Movie #130 - A Fistful of Dollars

"This short cigar belongs to a man with no name. This long gun belongs to a man with no name. This poncho belongs to a man with no name. He's going to trigger a whole new style in adventure."

One of the quintessential Western movies of all time, A Fistful of Dollars introduces us to not only one of the greatest characters portrayed by Clint Eastwood, but probably one of the better set of films from this genre. Included in this Man with No Name trilogy are For A Few Dollars More and The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.

What makes this film great is the contrast between the Eastwood character and Gian Maria Volonte (Ramon Rojo). Volonte is a villain in two of the three trilogy films and his great performances is what drives us to root for the protagonist in the end.

In fact, the Eastwood character in all three films isn't entirely good, he just has an ideal moral standard that he lives by, but in the end, he's either a bounty hunter or a petty thug in most cases. However, in the West, having a moral standard is quite rare, hence the character is compelling.

You can obviously tell that I am quite biased to these films. In a prior post, I believe I claimed that For A Few Dollars More is the best of the three films. I think its the tandem of Lee Van Cleef with Eastwood opposite Volonte that makes that film work.

Sergio Leone does some masterful work in this trilogy. Leone was definitely the king of the "spaghetti westerns" and its unfortunate that he didn't do many other films for U.S. release. However, this lack of exposure probably led to the cult status that has followed the Man with No Name trilogy. Had Leone done more films in this genre, I think he'd do just fine with the quality of work and the cinematography used for his films.

In the end, A Fistful of Dollars is a delight to watch and you'll just be sucked into the machismo that it exudes. As a suggestion, seek out the Japanese film Yojimbo (1961), which is what the story of this film is based on. If you don't want to go back that far, seek out Last Man Standing (1996) starring Bruce Willis and Christopher Walken. Its the exact same film with an updated cast and plot, but same concept. However, you'll like Leone's rendition of this story - its the most entertaining.

Movie #34 - For a Few Dollars More

"The man with no name is back... The man in black is waiting! As if one wasn't enough . . . as if death needed a double!"

This is by far my favourite of the "Man with No Name" trilogy. Many mainstream movie goers are loyal to "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly," (GBU) mainly because of the famous score of the film, however, I am a big fan of the 2nd installment of these classic films.

Sergio Leone really did a number with this storyline. Not only does Clint Eastwood reprise his role, the casting of Lee Van Cleef as Col. Douglas Mortimer is fantastic. Pairing Van Cleef and Eastwood as competing bounty hunters really brings out the intensity of this film. Both are trying to find El Indio or Indio for short (played by the cult villain Gian Maria Volonte) - for different reasons - money and revenge.

The score of this film is actually much better than the GBU film as it has a real meaning and purpose, which drives the Van Cleef character to the last showdown in the film. Still, by far the best "fast draw" scenes of all of Western films, and yes... I open myself up to scrutiny with that comment.

Volonte reprises his villainous role in this film and is a strong persona to pit against the team of Van Cleef and Eastwood. He pulls it off wonderfully and in the end becomes the entertainment portion of this film with his quirks and infectious laughter of pure evil. Its a shame that Volonte never left the Italian movie industry, similar to Leone, or both could've enjoyed an array of U.S. film accolades over time. Instead, both became Spaghetti Western icons, producing just a handful of films in the mainstream, that are beloved amongst all fans.

I am quite impressed by Van Cleef's performance, one of my favourite actors. Although he wasn't much for the delivery of dialogue, his level of intensity and performance was provided by his sheer toughness and presence. He just scared you in a way that not even Chuck Norris or Bruce Lee could do - he just comes off the screen as being mean!

Leone's ability to pit good vs. evil in this film is what makes this so entertaining. Until the final moment of the movie, the audience is captivated. If you are ever to watch a "western" in your lifetime, please make sure you watch this one... you don't need to see any other movie of its kind.

Movie #18 - Letters from Iwo Jima

The combination of Steven Spielberg, Clint Eastwood, and Paul Haggis were able to capture the true essence of the stories behind the battle of Iwo Jima through the films Flags of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima. Both films tell the story from unique perspectives and although Letters from Iwo Jima stands out as the better of the two films, the combination of the stories is a unique theatrical experience.

Letters from Iwo Jima stars Ken Watanabe (Batman Begins, Last Samurai) and a number of Japanese actors portraying soldiers stationed at Iwo Jima weeks before the great battle between the United States and the Japanese. Watanabe plays General Tadamichi Kuribayashi, the famous general who was able to hold off the U.S. invasion of Iwo Jima for many days without proper military support or supplies.

Having this story told from the Japanese perspective provided a great insight to the mentality of the Japanese war front. The suicide scenes were quite powerful, yet gruesome. This showed that by that time of the war, the Japanese soldiers were honorable men, willing to sacrifice their very lives for their country.

Following General Kuribayashi's character as he returns from his time living and studying in the United States to the horrors of war is a treat for the audience. Its Spielberg, Eastwood, and Haggis' way of showing how pointless this war truly was for those involved. It shows that the Americans and Japanese were great friends in the past and that this war really had no purpose for those men that died fighting it.

The strong storyline of the film followed the character named Saigo. He was a baker drafted to fight in the war. He comes close to death throughout the film, some instances comedic, some ironic, and some dramatic. He survives the entire battle through his own wit and convictions. As an audience of this movie, you truly feel for this character and hope for his survival. Although his adventure is perilous, Saigo survives to preserve the "letters" of the soldiers of Iwo Jima, which became the core of the plot of this film.

There are some powerful performances in this movie. Mainly by Watanabe and Kazunari Ninomiya (Saigo) which resonates throughout the film. Because there haven't been many films depicting the Japanese perspective during WWII, this film is full of twists and turns and the stories are wonderfully told.

The Oscar nominations for Best Director (Eastwood), Best Motion Picture (Eastwood / Spielberg) and Best Writing - Original Screenplay (Haggis / Iris Yamashita) were all well deserved.

As a fan of great cinema, I am hopeful that this movie making experience will allow Haggis, Eastwood, and Spielberg to collaborate on future projects so that they can treat their audiences to future epic films.

Reference: I originally published this article on Helium.com

Movie #17 - Flags of Our Fathers

On paper, putting together the ensemble team of Clint Eastwood, Steven Spielberg, and Paul Haggis should result in a tremendous blockbuster. Overall, this movie does not disappoint.

Flags of Our Fathers follows the lives of six men who were involved in the raising of the flag on Iwo Jima, a pivotal battle won by the United States during WWII. What wasn't known at the time, is that the United States were virtually broke with the billions of dollars spent on WWII and the fact that many of its citizens grew weary of the whole campaign.

The movie follows three plot lines, which is quite common in Paul Haggis screenplays. It follows the lives of Ryan Phillippe (John "Doc" Bradley), Jesse Bradford (Rene Gagnon), and Adam Beach (Ira Hayes). All three men were involved in the raising of the famous flag, however, how this event affects these men is really a wonderful story to tell.

There are pockets of action sequences which are quite powerful and are inserted at strong points throughout the film. This provides the audience with the needed change of pace to maintain interest while at the same time, discuss the negative effects of the war on these three individual characters.

Brief cameos of war piece veteran actors such as Barry Pepper (Saving Private Ryan) and Neil McDonough (Band of Brothers) show Spielberg's influence on the film. This enhanced the feel of the movie as both actors have been cast in various war pictures in the past and provide a strong representation for both the action sequences and the drama of the film.

Strong performances were achieved by both Phillippe and Beach. Both men were able to capture the characters being portrayed by the film. Since it was a true story being depicted in the plot lines, it must've been difficult to develop the characters any further. By the end of the film, you truly believed Phillippe and Beach were the men telling the story, which made the film powerful in the end.

I read somewhere that you needed to watch this movie first before watching Letters from Iwo Jima. This way, you could not only understand both perspectives of the story (United States and Japanese points of view), but could appreciate how important this battle was to both sides.

Having the trio of Haggis, Spielberg, and Eastwood work on these two films was a treat to the theatrical audience. Although from the box office perspective, both films didn't live up to expectations, as a fan of the collaboration, I am glad that these films achieved their goals - to tell the true stories from the heroes of this great battle of WWII history.

Reference: I originally published this article on Helium.com