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A Man Called Blade More at IMDbPro »Mannaja (original title)

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MANNAJA: A MAN CALLED BLADE (Sergio Martino, 1977) **1/2, 8 September 2006

Author: MARIO GAUCI (marrod@melita.com) from Naxxar, Malta

When this film was released as part of Blue Underground's "The Spaghetti Westerns Collection" Box Set with 3 other prime examples, I had actually held back from purchasing it - consequently allowing the "Limited Edition" Set to go out-of-print! - mainly because, since MANNAJA stemmed from the dying days of the subgenre, I assumed that it would be a second-rate effort. The fact that it starred Maurizio Merli - the "poor man's Franco Nero" - whom I had only watched, up till then, in WHITE FANG TO THE RESCUE (1974) added to my skepticism...but, then, the film itself turned up on late-night Italian TV: I watched it and actually liked the film quite a bit though, at the time, I was perfectly happy with the recording I made and felt no urgent need to own it on DVD! However, when I recently rewatched THE BIG GUNDOWN (1966) and decided to purchase its sequel RUN, MAN, RUN (1968), I noticed that it was available as a "two-fer" with MANNAJA at practically the same price as the single edition...!

Anyway, let's get to the subject at hand: Merli here exchanges his customary modern outfit for a Western garb, but he's still the resolute - and unconventional - man of justice (even if he's officially a bounty hunter); this was his only out-and-out Spaghetti Western which is no surprise, coming so late in the game - but he cuts a good enough figure! After an arresting opening sequence (a chase through fog-ridden swamps with Merli, armed with an axe, on horseback - riding in slow-motion as if he were one of The Blind Dead! - going after a disheveled Donal O'Brien), the film settles down to being an enjoyable and stylish - if highly derivative - entry in the genre (which also happens to be director Martino's second and last such effort). Being a film from the late 70s - as was KEOMA (1976) - the color stock utilized is less garish (and, therefore, less attractive) than it was during the Euro-Cult heyday, but this actually suits the generally bleak outlook provided in these two outings!

As I said, the plot line plunders several of the earlier Spaghetti Westerns: the unusual weaponry from DJANGO (1966); the crippled landowner from ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST (1968); the traveling show from A SKY FULL OF RAIN FOR A ROOF (1968); the hero left to rot in a hole out in the sun (from DEATH RIDES A HORSE [1968]) and is then rendered temporarily blind (from BLINDMAN [1971]); the hero's backstory, revealing his thirst for revenge, presented as intermittent flashbacks (of course from any number of Sergio Leone films) - but there's no denying that all these various bits and pieces manage to blend together very well indeed! Besides, the many action sequences - augmented by a good score from the ubiquitous De Angelis brothers (although it, too, sounds awfully similar to that of KEOMA...down to the irritating male baritone!) - certainly deliver the goods.

The supporting cast is also above-average: apart from O'Brien's unusual role (he turns up again later on in the film with a hook for a hand - and who even gets his own song, characterizing his slimy 'qualities'), we have Philippe Leroy as the corrupt boss who has an account to settle with Merli but whose power is slipping away from him, a couple of girls (Sonja Jeannine - from Sergio Sollima's THE BLACK PIRATE [1976] and who reveals herself to be less innocent than one would have thought! - and Martine Brochard) and, best of all, John Steiner in one of his finest roles as Leroy's vicious lieutenant (flanked by a couple of mastiffs!) who harbors ambitions of taking over the latter's empire and bears a grudge against Merli's hero all through the film...until he receives his just desserts in another fog-laden showdown!

The main supplement on the DVD is an interesting interview with a typically down-to-earth Martino (I saw him at the Italian B-movie retrospective held during the 2004 Venice Film Festival).

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