Per un Pugno di Dollari (1964)

RATING:	60%
FORMAT:	DVD

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[Fistful of Dollars]

Marianne KOCH completely steals the show as the woman at the centre of a power struggle. Her virtually-wordless role is no impediment to her performance as she registers all the necessary emotions on her face pertaining to a faithful wife & mother forced to sleep with the film’s villain.

A stylish film that set a trend in the ailing Western genre that ultimately led to its complete downfall: It was so realistic it became increasingly difficult to separate the good from the bad - and from the ugly.

That said, this is the kind of movie Shakespeare would have written had he been a Hollywood scriptwriter – only he would have done it better. This film lacks the dramatic resonance necessary to make it a classic Western, despite its clever premise. Yet, it is a rare example of the Europeans beating the Yanks at their own game.

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