L'uomo, l'orgoglio, la vendetta (1968)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Luigi Bazzoni

Writers:

Luigi Bazzoni (writer)
Suso Cecchi d'Amico (writer)

Release Date:

26 August 1968 (Sweden)

Genre:

Western

Plot Keywords:

Jealousy | Stagecoach Robbery | Spaghetti Western | Spain | Army

Cast

Franco Nero	...	Don José
Tina Aumont	...	Carmen
Klaus Kinski	...	Lt. Miguel Garcia (as Klaus Kinsky)
Guido Lollobrigida	...	Tanquiero (as Lee Burton)
Franco Ressel	...	Captain
Karl Schönböck	...	English Diplomat
Alberto Dell'Acqua	...	Remendado
Marcella Valeri	...	Dorotea
Maria Mizar
Mara Carisi
Anna De Padova
Tino Boriani
Giovanni Ivan Scratuglia		(as Ivan Giovanni Scratuglia)
Aldo Vasco

Also Known As:

Man, Pride & Vengeance (Philippines: English title)
Man: His Pride and His Vengeance
Mit Django kam der Tod (West Germany)
Pride and Vengeance (USA)

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

Italy | West Germany

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Sweden:15 | West Germany:16

Company:

Fono Roma

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Spaghetti West (2005) (V)

Contrary To The Common Belief, This Is Actually NOT A Western

Luigi Bazzoni's "L'Uomo L'Orgoglio, La Vendetta" aka. "Man, Pride & Vengeance" is a quite original little film, as it narrates the story of the famous opera/novel "Carmen" in the style of a Spaghetti Western. Contrary to the common belief, however, this movie is actually not (originally) a Western. The film, which originally takes place in 19th century Spain, was made a Spaghetti Western in the German language version (and in the English version I suppose) by simply changing the plot. Spain becomes Mexico in these versions of the movie, and that's why this film that is often incorrectly referred to as a Western. The plot makes a lot more sense when the movie is regarded in is original context (I've never heard of Mexican Gypsies at least). Although this is actually no Western, however, it has all the elements of a typical Spaghetti Western, and can therefore be classified as a film of that genre, even though it actually takes place in Europe. Western or not, this is certainly a pretty original and entertaining (allthough in no way outstanding) film, with a brilliant cast. This movie unites two of the most outstanding Spaghetti Western actors, Franco Nero, since "Django" one of the greatest leading men of the Italian Western, and Klaus Kinski, one of my personal favorite actors of all-time, and furthermore features the great and stunningly beautiful Tina Aumont (who sadly passed away last year) in the female lead.

The plot, which is taken from the "Carmen" plot, begins when soldier Don José (Franco Nero) first meets the stunningly beautiful Gypsy woman Carmen (Tina Aumont), a femme fatale, who makes him range between his passion and his sense of duty...

As mentioned above, the performances are brilliant. Franco Nero once again delivers an excellent performance in the lead, Tina Aumont fits perfectly in her femme fatale role and Klaus Kinski is great as always in his typical role of the villainous psycho. The supporting cast furthermore includes Guido Lollobrigida, Franco Ressel and Alberto Dell'Acqua.

In German speaking countries this movie was, by the way, marketed as a "Django"-sequel, which is even more inappropriate with this movie than with other Franco Nero Westerns that were inappropriately given Django-titles (such as "Massacre Time" and "Texas Addio").

The movie is original and entertaining, but it also has its flaws, and gets quite boring in some parts. The best parts of the movie are those featuring Kinski (whose villain-role is unfortunately not too big). Anyhow, an enjoyable film that I recommend to my fellow Spaghetti Western enthusiasts as a quite different genre-entry that is, strictly speaking, not really a Western. 6/10