. Nothing else.
This is a great western, one of the finest of the spaghetti-genre which has some political overtones. Everyone knows about the Eastwood/Leone movies but this is just the tip of the iceberg, there were hundreds of spaghetti westerns made & this is one of the best. Through a combination of illness & circumstance a mild mannered teacher is introduced to the world of bandit Solomon Beauregard Bennet. Gradually the two men begin to influence each other - for better & for worse - with the teacher becoming more vicious an outlaw than Solomon ever was. Solomon on the other hand begins to see another way of life & the folly of his criminal past.The transformation between the two characters is really interesting & believable, this coupled with some great western scenes, a score by Ennio Morricone, some familiar spaghetti western actors (including the excellent Tomas Milian) & an explosive finale make this a western to rival anything that the more well known Leone offered.
Take three of the finest Spaghetti Western actors (Gian Maria Volente, Tomas Milian and William Berger), the great direction of Sergio Sollima (The Big Gundown) and a gripping topsy turvey story of power and you get Face to Face.
Volente stars as Brad, a Professor that inadvertently becomes embroiled in Beau's (Milian) revolution when taken hostage by the bandit. It is not long before Brad becomes attracted to Beau's way of life, with the film superbly capturing his gradual corruption by power. Meanwhile, Beau's character develops an increasing compassion for his people and their life. The interplay between these two actors works brilliantly, and ably assisted by Berger as Siringo - a lawman disguised as one of Beau's gang.
Morricone's soundtrack is, as ever, fantastic. All in all, this is a true Spaghetti gem - Italian cinema at its near finest.
Volente stars as Brad, a Professor that inadvertently becomes embroiled in Beau's (Milian) revolution when taken hostage by the bandit. It is not long before Brad becomes attracted to Beau's way of life, with the film superbly capturing his gradual corruption by power. Meanwhile, Beau's character develops an increasing compassion for his people and their life. The interplay between these two actors works brilliantly, and ably assisted by Berger as Siringo - a lawman disguised as one of Beau's gang.
Morricone's soundtrack is, as ever, fantastic. All in all, this is a true Spaghetti gem - Italian cinema at its near finest.
Imaginative weren't the main qualities of the spaguetti genre, but this really surprised me entirely for an unprecedented plot where the real logic defy the common sense for us, where an intellectual professor played by Gian Maria Volonté starts a backward moviment, changing slowly to worst among of the criminal gang lead by a bloody guy called "Beau" the unmatched Tomas Milian, the professor under the wings of the chief is increasingly getting worse and finally becomes a dangerous mind, also has the great actor William Berger as a disguised Pinkerton's agent to get them, Solima made an upper classic italian western without american stars, accomplished with success!!!
Resume:
First watch: 2019 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 8.25
Resume:
First watch: 2019 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 8.25
Did you know
- TriviaGian Maria Volontè and Tomas Milian frequently clashed on-set due to their political beliefs - Volontè was an outspoken communist, while Milian had left his home country (Cuba) as Fidel Castro came into power. To build on their onscreen chemistry, Sergio Sollima also intentionally provoked the two actors into engaging in boxing matches with each other.
- GoofsColt Single Action Army revolvers (Peacemakers) and post-1866 Winchester rifles are used. Both did not exist until after the Civil War, which is when the film takes place.
- Quotes
Professor Brad Fletcher: In pain? Eh. You must know that torture's important, Wallace. It lifts the morale of the torturer. Didn't they teach you that at the university? You were... trapped by your... higher education. It leaves its own smell on you, I know it too well.
Wallace: I know you do. And I can't imagine how a man of your background could...
Professor Brad Fletcher: On the contrary, what's surprising is that a man like me could remain all those years watching life as a spectator, before he discovered the force that was in him. But... d'you have any idea what can be accomplished here if you're a man of intelligence? Where men who are morons have succeeded in usurping the power the power in the land?
Wallace: Yes. He'd be certainly in a position to improve things... but not a weak man like Brad Fletcher. You change your spots. You're civilized among civilized people, violent among the violent. You're quite ready to adapt to any new background like a parasite!
[Fletcher wipes Wallace's brow]
Professor Brad Fletcher: Pity you didn't pay attention at school, Wallace. The philosophy of violence, you recall it? One violent soul is just an outlaw... a hundred a gang, but... they're an army at a hundred thousand. That is the point. Beyond the confines that limit the outlaw as an individual criminal, violence by masses of men is... called history! Hm... I must say that... I'm glad I've been able to speak with an equal, who understands me. Those others are only able to understand the simplest things... such as the fact that a spy pays the penalty.
[Fletcher has one of his thugs hand him a gun, pulls back the hammer and puts the barrel to Wallace's neck]
Professor Brad Fletcher: Reasons of state, Wallace. You studied history, so you know what I mean. Not out of hate... but with compassion.
[He shoots Wallace point-blank]
- Crazy creditsCarlo Simi is given a "sets and costumes" credit on Italian prints, while English prints credit him as the "art director".
- Alternate versionsWhen 'Face to Face' was brought before the BBFC by Butcher's Film Service, it was cut from 112 minutes to 93 minutes to receive an 'A' rating. The 93-minute version of the English dub (featuring the voices of Tomas Milian and William Berger reprising their on-screen roles) was for some time the most widely available, having been released on Explosive Media's (out of print) 2-disc DVD release and Kino Lorber's Blu-ray, while the uncut English version was later released by Explosive Media on a single-disc DVD and in the first print run (of 1000 copies) of their Blu-ray release, which also contains the shorter English version. The scenes removed from the 93-minute English version were:
- The scene where Fletcher and Bennet spending a stormy night in one of Bennet's hideouts. Fletcher removes some floorboards to find medicine for Bennet's gunshot wounds, and Bennet, with Fletcher's help, removes a bullet from his body with a knife (the English audio for the second half of this scene was included in Explosive Media's original 2-disc release).
- Fletcher learns to shoot at a tree with Bennet's revolver. However, he hesitates when ordered to shoot a rabbit. Both men then spy on Charley Siringo - Beau wants to kill him, but Fletcher suggests creating a diversion.
- Bennet telling Reagen, a member of Sam Taylor's gang, that he shot him for "business" reasons, and walking away from his body when he dies (the English audio for this scene was included in Explosive Media's original 2-disc release).
- Belle de Winton's discussion about her deceased Confederate lover with Fletcher, and Bennet/Fletcher's reactions - Bennet implies that he and Belle are having (or have had) an affair, which Fletcher politely respects.
- Siringo's arrival at the de Winton estate, where he (aided by Vance and Aaron) kills a sheriff sent to capture Bennet. (The edited English version picks up from when, after Siringo kills the sheriff, Bennet discusses his level of trust for him.)
- Fletcher meeting Rusty Rogers at Puerto del Fuego, and expressing admiration for him. Maximilian then tells Fletcher that Puerto del Fuego is full of "ghosts of the past", but Fletcher feels that he has never seen anyone look more "happy, alive and free" (the English audio for the second half of this scene appears in Explosive Media's 2-disc release).
- Fletcher and Beau's mock duel, and Fletcher's explanations of the roles the other outlaws (except for himself, Maria and Bennet) will play in the Williow Creek bank robbery (in the edited English version, Jason's line "We go to Willow Creek, and knock off the bank" is used to create a transition shot to Bennet in the Mexican disguise he wears for the robbery).
- Bennet being pestered by Paco, the Mexican peasant, followed by Mrs. Watson's (Mrs. Lee in the English version) argument with Willow Creek's sheriff about Siringo's letter regarding the robbery, just before Fletcher and Maria enter town. (In the uncut version, she throws away Siringo's letter in anger over the sheriff's lack of cooperation. In the edited English version, she throws the letter away after apparently using it as a tissue.)
- A brief close-up of Fletcher walking towards the bag of stolen money during the bank robbery shoot-out.
- A discussion between a group of lawmen about Fletcher's rise to power among Bennet's Raiders and Siringo's hunting for Aaron Chase.
- An extra shot of Fletcher's men watching a goon punch Wallace (on Explosive Media's 2-disc release, the groan Wallace makes is unique; on the Blu-ray and single-disc DVD, the groan is a repeat of one Wallace makes earlier in the scene).
- ConnectionsFeatured in Sandokans Abenteuer (2004)
- How long is Face to Face?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- Il était une fois en Arizona
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 51 minutes
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
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Top Gap
By what name was Le Dernier Face à face (1967) officially released in Canada in French?
Answer