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.