Spaghetti

Transforming Clint Eastwood into the iconic role of the man with no name; Sergio Leone made his first western, "A Fistful of Dollars." The real beauty of this western is that its romance is captured through the eyes of an Italian director thus, the term "spaghetti western" is coined.



The plot is simple, two rival gangs that run a town through violence and fear meet their match when a gun-toting stranger enters the town and plays both sides to earn their trust and their money. But that's not all, this hero has another hidden agenda which is to ultimately free the town from the wretched grasp of tyranny. Of course this simple plot alone is enough driving force to fuel all the showdowns and shootouts in the film.

There is a certain sense of beauty in all things simple and that is exactly what Leone does.

From the cinematography to the soundtrack this film delivers pure beauty, intensity and a lot of borrowed style from that of a Kurosawa film. (Just replace the samurai with a gunslinger)

To me this movie is all about the angles. I love how much more intensity is added to a gunfight just by its closeups and even through the simple act of reloading. Leone plays on every emotion one can have in a gunfight and or even a showdown.


It must have been really hard on Eastwood to keep up his tough guy gaze, with the constant bearing down of the sun's bright rays...


A quick reload in a life or death situation.


Angles; changes everything about the shot. Leone doesn't waste a single shot. Greatness is captured.


Do you see what I mean? Angles.

4/4

-DK