Jonathan degli orsi (1993)

Director:

Enzo G. Castellari

Writers:

Enzo G. Castellari (screenplay)
Lorenzo De Luca (screenplay)

Release Date:

1999 (Germany)

Genre:

Action | Western

Plot:

A young boy witnesses his parents' murder. Later, as he grows up, he befriends a bear in the wilderness and the chief of a local Indian tribe...

Plot Keywords:

Bear | Spaghetti Western | Revenge | Bear Attack | Bear Trap

Cast

Franco Nero	...	Jonathan
John Saxon	...	Fred Goodwin
Floyd 'Red Crow' Westerman	...	Chief Tawanka
David Hess	...	Maddock
Rodrigo Obregón	...	Kaspar
Clive Riche	...	Musician
Ennio Girolami	...	Goodwin's Mercenary (as Ennio Girolamo)
Bobby Rhodes	...	Williamson
Marie Louise Sinclair	...	Brothel Madam
Boris Khmelnitsky	...	Religious Mercenary
Viktor Gajnov	...	Tall Mercenary (as Victor Gainov)
Knifewing Segura	...	Chatow
Melody Robertson	...	Shaya
Igor Alimov	...	Jonathan, as a boy
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Massimo Rinaldi	...	Maddock (voice: Italian version)
Carlo Sabatini	...	Goodwin (voice: Italian version)
Luca Ward	...	Chatow (voice: Italian version)

Also Known As:

Dzhonatan - drug medvedey (Russia)
Jonathan of the Bears (Italy)

Runtime:

88 min | Germany:115 min

Country:

Italy | Russia

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Australia:M | Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Alabino, Moscow, Russia

Company:

Project Campo J.V.

Trivia:

Marketed as ‘Keoma 2: The Violent Breed’ in some Eropean countries.

90s Enzo

E.C. is back after a long string of unspectacular flops dating back almost twenty years before the release of this late entry Spaghettio. Franco Nero returns in a sloppy, long-haired guise emulated after his titular Keoma, but the similarities to that masterpiece end right about there unless you want to count the atrocious, narrating vocal musicals that are so self-absorbed and confident in their strangeness, I have to give the makers some ballsy credit. The film comes off as pretentious propaganda, tackling numerous themes unsuccessfully, the most blatant and offensive being racial prejudice and oil production. And naturally, given its release date, when revisionist Westerns were all the rage in Hollywood, we're deprived of proper bloody action and served CBS mini-series drama and cues. I counted only one decent slow-mo Enzo battle and that consisted mainly of dangerous horse stunts not balletic squibs and shooting spray. The bear subplot was a new idea albeit handled with a lacking child performance which somehow finds its way into every dramatic arc for the rest of the feature. The most amusing instant comes during a fight where the participants turn into their younger counterparts! The lil' cub was pretty cute though.

David Hess and John Saxon provide some legitimate villainry. Even Enzo's real-life papa adds a bearded grittiness to his role. On the technical side, this is the most polished work Castellari has done. Gone are the paintball squibs, shoddy camera-work and cheap pyrotechnics, but all this guerrilla charm is a trade off for the stock orchestral music and dramatic fodder. I'll take The Big Racket any day. Hell, Light Blast.