Un shérif à abattre

Although "Wanted" is not a classic of its genre - the spaghetti western - it does provide enough good stuff to be a perfectly good example. For starters, there is a good gritty feeling here. There is some good background scenery, for starters. A lot of the movie was obviously filmed during the winter, and the cold, mud, and visible breath of the actors gets to your bones. Actor Giuliano Gemma makes for a good hero, one that you'll hope gets to clear his name by the end. In fact, there are some tense moments that will make you wonder if indeed he'll be able to. And if you are looking for action, this spaghetti western delivers it in spades - lots of gun battles and fist fights are on display.

This is not a perfect spaghetti western. For starters, it's oddly paced. It takes over a half an hour for the protagonist to find himself in his dangerous predicament. And at one hundred minutes in length, the movie is overlong; it could have been cut by ten to fifteen minutes. But if you are a spaghetti western fan like myself, the positive attributes of the movie more than make up for its shortcomings.

Meanwhile was at his best phase in Spaghetti genre Giuliano Gemma wasn't concerned about the quality of those Euro western, as the specific picture a kind of routine offering over cattle rustling, a whole town on greedy hands of the powerful man oppressing yours frightened neighbors cattle ranchers when their heard disappears without a trace.

In this environment appears Giuliano Gemma, even his bright presence wasn't enough to leverage this usual premise, still has a young gorgeous girl as opposite to the main star, nonetheless some colorful characters improve a little bit, as the funny Padre Carmelo show up with amusing lines, also the gambler Martin Heywood, apart that just an average Spaghetti, Gemma should be choose a better screenplay,

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First watch: 1990 / How many: 2 / Source: VHS-Youtube / Rating: 6.

In spite of what my fellow commenter states this is a fabulous Euro Western film by visionary director Giorgio Ferroni, who endows what might be an otherwise routine Oater about organized cattle rustling into a unique genre pastiche. Giuliano Gemma is well suited to the role of the lawman wrongly fingered for a crime he didn't commit seeking justice south of the border amongst the heavily made up extra actors who look about as authentic as Mexican peasants as the Little Rascals would.

What makes the film work is Ferroni's visual prowess, combining sound stage footage with location work (some of which looks like Yugoslavia or maybe France) and a profound grasp of how to use color to make visual compositions that just happen to represent a cowboy movie. This one isn't quite a "Spaghetti Western", with a plot-heavy story rather than the usual posturing and exaggerated artiness of a Leone or Corbucci film. There are very few closeups of people's shoes, and the action sequences are more or less straightforward. The movie existed on the page before being visually realized.

And for that reason I find it interesting; there is a surrealist bent going on here creating realities that are more "real" than a John Ford movie. What the movie may be lacking in terms of authenticity or visual flair is more than compensated for by a deliberate sense of composition. The movie looks like a storyboarded cartoon or graphic novel rather than a sprawling, dusty film epic, and the attention to character & set detail is refreshing. Here is a movie that fretted over the way every frame would look in a very painterly manner that will delight hardcore fans of the genre, but with restrained enough violence to recommend this for viewers of all ages. And how often can you say that about a Spaghetti Western?

7/10

After proving himself quite resourceful during an attempted robbery of a gold shipment, newly appointed sheriff Giuliano Gemma finds himself framed for murder by ruthless cattle-rustlers that want someone a little more friendly in his place. Escaping jail, he fights the rustlers and the new sheriff to clear his name.

Wanted is pretty straight-forward and unpretentious and star Gemma is one of the great spaghetti western stars. There's also some good pulp-western atmosphere, with none of the silly humor and gimmicks that seemed to take over the genre in the years following this one's release.

On the other hand, there really isn't anything new here this time around and although it's decent enough entertainment, it's ultimately not very memorable.

Director Giorgio Ferroni did this one at same year as Fort Yuma Gold, I liked this one better, although I think they both are pretty lousy. But there's a nice action-scene in the beginning, which is still not much. Sadly the film is also too long 'bout 100min(75min would be better). There's actually some plot in this one, so fans of the genre(real fans only)might wanna check out, if you just find it.