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My Name is Nobody is in a way a very odd kind of western. It mixes seriousness reminiscent of previous spaghetti westerns with slapstick humor which is reminiscent of the silent era ( Also includes a lot of fast forwarding low framerate which is what all the camera's consisted of in those days ), and the end result is surprisingly stunning and charming at the same time.

Terence Hill plays the comical over confident superhumanly quick apprentice like no other, with the bar glass-shooting scene being an absolute high for his character. The acting inside the acting going on in this particular scene is fantastic, and Hill's mannerisms succeed in making this silent era-like slapstick humor succeed. Fonda represents the more serious half of the film which focuses more on scale and paying homage to past classics, primarily Once Upon a Time in the West which is also starring Henry Fonda. Some obvious examples are Morricone's identical near copy of Harmonica's theme in a couple of scenes involving Fonda in My Name is Nobody, or an intro that features three gunman silently observing and pacing around a certain area only to get blown away. His character is quite similar to the one he plays in Once Upon a Time in the West, except for the fact that his morality seems to lean a lot more towards 'Good' in this one. With Fonda's usual intensity he captures the serious half of the film extremely well and delivers a great performance.

Except for the slapstick humor this mostly truly feels like a serious film, because the depth and symbolisms in the film are all there. The story that Hill mentions about the bird, cow & coyote are an obvious example of this. Everything seems to be a metaphor for something else, and the depth in this screenplay is truly impeccable. This in turn makes this motion picture more than just a comic escapism flick. It is an in-depth examination of the death of the west and covers this up well in a comedy homage/parody kind of setting on all the films that made westerns so great. ( Especially spaghetti westerns ) There are not just references to Once Upon a Time in the West since there is also a scene for example in which main characters exchange shots on eachothers hats which is an homage of For a Few Dollars More (1965)

The cinematography is superb with a varied color palette and stunning mixes of close-ups and widescreen shots much in the same manner as the legendary Sergio Leone ( Who also produced this film ). The shots of the Wild Bunch ( Another homage to another western ) riding in the distance while slowly moving closer to the camera while Morricone's odd but brilliant 'The Wild Horde' plays is just cinematic perfection. The greatest use of this is obviously the one in which Jack ( Henry Fonda ) faces the Wild Bunch alone while the camera slowly pans back and upwards. It is such a majestic and elegant way of visual storytelling because the further back the camera pans the more you get the sense of the enormous scale of the numbers of the Wild Bunch, making them more intimidating and heightening Beauregard's feat if he truly manages to defeat them on his own.

My Name is Nobody is a weird mix of comedy & metaphor filled seriousness, but it succeeds like no other because it tells a genuinely humane message about progress and the dying of an old world ( Which is ofcourse the west ) through subtle metaphors & symbolisms. It truly feels like the closing chapter of a fantastic era.

I am a huge Leone fan and just had to see this one which I had never run across until now. I don't know if I got a hold of a bad copy or what- it looked legit from a real company, but kind of cheap. I wasn't sure what to make of it as I wasn't expecting a comedy and therefore was a little uncomfortable at first with its subtle humor and bizarre soundtrack from the awesome Morricone. I got more into it as it went along and like others have mentioned, the scene in the bar is a standout. All in all it was pretty fun with Fonda and Hill excellent, but perhaps because of the print or maybe the dubbing there were parts that were just plain weird- as if done by amateurs. Very strange and as such a big fan of the people involved I will look for a better copy and watch it again- perhaps on dvd when that comes out. Hopefully upon a second viewing I will have the same feeling that so many others seem to have had. Still, for the guy who said this is better than Once Upon a Time in the West- I'm afraid that's quite a stretch since I don't know if anything is that good.

All that gunslinger Jack Beauregard (Henry Fonda) wants to do is retire while he's still alive. But Nobody (Terence Hill) wants to see Beauregard go out in blaze of glory. Nobody dogs him across the West insisting that if Beauregard will just face one more enemy, he's sure to go down in the annals of history. But Nobody's idea is for Beauregard to have it out with the 150 man strong Wild Bunch - all alone.

The shortest and most to the point description that I can come up with for this movie is "Sergio Leone Meets the Three Stooges". On the one hand, you've got Henry Fonda in the traditional Western role (albeit Spaghetti Western). On the other hand, you've got Terence Hill performing some of the best slapstick and pantomime since the era of the silent film. It sounds like an unlikely combination, but Valerii successfully marries the two styles into a very enjoyable experience. The scenes with Fonda and Hill together are as good as you'll see in a Spaghetti Western.

While some of Hill's comedy seems goofy and doesn't work that well, most of it is very funny. There are moments of pure genius. The shooting scene in the saloon is a particular favorite of mine.

Morricone's score is amazing. He draws inspiration from and pays homage to some of the earlier scores he did. I was reminded several times of Once Upon a Time in the West, the Dollars Trilogy, and other Spaghetti Westerns. Writing positive comments on a Morricone score is becoming a bit redundant. Did he ever write a score that you could call bad?

For those of us who have only seen My Name is Nobody on VHS with bad transfers and missing footage, the new Image DVD is a real treat. It was a lot like watching the movie for the first time. I never thought this movie could look so good. My only complaint is the lack of extras. The disc doesn't even have a trailer.

I'm surprised i had never heard of this film before, i only got it because I'm a big fan of Henry Fonda. This movie reminds you of Once upon a time in the west and all the other spaghetti westerns but with a sense of humor and a great soundtrack. The movie stars out in 1899 with Henry Fonda playing a gunfighter named Jack Beauregard who just wants to get enough money so he can retire. Terence Hill plays another gunfighter named nobody who is obsessed with Beauregard. He's always following him around and wants him to fight the wild bunch, a group of 150 men, so he can be in the history books. This movie was produced by Serigo Leone and this was Henry Fonda's last western.

This is one of my favorite spaghetti westerns. Terrence Hill is very good as the brash newcomer, and Henry Fonda has always been good.... in this, he is excellent as the tired gunslinger who wants to hang it up.

The score by Ennio Morricone is outstanding.

The premise of the story is that Fonda, Jack Beauregard, wants to retire. He even has a berth on the ship "Sundowner," destination Australia, reserved. "Nobody," Hill, wants Beauregard to go out in style.... so he creates a showdown with the Wild Bunch: one man against 150 of the meanest SOBs in the West. The resolution of this conflict is.... interesting. ^_^