The Spaghetti West (2005)

A visual history of Italian western cinema in the 60s and 70s.

Director:

David Gregory

Writer:

David Gregory

Stars:

Ferdinando Baldi, Manolo Bolognini, Enzo G. Castellari

Cast

Credited cast:
Ferdinando Baldi	...	Himself
Manolo Bolognini	...	Himself
Enzo G. Castellari	...	Himself
Sergio Corbucci	...	Himself (archive footage)
Alex Cox	...	Himself
Damiano Damiani	...	Himself
Sergio Donati	...	Himself
Clint Eastwood	...	Himself
Christopher Frayling	...	Himself
Sergio Leone	...	Himself (archive footage)
Tomas Milian	...	Himself
Ennio Morricone	...	Himself
Franco Nero	...	Himself
Sergio Sollima	...	Himself

Storyline

For about ten years, from 1964 to 1973, Italian production crews made hundreds of Westerns. This documentary looks chronologically at that enterprise, starting with the success of Sergio Leone and Sergio Corbucci: their silent anti-heroes gave Clint Eastwood and Franco Nero stardom. The genre then shifted to political films of the collective downtrodden facing the state. The genre ended, spent, in comedy and farce. Along the way, argues this documentary, the spaghetti western established a language of filmmaking rooted in post-war cynicism and moral ambiguity, with cinematic tropes, including close-ups, violence, and soundtracks, that influenced filmmaking in Hong Kong and the U.S.

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Plot Keywords:

violence | double barreled shotgun | shotgun | winchester rifle | revolver | 

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Genres:

Documentary

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

Italian English

Release Date:

September 2005 (USA)

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Blue Underground

Technical Specs

Runtime:

65 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Originally contained sequences of Alessandro 'The Whistler' Alessandroni performing the music of Ennio Morricone over the end credits but music clearance was not obtainable.

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Connections

References Il cacciatore di squali (1979)

User Reviews

Very Good

Spaghetti West, The (2005)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

IFC/Blue Underground produced documentary directed by David Gregory and produced by William Lustig takes a look at the Spaghetti Westerns of Italy. This features interviews with Leone, Eastwood, Franco Nero and various others but I'll get back to them in a second. The documentary, like all of Gregory's work, is wonderfully entertaining and helps newbies such as myself understand these types of films and want to check them out. Having seen hundreds of Italian horror films, the one thing that they struck me as were ripoff of American films yet the directors of these ripoffs would never admit that yet they'd insult the filmmakers they were ripping off. The same here because their attitudes towards Leone, the man these films were ripping, is pretty damn stupid. I haven't seen many of the Italian westerns but the ones I have seen are no where near Leone's talent.