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.
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