Friday, 3 October 2014

Per Qualche Dollaro in Più
(1965)


RATING:80%
FORMAT:DVD

[For a Few Dollars More]

An improvement over its predecessor (A Fistful of Dollars) since it focuses more on character than on action.

This time Clint EASTWOOD plays second fiddle to Lee VAN CLEEF’s patrician (& more experienced) Colonel Mortimer; while Gian Maria VOLONTE essays a more sexually-twisted villain who kills for sadistic reasons rather than out of necessity. He seeks his own death through killing others in constantly seeking someone better than him to duel. This is genuinely disturbing and a highlight of the movie.

The usual moral ambivalence is evident along with sweaty close-ups and extreme long shots. The main characters have their own music theme to bolster their characters and aid audience identification. The standard revenge plot does not stand up to too much scrutiny, but is effectively and subtly-handled by all concerned.

Copyright © 2014 Frank TALKER. Permission granted to reproduce and distribute it in any format; provided that mention of the author’s Weblog (http://franktalker5.blogspot.com) is included: E-mail notification requested. All other rights reserved.
Posted by Frank TALKER™ at 16:48
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Science:



No science is immune to the infection of politics and the corruption of power.



Jacob Bronowski… (1908 - 74), British scientist, author. Encounter (London, July 1971).


Sleep of Reason:



The dream of reason produces monsters. Imagination deserted by reason creates impossible, useless thoughts. United with reason, imagination is the mother of all art and the source of all its beauty.



Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes… (1746-1828), Spanish painter. Caption to Caprichos, number 43, a series of eighty etchings completed in 1798, satirical and grotesque in form.


Humans & Aliens:



I am human and let nothing human be alien to me.



Terence… (circa 190-159 BC), Roman dramatist. Chremes, in The Self-Tormentor [Heauton Timorumenos], act 1, scene 1.


Führerprinzip:



One leader, one people, signifies one master and millions of slaves… There is no organ of conciliation or mediation interposed between the leader and the people, nothing in fact but the apparatus - in other words, the party - which is the emanation of the leader and the tool of his will to oppress. In this way the first and sole principle of this degraded form of mysticism is born, the Führerprinzip, which restores idolatry and a debased deity to the world of nihilism.



Albert Camus… (1913-60), French-Algerian writer & philosopher. The Rebel: An Essay on Man in Revolt: New York: Vintage Books, (1984; page 182.)