Two extremely unique projects: the live action
role-playing game COLT and the indie film Save the Skin McCoy aspire to bring
the western back to Italy.
everyeye.it
By Giuseppe Arace
8/05/2025
Talking about westerns in Italy, nowadays, could be
equivalent to talking about a myth that now seems far away, just like that of
the Frontier. The mirage of an unattainable horizon, which takes us to the past
of Sergio Leone, Sergio Corbucci, Tonino Valerii, crystallized in an era
transformed into an icon. In legend. Yet, something emerges from that horizon,
like the blurred silhouette of a figure on horseback. Little by little, the
"Italian Western" tries to flourish again, in its own way, both with
small independent productions, and with more mainstream ones such as “Heads or
Tails?” by A. Rigo De Righi and M. Zoppis with Alessandro Borghi, soon to be
released. Among the audiovisual works in development that intrigue us the most
for the energetic creativity they feed on is “Save McCoy’s Skin” by Giovanni
Bufalini.
But there is still something else, in addition to cinema,
that tries vigorously to rekindle the passion for westerns on the national
territory: a live role-playing game, COLT (acronym for Chronicles of Lone
Town), conceived by Mauro Canavese and the Spaghetti LARP association (here you
can find the official COLT website). The event, which takes place again from 9
to 11 May, and the film Save the McCoy Skin share the creators and the same
goal: to revive the spark of the Italian western that has been fading for too
long. To do this, as the two authors explain to our microphones, all the means
available to a cross-media project with a proud indie nature are being used.
The most powerful of all? Passion.
NB: the images accompanying the article are taken from
the COLT role-playing game.
Movies and role-playing games
How do feature films and live-action role-playing games
meet and complement each other? To answer the question, it is necessary to
proceed in order. First of all, these projects both take place mainly in a
breathtaking location.
Tiziano Carnevale's Western Village in Aprilia is among
the largest in Europe, with its current 4000 square meters: built over several
years, building after building, it represents a natural set that allows actors
and players to identify with the character in an all-encompassing way. Saloon,
general store, church, prison and brothel will be theaters of drinking,
foolishness, confessions, duels and summary executions. "A reality that no
longer existed in our country since the 70s" - underlines Giovanni Bufalini,
director, screenwriter and teacher with many products to his credit, as well as
a passionate COLT player himself.
The reconstruction as faithful as possible is not only a
scenographic quirk, but obviously serves to foster the illusion of being really
catapulted to the end of the 1800s, so that the players play their part to the
fullest, involved in a "three days" of interactive theater, written
by the Master in the basic structure, but then mostly improvised by the players
themselves, in a micro world parallel to reality.
It is among those clubs, the dirt streets and the smoke
of cigars that Giovanni Bufalini will shoot, as usual, the reportage, with his
crew camouflaged during the live while working on Save McCoy's skin. Obviously,
the film will not be made during the role-playing game, "because it would
be impossible" - the director tells us - "However, in documenting the
three days of the event from the inside there will be such a wide catchment
area, including extras, costumes, situations and prominent faces that ideas will
certainly emerge that can be integrated into the cinematic story". The
goal, when the development phase is completed, is to then shoot the film within
about five weeks, with the release scheduled for 2026. "We also hope in
cinemas before on streaming platforms" - continues Bufalini - "The
creative approach in independence keeps you freer. And that's okay".
An esoteric western
“Save McCoy’s Skin” is an Italian-style western. The
director himself is keen to specify it. "I prefer to avoid the definition
of Spaghetti western, used above all in a derogatory tone. What we are
developing, together with my co-author of the screenplay Diego Cajelli, a
well-known cartoonist, is a story that reinterprets the genre according to
Italian canons, different from the classic American epic. It is useless to try
to place ourselves on the same level as the most successful contemporary
overseas serial products of recent years, we cannot approach them either for
historical relevance or for the means available. This is why we are trying to
create something of our own, following the literary tradition that has its
roots in the Italian Commedia dell'Arte and Greek mythology, as our Masters did
before us".
According to what has been described, “Save McCoy’s Skin”
will probably be peculiar: a noir western, if we want to call it that, of
esoteric matrix, where the distinction between good and evil is such a blurred
boundary that it seems almost non-existent. It is not the sunny Californian
Western, to be clear, that of the Mexicans, of the Native Americans. It is
rather the cold and wet West less traveled than Louisiana, of the muddy swamps.
Hybridized with black magic, voodoo and also with a good dose of black humor,
in which the canons of the southern Gothic imagery so dear to a certain
literature emerge that Faulkner arrives at Toni Morrison. "A picaresque,
adventurous western, even fantasy in a way, whose language is inspired by what
Magnus did with his graphic novel "The Brigands" - one of my favorite
stories of all time from which to make a film, it would be the dream of a
lifetime" - Bufalini says - "I was born in the early 1970s, raised by
a father who was passionate about Leone but also Bud Spencer & Terence
Hill. I belong to the children of the last generation who as children played in
the street with tin guns in cardboard belts. In Orvieto my family had horses:
the Maremma cowboys also taught the trade to Buffalo Bill. Then over the years
the genre stopped being the dream of children, unfortunately. Even if the west,
between serials, video games and comics ... will never die ".
It is therefore first of all the passion that spurs the
director to develop this project for which he aspires, in particular, to
"find the right faces to put at the service of the story". The
original setting and the temporal location will allow the authors to make, as
they say, a virtue of necessity. With a greater verisimilitude of the natural
wooded environments available in central-southern Italy and greater freedom for
weapons and costumes, in a reconstruction that intends to be precise and
faithful yes, but not rigid. "We also have the possibility of having
Pietta as a partner, both for the feature film and for the game" -
concludes Bufalini - "The exclusive collaboration for Italy with one of
the most important producers in the world of replicas of vintage firearms will
give us the opportunity to take care of the detail, which for fans is
fundamental".
A live western
Let's now move on to the COLT arena. "We have been
playing live role-playing games for many years" - explains Mauro Canavese
- "first with post-apocalyptic imagery and for five years now also with
westerns. We started with COLT even from small, themed restaurants, as a
setting, and then we slowly expanded through a thousand difficulties until we
found our ideal home in the village of Tiziano Carnevale, which is growing more
and more, and is already now among the most important realities in Europe. There
is a maniacal work behind it, put in place above all by the great willpower of
those who, in this project, firmly believe in it, like us. The live event that
took place in October recorded numbers beyond our wildest expectations, and
even the one in May can host about 150 participants, including players and
staff members".
As in any self-respecting live role-playing game, each
player chooses his character, creates his card, decides what kind of
interpretation to propose, how to dress and what equipment to bring with him.
The authors assisted by the staff then take care to knot the plots, create
canvases, intervene in some moments to carry on the story and entertain the
players. The peculiarity lies in the fact that the narration, based on the
arbitrary and improvised decisions of the participants, can take unexpected
turns, at times completely out of scale.
"Incredible situations are created" - Mauro
emphasizes enthusiastically - "moments characterized by such
identification that leaves you amazed. Once the players set foot in the village
they transform, they feel part of a parallel world. They become their
character. On the other hand, living, eating and sleeping in the same place for
days, in an artfully reconstructed realistic set, completely favors
identification". There are those who choose to be a gunslinger, a priest,
a prostitute, a sheriff, a mayor or an outlaw. And everyone tries to live their
daily lives with considerable consistency. In short, you don't go around
shooting randomly or facing people in duels out of pure spirit of competition,
because the "death" of the character is a "real" risk in
this game.
It is clear that, to fully experience the three days of
experience, the departure of one's alter ego is not a fate that is accepted
lightly. That's why not everyone is inclined to pick fights for nothing. Of
course, there is still the possibility of returning to the game with another
character specially designed by the staff, but it is clear that, given the time
and effort invested in creating their own "parallel identity",
usually, players think carefully before diving into unnecessary clashes.
Exactly as they would do in real life. "That's why not everyone comes to
play with guns in hand" - continues Mauro - "many choose a more
political, more diplomatic approach to the game. We find those who want to play
the lawyer in the west, the nun or the doctor, thus giving life to the most
disparate situations.
For example, once the crowd decided to hang a girl who
had shot a man and the player identified herself so much with death, playing
her character beautifully, that the simulation took on very sad and painful
traits. Her last words were "I'm sorry" with a faint voice. Silence
fell. Someone even shed a soft cry. Here, it's for moments like these that it
is worth being in the game."
The macro plot of COLT follows the defection of a
Confederate colonel during the Civil War who takes refuge in the village taking
with him 10,000 stolen dollars from the Confederates' wages. This is the
starting point that the staff members carry out together with other stories
sown but, basically, much of the development is at the discretion of the
participants.
From time to time, therefore, the authors have to
evaluate the progress of the plot and implement changes, foresee branches,
modify the structure in the process. "It's a complicated task," says
Canavese, "but when you witness the compact defense of the villagers at
the sudden arrival, for example, of the Ku Klux Klan, all the efforts are
rewarded with interest. It is a great satisfaction to see this world come to
life from paper. It happened, for example, that a scoundrel who pretended to be
a priest remained a priest until he was unmasked by the other players. After
that, repenting, he then really chose the path of vocation. This dedication on
the part of the players is priceless." Inevitably, such a plot,
unpredictable and layered, develops over several live shows: the May meeting is
a further piece of a story that has already begun years ago and will then pave
the way for the next experience, scheduled again for October 2025. But it is
possible to enter at any time for new participants in the game.
Together, the feature film and the game therefore support
each other, to help revive the Italian Western, little by little, step by step,
shot after shot, with boots firmly planted on the ground, in the dust.
Certainly, a noble and passionate goal, which deserves at least to be followed
with curiosity to understand towards which horizons it will be able to guide
us.
