12. Keoma (1976), dir. Enzo G. Castellari
By the
mid-70s, Italian studios were moving onto different trends, like giallo horror,
poliziotteschi crime, and macaroni war. For those that still produced spaghetti
westerns, the rule of the day was comedy. Yet, some directors weren't ready to
hang up their colt pistols. The pictures they made these years were referred to
as twilight spaghetti westerns.
Even
darker than their 60s predecessors, twilight spaghetti westerns were
categorized by their apocalyptic landscapes, graphic violence with higher body
counts, gothic atmosphere and horror symbols (fog, swamps, and ghost towns).
They were further defined by their eerie soundtracks, filled more with
harmonicas, acoustic guitars, synthesizers and deep vocals, instead of trumpets
and electric guitars.
Some may
look at the twilight spaghetti westerns as allegories for the end of the
subgenre, and to the efforts of studios trying to revitalize it. This can be
seen through their common tales of desperate men trying to survive by any means
necessary in a nihilistic world. And the only laws that matter are the bullets
in your gun. Such subject matter is indicative of the macho-man westerns
directed by Sam Peckinpah. The very best example is Keoma, from Italian
director Enzo Castellari.
Franco
Nero plays the titular character, supported by a cast of spaghetti
heavyweights:
William Berger, Woody Strode, Orso Maria Guerrini, and Donald
O'Brien; assembling like soldiers for the final stand. In its story, Keoma is a
half-breed and ex-Union solider returning to his hometown and his father. Upon
arrival, he has to rescue a pregnant woman from being quarantined due to a
plague. Furthermore, his hometown has been taken over by a ruthless crime lord,
with his three redskin-hating half-brothers joining the gang. Keoma vows
revenge, while being visited by an old woman who might be a witch, or a figment
of his own imagination.
Keoma
has been praised for its acting, lyrical visuals, action, haunting vocal music
score, and its incorporation of new cinematic techniques of the time (slow
motion and close/medium panning shots). Techniques like this often made
Castellari known as the "European Sam Peckinpah."
Sadly,
such success in its day couldn't help save the spaghetti western trend. Even
with other notable twilight spaghetti westerns being released in force, like
Four of the Apocalypse (1975), Mannaja (1977), and California (1977), Keoma is
today considered the swan song of the subgenre.
Trivia: One of Castellari's movies is The Inglorious
Bastards (1978). Quentin Tarantino used the title as an inspiration for his
2009 movie, Inglourious Basterds. The latter is not a remake, but contains many
references, including the appearance of actor Bo Svenson as an American
colonel.
End:
Though no spaghetti westerns get produced today, the
legacy can still be seen in modern cinema. The subgenre changed the Hollywood
western, subverting old conventions to create new westerns that were original
and influential. The violence was indeed "larger than life" and
pushed the limits of censorship. Antiheroic characters, uglier settings, and
eerie atmospheres helped take the romanticism out of the western.
Even
Clint Eastwood himself has credited spaghetti westerns as an influence to his
own westerns: Hang Em High, High Plains Drifter, and Unforgiven. Looking at how
the genre is recently rethought in The Hateful Eight, new impressive westerns
continue to hit the screen. Some might be hoping for a new age of westerns to
awaken in Hollywood, but for now, we're still going through a comic book
superhero phase.
Until then, we have these great spaghetti westerns to
watch. After Leone, there are so many other spaghetti westerns to cite
iconoclastic influences on the modern western; let alone to enjoy the thrill of
seeing more cowboys riding into town, shooting up bad guys, and then departing
into the sun. This is something we have never gotten tired of since the day
Edwin Porter filmed The Great Train Robbery in Milltown, New Jersey, back in
1903.
ANTHONY LUSARDI
Lives in Rockaway Borough
He's a 2013 graduate of Centenary College (now Centenary
University) in Hackettstown, NJ
He currently work as a freelance reporter
Anthony is an avid movie fan, reader, and lover of arts
and entertainment. I've attended and covered music concerts, art exhibits,
festivals, parades, book readings, library lectures, and even a movie premiere
in Parsippany and a movie shooting in Roxbury.
Email Anthony at: lusardi133@gmail.com
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