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PROLOGUE
ONCE UPON A TIME
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ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD (2019)
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Well, it looks delicious.
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-Thank you.
-Enjoy, sir.
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After that Musso & Frank's lunch meeting,
Marvin did provide Rick job opportunities
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00:01:28,480 --> 00:01:30,160
in the Italian film industry.
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Rick Dalton, Marvin Schwarz here. Hold on.
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Hennessy X.O on the rocks.
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Yes, Mr. Schwarz.
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Two words.
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Nebraska Jim, Sergio Corbucci.
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Nebraska what?
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Sergio who?
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-Sergio Corbucci.
-And who's that?
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The second-best director
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00:01:49,040 --> 00:01:51,480
of Spaghetti Westerns
in the whole wide world.
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He's doing a new Western.
It's called Nebraska Jim.
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And because of me, he's considering you.
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First things first.
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Rick didn't understand Spaghetti Westerns.
He didn't like Spaghetti Westerns.
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So, he goes to Rome,
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and Sergio and his wife Nori
meet with him, with Marvin,
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at Sergio's favorite restaurant, in Rome.
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They talk, and Rick likes the script.
He likes the Nebraska Jim character.
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So he's talking to him
about the role and everything.
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They're trying to get to know each other
a little bit, but Rick made a big mistake.
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He thought Sergio Corbucci
was Sergio Leone
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because Marvin
had him watch A Fistful of Dollars,
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so he would get a better understanding
of the Spaghetti Western.
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Then he hears "Sergio,"
so he thinks it's the same guy.
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So he's sitting there
with Corbucci and Nori, and he's like,
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"You know, I gotta tell you.
I cannot believe that performance
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00:02:49,880 --> 00:02:51,920
you got out of Clint Eastwood."
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"That's the best work
he's ever done and will ever do."
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"I can't believe a director
got that out of him."
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"You did a great job directing him.
I thought that was terrific."
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00:03:03,800 --> 00:03:07,920
And then both Sergio and Nori realized
that he thinks he's Leone.
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00:03:08,640 --> 00:03:11,680
So he goes, "I didn't direct that film."
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00:03:11,760 --> 00:03:14,400
"My friend Sergio Leone
directed that film,
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00:03:14,480 --> 00:03:17,400
but I will be sure to tell him
that you like it."
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Marvin is completely humiliated.
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He's like,
"Why did you show me the movie?"
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00:03:22,920 --> 00:03:25,840
"I showed it to you,
so you'd better understand the genre."
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He's like, "I don't even know what
that word means! What does 'genre' mean?"
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00:03:29,280 --> 00:03:31,040
"I don't understand
what that word means."
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00:03:31,120 --> 00:03:33,640
"I think you're showing me a movie
directed by a Sergio,
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00:03:33,720 --> 00:03:36,840
and I figured this guy was
the same Sergio. This is not my fault."
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Nori takes him off the hook,
"Hey, Marvin. It's okay, you know,
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he doesn't speak Italian…
All these Sergios, a bit confusing."
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"He doesn't understand. It's okay."
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And Sergio, "Marvin, it's okay.
I barely know who he is."
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"He doesn't need to know who I am."
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But Rick sticks his foot in it again.
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00:03:54,760 --> 00:03:57,040
They ask him, "Have you seen
any Italian Westerns?"
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And he mentions he saw
a really bad one on an airplane.
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And they go, "What's the bad one?"
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He says, "A horrible movie
with Burt Reynolds,
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where he's wearing a wig
that makes him look like Natalie Wood."
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"I think it's called Navajo Joe."
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And he's going on and on.
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Sergio stops them all
so they don't reveal that it's his movie,
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and then he says, "I directed the movie."
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After Rick has literally referred to it
as a piece of shit.
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Then again Sergio takes him off the hook.
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"Did you see the English version?"
"Yes." "I hate the English version!"
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"The English version's terrible.
I agree with you. It's terrible."
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00:04:35,200 --> 00:04:36,760
But the, after a certain point,
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he has Nori and Marvin leave,
and Sergio talks to Rick and goes,
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"Look."
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"You don't respect me.
You don't respect the Italian films."
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"You call my movie a piece of shit.
Why should I work with you?"
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"I think you're interesting.
You're an arrogant bastard."
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"Nebraska Jim's an arrogant bastard,
so I like that."
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"I like that about you,
and I like you in your TV show."
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"I like you, but why should I work
with you if you think our stuff is shit?"
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Rick goes, "Sergio,
I don't understand Italian Westerns."
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"I will give you that."
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"I grew up watching
Hoot Gibson and Lash LaRue."
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"I don't get this Mario Banananano.
I don't understand that."
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"I don't understand
this whole Italian thing."
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"But I don't know about movies.
You know about movies."
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"What does it matter if I don't get it?"
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00:05:19,840 --> 00:05:23,440
"What does it matter
if I like Nebraska Jim or not?"
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"I'm good in Westerns. I'm a good cowboy."
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"You put a hat on my head,
you put me in a cool costume,
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you put me on a horse,
you're gonna like what I do."
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"It doesn't matter if I get them."
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"It doesn't matter if I like them.
It matters whether or not you like them."
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"I'm good in Westerns. I'm a good cowboy."
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"I'll give you a good Nebraska Jim.
You'll be happy with my Nebraska Jim."
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And that convinces Corbucci to hire him.
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But it's his first movie,
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so he's not used
to the Italian way of shooting.
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He's not used
to the Tower of Babel shooting style,
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where the bad sheriff is German,
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the girl is Hebrew,
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the other bad guy is Spanish,
and everyone else is Italian.
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{\an8}So the Spanish guy says his line,
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00:06:07,120 --> 00:06:10,920
{\an8}and then the German guy says his line,
and the Hebrew girl says her line,
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{\an8}and you knew when the Hebrew girl
stops talking, that's you're line.
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{\an8}So he didn't understand that.
He thought it was crazy.
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{\an8}"Wow! We thought television was bad.
This is horrible!"
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The whole non-synced stuff,
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everyone speaking their own language,
was ridiculous to him.
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And he couldn't believe
the intense conditions.
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They were in a trailer
in the middle of nowhere.
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If they gotta blow stuff up,
they're using real dynamite.
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Whoa!
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So he was problematic
during the making of the movie,
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and he had some temper tantrums
every once in a while.
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He liked Sergio,
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but he let it be known that he thought
this stuff was beneath him.
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Then he goes off,
and he makes four more Italian films,
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including Operation Dyn-O-Mite!
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{\an8}He actually worked with good directors,
to tell you the truth.
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{\an8}The entertaining Antonio Margheriti,
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00:07:01,120 --> 00:07:02,520
{\an8}Calvin Jackson Padget,
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{\an8}and one of the best Paella Western
directors out of Spain,
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00:07:06,000 --> 00:07:07,240
{\an8}Joaquín Romero Marchent.
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But in the course of making those movies,
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he realizes that Corbucci was a class act.
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And so, as he's wrapping up
his Italian sojourn,
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Corbucci is getting ready
to do The Specialists,
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and Rick really wants the part of Hud.
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He gets together with Sergio for dinner,
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and Sergio is moved
by Rick's new humble attitude.
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He likes Rick,
and he liked what Rick did in the movie.
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But Rick just had one
temper tantrum too many,
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and it's really hard
for a director to forget.
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You can forgive,
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but it's hard to forget an actor
when they have one tantrum too many.
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One tantrum where they put themselves
over the movie they were making.
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And so, he considers Rick
for The Specialists.
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But at the end,
he went with Johnny Hallyday.
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THE SPECIALISTS (1969)
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{\an8}For you, young people!
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{\an8}Your records, your problems, your topics.
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00:08:40,240 --> 00:08:44,040
{\an8}Hosted by Renzo Arbore
and Anna Maria Fusco.
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{\an8}-How are you?
-All good.
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{\an8}I wasn't asking you.
I was asking our audience.
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Today, as usual, at 5:10 p.m. sharp,
we start our show of music and songs.
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The first record by Ohio Express,
the "Yummy Yummy Yummy" band,
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well known in Italy too, The Ohio Express.
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{\an8}GOD FORGIVES… I DON'T!
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{\an8}A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS
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A MOVIE BY SERGIO LEONE
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{\an8}FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE
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A FEW DOLLARS FOR DJANGO
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{\an8}FOR A FEW EXTRA DOLLARS
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{\an8}A PISTOL FOR RINGO
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{\an8}RINGO, THE MARK OF VENGEANCE
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{\an8}THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY
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{\an8}SHARP-SHOOTING TWIN SISTERS
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{\an8}WHO KILLED JOHNNY R.?
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{\an8}THE TOUGH ONE
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{\an8}ROME
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CHAPTER ONE
THE OTHER SERGIO
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After I did Inglourious Basterds,
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I had it in my mind that I wanted to write
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00:10:35,480 --> 00:10:36,960
a book on Sergio Corbucci.
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I was gonna call it The Other Sergio
or something like that.
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And so, in watching these films
and breaking them down,
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that's when I started coming up
with my theory
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about everything was about Fascism,
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and that was
the subtextual aspect of the films.
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And then breaking down the archetypes,
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and seeing how they carried over
from film to film.
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COMPAÑEROS (1970)
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-Who do you vote for?
-I vote against Diaz.
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Put him against the wall.
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00:11:14,360 --> 00:11:15,200
Dad!
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Squad, load!
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Aim!
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00:11:24,600 --> 00:11:25,840
Fire!
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00:11:29,960 --> 00:11:34,080
One of the things
that I think is fundamental to his work
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is the idea that Corbucci,
as a little boy,
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00:11:37,840 --> 00:11:40,880
grew up in Italy
dominated by the Fascists.
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He grew up
in a World War II Fascist Italy.
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His father was a uniform-wearing Fascist.
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00:11:47,160 --> 00:11:50,440
His father wasn't into the Fascists.
Apparently, when he got home,
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00:11:50,520 --> 00:11:53,040
he took off the uniform
and threw it in the corner,
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but he was made to be a Fascist.
He had to wear the uniform.
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Not only that,
when Sergio was a little boy,
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he was part of the kind
of Fascist Boys Choir
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00:12:04,800 --> 00:12:07,760
that Mussolini had.
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And there actually was a moment
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where sort of kinda Sergio met Hitler.
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Hitler was visiting Rome
to visit Mussolini,
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00:12:17,800 --> 00:12:21,760
and so, when Hitler came up,
they actually had the Fascist Boys Choir.
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00:12:21,840 --> 00:12:23,760
They're singing for him.
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00:12:23,840 --> 00:12:26,280
And so, apparently,
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00:12:26,360 --> 00:12:29,880
where Corbucci was sitting in the choir.
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00:12:29,960 --> 00:12:34,840
He was, like, five feet
from both Hitler and Mussolini.
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00:12:34,920 --> 00:12:37,680
Like, you know,
shaking hands and hugging each other.
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00:12:39,720 --> 00:12:43,240
And Hitler looking and like,
"The boys are doing a very good job."
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00:12:43,320 --> 00:12:46,040
"It's very lovely.
The cream of Italian youth."
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00:12:55,200 --> 00:12:58,840
I believe that
once Sergio Corbucci got into
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00:12:59,800 --> 00:13:02,040
doing the Westerns that we know him for,
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00:13:02,880 --> 00:13:07,880
I think he had a theme,
and I do think every single one of them,
200
00:13:09,200 --> 00:13:12,920
of those Westerns,
works with this theme, you know.
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00:13:14,120 --> 00:13:18,680
I think they all were
his treaty on Fascism,
202
00:13:18,760 --> 00:13:22,040
on the Fascism that he experienced
growing up in World War II.
203
00:13:22,120 --> 00:13:25,320
The Fascism that Italy had come out of,
204
00:13:25,400 --> 00:13:28,160
but that was, you know,
he knew his whole life.
205
00:13:28,760 --> 00:13:30,480
And he had witnessed World War II.
206
00:13:31,640 --> 00:13:38,160
And so, I think the Westerns
were all in response to that.
207
00:13:38,240 --> 00:13:40,560
I want to know who you vote for,
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00:13:40,640 --> 00:13:41,640
pig.
209
00:13:42,360 --> 00:13:43,600
Answer!
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00:13:53,280 --> 00:13:56,120
Now, do I really know
that this is exactly what Corbucci
211
00:13:56,200 --> 00:13:57,960
was thinking about at the time,
212
00:13:58,880 --> 00:14:00,920
and this is what he was executing?
213
00:14:01,000 --> 00:14:02,840
No, I don't actually know that.
214
00:14:03,720 --> 00:14:05,840
But I know I'm thinking about it now.
215
00:14:06,720 --> 00:14:08,240
The Great Silence,
216
00:14:08,320 --> 00:14:11,560
which refers also to Vietnam
as well as to the Third World,
217
00:14:11,640 --> 00:14:14,240
is a movie about Fascism, against Fascism.
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00:14:14,320 --> 00:14:17,120
I think everyone should fight
against Fascism and Nazism.
219
00:14:19,320 --> 00:14:20,320
Camera!
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00:14:20,400 --> 00:14:21,600
CHAPTER TWO
THE NEW WESTERN WAVE
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00:14:21,680 --> 00:14:22,640
Silence!
222
00:14:22,720 --> 00:14:24,520
-Action!
-Started.
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00:14:25,120 --> 00:14:29,120
ON THE SET OF THE SPECIALISTS
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00:14:58,000 --> 00:15:01,320
I'll show you what happens
to those who touch the Sheriff!
225
00:15:02,200 --> 00:15:04,680
I can shoot too, and even better than you!
226
00:15:04,760 --> 00:15:06,640
I could kill you if I wanted to!
227
00:15:07,160 --> 00:15:10,480
That whole group, the first group
of Spaghetti Western directors,
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00:15:10,560 --> 00:15:16,200
Leone, Corbucci, Duccio Tessari,
Franco Giraldi, they were all friends.
229
00:15:16,280 --> 00:15:19,160
They all were critics writing for…
230
00:15:19,240 --> 00:15:21,520
I think his brother Bruno
was one of them too.
231
00:15:22,480 --> 00:15:24,880
They were all critics
writing for magazines
232
00:15:24,960 --> 00:15:26,600
and newspapers on movies,
233
00:15:26,680 --> 00:15:27,840
and…
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00:15:29,600 --> 00:15:32,360
and they all loved Westerns.
235
00:15:32,440 --> 00:15:35,080
They loved Westerns
above all other movies,
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00:15:35,160 --> 00:15:38,640
even though they liked other movies.
That was their thing.
237
00:15:38,720 --> 00:15:42,560
This group of guys
started working as critics,
238
00:15:43,200 --> 00:15:45,560
and then little by little,
became screenwriters.
239
00:15:46,360 --> 00:15:48,560
Sometimes credited, sometimes not,
240
00:15:48,640 --> 00:15:52,160
but they all got into the Italian
film industry through screenwriting.
241
00:15:52,240 --> 00:15:54,680
Then through screenwriting,
242
00:15:55,200 --> 00:15:57,840
they became second unit directors.
243
00:16:00,160 --> 00:16:03,400
And so, that's where
they really learned their craft.
244
00:16:04,600 --> 00:16:07,520
Where both of the Sergio's careers
really changed
245
00:16:07,600 --> 00:16:10,080
was when they did second unit work
on a movie called
246
00:16:10,160 --> 00:16:12,920
The Last Days of Pompeii,
directed by Mario Bonnard.
247
00:16:13,480 --> 00:16:14,960
And the thing about it was
248
00:16:15,520 --> 00:16:18,080
they were enlisted
to do second unit on that,
249
00:16:18,600 --> 00:16:22,520
and they did so much second unit
250
00:16:23,040 --> 00:16:27,160
that they were really kind of given credit
for the success of the movie.
251
00:16:27,240 --> 00:16:31,240
Actually, both Leone and Corbucci
have denied this, saying,
252
00:16:31,320 --> 00:16:33,040
"We did a lot of work on the film,
253
00:16:33,120 --> 00:16:36,480
but the film is definitely
Mario Bonnard's film. It's not our film."
254
00:16:37,200 --> 00:16:40,880
But they shot so much of it,
255
00:16:40,960 --> 00:16:44,120
that it was known in the Italian industry
how much they shot.
256
00:16:44,680 --> 00:16:49,560
And because it was known in the industry
how great their contribution was to it,
257
00:16:50,160 --> 00:16:53,480
that was where they were able
to get into the director's chair
258
00:16:53,560 --> 00:16:55,440
in a way that would be significant.
259
00:16:56,880 --> 00:17:00,200
And so, Leone did his first movie,
which was Colossus of Rhodes
260
00:17:00,280 --> 00:17:01,480
with Rory Calhoun,
261
00:17:01,560 --> 00:17:05,200
and Corbucci did
his biggest movie at that time,
262
00:17:05,280 --> 00:17:06,920
which was Duel of the Titans,
263
00:17:07,000 --> 00:17:09,200
which starred Steve Reeves
and Gordon Scott,
264
00:17:09,280 --> 00:17:10,760
which, at the time,
265
00:17:11,800 --> 00:17:14,240
at least as far as peplum was concerned,
266
00:17:14,320 --> 00:17:17,600
was like having Leonardo DiCaprio
and Brad Pitt starring in your movie.
267
00:17:17,680 --> 00:17:20,480
They were the two biggest
of the peplum stars.
268
00:17:20,560 --> 00:17:23,760
For them to actually be
in the same movie together was amazing.
269
00:17:24,760 --> 00:17:26,400
After doing those movies,
270
00:17:27,680 --> 00:17:32,200
that's when Corbucci started heading
into doing Italian Westerns.
271
00:17:33,120 --> 00:17:37,520
But his first Westerns he did,
which he did before Leone,
272
00:17:37,600 --> 00:17:39,920
they were done pre A Fistful of Dollars.
273
00:17:40,520 --> 00:17:43,320
You can absolutely tell Corbucci did them,
274
00:17:43,400 --> 00:17:45,120
and you can tell they're Italian.
275
00:17:46,680 --> 00:17:50,600
But they don't have exactly
the surrealistic quality
276
00:17:51,240 --> 00:17:53,600
that we associate
with the Spaghetti Western
277
00:17:54,840 --> 00:17:56,560
that the Leone pictures did,
278
00:17:56,640 --> 00:18:00,760
and then the ones that came out after,
post A Fistful of Dollars.
279
00:18:01,360 --> 00:18:04,560
But there is a reason for that.
He wasn't looking for that.
280
00:18:04,640 --> 00:18:06,480
He liked American Westerns.
281
00:18:07,280 --> 00:18:08,600
He had grown up on them.
282
00:18:09,440 --> 00:18:11,240
And so, he wanted to do
283
00:18:12,600 --> 00:18:16,200
cool American-style Westerns,
just do them in Italy.
284
00:18:16,280 --> 00:18:17,640
And the two that he did,
285
00:18:18,440 --> 00:18:20,800
Massacre at Grand Canyon
with James Mitchum
286
00:18:20,880 --> 00:18:24,720
and Minnesota Clay with Cameron Mitchell,
287
00:18:24,800 --> 00:18:29,400
are the two movies
that fit into that category.
288
00:18:29,480 --> 00:18:34,560
And Minnesota Clay
is like a superior version
289
00:18:34,640 --> 00:18:37,240
of a Glenn Ford, Delmer Daves Western.
290
00:18:37,320 --> 00:18:40,280
The whole movie could have been done
starring Ford and Daves.
291
00:18:41,280 --> 00:18:43,040
I like the Ford-Daves Westerns,
292
00:18:43,120 --> 00:18:45,640
but amongst them,
it'd be one of the best ones.
293
00:18:45,720 --> 00:18:48,080
And as much as I like
Massacre at Grand Canyon,
294
00:18:48,160 --> 00:18:49,720
I prefer Minnesota Clay.
295
00:18:49,800 --> 00:18:52,600
I think Minnesota Clay
is one of Corbucci's best films.
296
00:18:57,880 --> 00:18:58,720
Water.
297
00:19:00,920 --> 00:19:03,200
We don't serve water around here, buddy.
298
00:19:03,280 --> 00:19:07,080
I'm looking for a man called Fox,
Five Aces Fox. A smart guy.
299
00:19:07,160 --> 00:19:11,960
Hey, buddy, you must be new around here
if you go around asking these questions.
300
00:19:13,120 --> 00:19:14,120
Whereas…
301
00:19:15,920 --> 00:19:17,680
you must be hard of hearing.
302
00:19:17,760 --> 00:19:20,520
I asked you
where I can find a man called Fox.
303
00:19:20,600 --> 00:19:22,360
You ask too many questions.
304
00:19:23,560 --> 00:19:25,680
And we are trigger-happy here.
305
00:19:26,280 --> 00:19:29,840
I think when he does Minnesota Clay,
he does everything he wanted to do.
306
00:19:30,640 --> 00:19:34,840
Then his colleague, Sergio Leone,
does A Fistful of Dollars,
307
00:19:35,880 --> 00:19:38,440
and that changes everything.
308
00:19:38,520 --> 00:19:42,000
It changes the landscape
of Italian Cinema.
309
00:19:42,080 --> 00:19:45,920
It changes the Italian film industry,
310
00:19:46,440 --> 00:19:49,400
and even though no one knows it yet,
it's changed Westerns.
311
00:19:50,400 --> 00:19:52,920
American… It's changed Westerns forever.
312
00:19:53,000 --> 00:19:55,760
The world doesn't quite realize it yet,
but it has.
313
00:20:02,240 --> 00:20:08,080
CHAPTER THREE
THE WILD BUNCH
314
00:20:10,840 --> 00:20:14,440
All those are authentic Roman images.
315
00:20:14,520 --> 00:20:16,560
Yes, the vestiges of the conquest.
316
00:20:19,480 --> 00:20:21,800
The conquest of the Wild West,
317
00:20:22,360 --> 00:20:26,480
which has left a deep mark
on the soul of the eternal city.
318
00:20:30,120 --> 00:20:33,280
Every year, we would make 150 Westerns
319
00:20:33,360 --> 00:20:36,120
of varied quality.
Truly different quality.
320
00:20:36,200 --> 00:20:38,880
Marco, it was okay,
but I didn't see you smile.
321
00:20:38,960 --> 00:20:41,280
Let's do it again. Let's change it.
322
00:20:42,760 --> 00:20:45,960
When we made Django, the horses ran away.
323
00:20:46,040 --> 00:20:49,600
Action. Go! Start going…
324
00:20:49,680 --> 00:20:52,360
The horses ran away
and went to a different set.
325
00:20:52,440 --> 00:20:54,000
But that happened all the time.
326
00:20:54,880 --> 00:20:58,200
Another set, another movie,
just 30 meters away.
327
00:20:58,880 --> 00:21:03,320
The director, Count Guido Celano
is ready for the kidnapping scene,
328
00:21:03,400 --> 00:21:06,240
which is the spotlight
of his movie Gun Shy Piluk.
329
00:21:07,800 --> 00:21:09,960
Okay. You got it. I can tell you…
330
00:21:10,040 --> 00:21:13,400
Nobody knew
which one was the right set anymore.
331
00:21:13,480 --> 00:21:16,680
There were the Elios studios,
which were done first,
332
00:21:16,760 --> 00:21:19,240
by the photography director,
Alvaro Manconi.
333
00:21:19,800 --> 00:21:23,440
After that, they made even smaller ones.
334
00:21:23,520 --> 00:21:26,720
There was one in Manziana,
335
00:21:26,800 --> 00:21:31,160
another one in Abruzzo.
336
00:21:31,240 --> 00:21:34,760
-Why do you make Westerns?
-Pardon me?
337
00:21:34,840 --> 00:21:37,520
I make Westerns
because Abruzzo is my home,
338
00:21:37,600 --> 00:21:41,560
and Abruzzo is the real Italian West.
It's like America.
339
00:21:41,640 --> 00:21:44,080
I remember, as an assistant director,
340
00:21:45,160 --> 00:21:46,600
I started with Rossellini,
341
00:21:47,120 --> 00:21:49,400
then I had a period with Bragaglia,
342
00:21:49,480 --> 00:21:54,480
then I worked with Sergio Corbucci,
then Bolognini, with all the directors,
343
00:21:55,080 --> 00:21:59,600
with Autant-Lara, with Losey…
344
00:22:00,840 --> 00:22:03,400
And then they'd also send me
with boneheads
345
00:22:04,400 --> 00:22:08,680
because I had to teach them
how to be a good director.
346
00:22:08,760 --> 00:22:13,000
They really were boneheads.
They knew nothing.
347
00:22:13,880 --> 00:22:17,920
Rome in the '60s was incredible.
348
00:22:18,000 --> 00:22:24,160
And Sergio was always
at the Dolce Vita in Via Veneto,
349
00:22:24,240 --> 00:22:26,320
with a big entourage.
350
00:22:26,880 --> 00:22:30,920
At that time, his name, Sergio Corbucci,
already had a place
351
00:22:31,000 --> 00:22:35,360
among the intellectuals,
like Piero Piccioni and all the others.
352
00:22:36,800 --> 00:22:38,640
I was still young.
353
00:22:38,720 --> 00:22:42,080
I had just made two movies
with Rossellini,
354
00:22:43,120 --> 00:22:44,320
when I got a call
355
00:22:44,400 --> 00:22:45,560
from Titanus,
356
00:22:47,320 --> 00:22:51,800
and they said, "You'd need to leave
the day after tomorrow to Egypt
357
00:22:52,640 --> 00:22:54,480
to play The Slave."
358
00:22:55,440 --> 00:23:00,320
And I made myself noticed.
Since then, Sergio always called me.
359
00:23:00,400 --> 00:23:02,880
I did 13 movies with him.
360
00:23:52,360 --> 00:23:58,200
CHAPTER FOUR
V FOR VIOLENCE
361
00:23:58,800 --> 00:24:00,000
Ready? Go.
362
00:24:00,640 --> 00:24:02,480
Right. That's good. Show me.
363
00:24:03,760 --> 00:24:07,200
It needs more blood. Add some more blood.
364
00:24:07,280 --> 00:24:10,400
THE GREAT SILENCE (1968)
365
00:24:20,920 --> 00:24:23,000
As far as I am concerned,
366
00:24:23,080 --> 00:24:27,440
Leone creates the greatest trilogy
in the history of cinema
367
00:24:28,000 --> 00:24:29,520
with the three dollars movies.
368
00:24:30,440 --> 00:24:33,000
Each movie is a bigger epic
than the last one.
369
00:24:33,080 --> 00:24:35,320
Each one is
a bigger statement of Westerns.
370
00:24:35,400 --> 00:24:38,360
Each one is a bigger statement
on him as an artist,
371
00:24:38,440 --> 00:24:40,560
on who he is and what he wants to do.
372
00:24:41,080 --> 00:24:45,640
Each one is a bigger recreation
of the Western as seen from his eyes.
373
00:24:47,080 --> 00:24:48,920
Corbucci is different.
374
00:24:49,720 --> 00:24:51,840
Corbucci decided to not do that.
375
00:24:51,920 --> 00:24:55,840
Once he started doing Spaghetti Westerns,
376
00:24:57,080 --> 00:24:58,280
he didn't go out for epics.
377
00:24:58,360 --> 00:25:02,560
He went for the more violent
cowboy picture kind of movie.
378
00:25:03,080 --> 00:25:05,800
He wanted to keep them genre.
They're not epics.
379
00:25:05,880 --> 00:25:08,600
They're cowboy pictures.
They're vengeance pictures.
380
00:25:34,240 --> 00:25:35,480
He wanted to make
381
00:25:36,640 --> 00:25:38,280
a Japanese movie.
382
00:25:38,800 --> 00:25:41,160
You know, a dark one,
383
00:25:42,040 --> 00:25:43,480
with black humor.
384
00:25:43,560 --> 00:25:47,440
So, every day, he was,
"Fra, how many shall we kill today?"
385
00:25:47,520 --> 00:25:50,160
"I don't know. Shall we say 20, 25?"
386
00:25:50,240 --> 00:25:52,080
We'd have a laugh about that.
387
00:25:59,040 --> 00:26:03,160
This Western director created
the most violent West possible.
388
00:26:03,760 --> 00:26:07,080
As violent as the real West was,
Corbucci's West was more violent,
389
00:26:07,160 --> 00:26:09,480
and that ends up giving it
this operatic quality.
390
00:26:10,760 --> 00:26:14,240
Well, Bolognini taught me elegance,
391
00:26:15,040 --> 00:26:19,560
which helped me work on 1,700 adverts.
392
00:26:19,640 --> 00:26:22,720
It was thanks to the elegance
that Bolognini taught me.
393
00:26:23,400 --> 00:26:29,480
Rossellini taught me how to tell stories.
I can tell a story in 15 seconds.
394
00:26:30,720 --> 00:26:34,120
And I got all the cruelty
from Sergio Corbucci.
395
00:26:34,640 --> 00:26:36,600
He was really cruel.
396
00:26:37,120 --> 00:26:40,600
I mean, the slicing off the ear, you know.
397
00:26:40,680 --> 00:26:43,040
But that's how he was.
398
00:26:43,120 --> 00:26:45,720
He was bloodthirsty.
He didn't give a damn.
399
00:26:46,320 --> 00:26:48,040
He was also ironic, though.
400
00:26:48,600 --> 00:26:50,080
Yes, absolutely.
401
00:26:53,920 --> 00:26:55,360
No!
402
00:27:07,480 --> 00:27:08,520
Go.
403
00:27:15,240 --> 00:27:16,320
Hey, Yankee.
404
00:27:29,320 --> 00:27:32,320
Do you like the scene
where he stabs the hand with a fork?
405
00:27:32,400 --> 00:27:34,120
-Do you like Westerns?
-Yes.
406
00:27:34,200 --> 00:27:36,760
-Yes? Which type of Westerns?
-Violent ones.
407
00:27:36,840 --> 00:27:41,560
Violent? Do you also like war movies?
408
00:27:41,640 --> 00:27:44,320
Because here they're shooting a war movie.
409
00:27:44,400 --> 00:27:48,360
-If there's violence, yes.
-There's always violence in those films.
410
00:27:48,880 --> 00:27:50,960
In Westerns, there's more violence.
411
00:27:51,040 --> 00:27:53,800
-You like horses then…
-Blood. I like blood.
412
00:27:53,880 --> 00:27:56,360
In Westerns movies, I like fistfights.
413
00:27:56,440 --> 00:27:59,400
We're a bit sadistic.
We like seeing blood, fights…
414
00:27:59,480 --> 00:28:01,160
What do you mean, "sadistic"?
415
00:28:01,240 --> 00:28:05,960
We like blood, fistfights, killing…
416
00:28:14,000 --> 00:28:18,640
Now tell me who gave you the money
to buy my brother's house.
417
00:28:20,280 --> 00:28:21,240
Say it!
418
00:28:21,840 --> 00:28:23,440
You'd better say it, Boot.
419
00:28:24,120 --> 00:28:26,400
-I'm losing my patience.
-I know nothing.
420
00:28:29,520 --> 00:28:32,760
-I know nothing!
-Tell me who paid you to shoot Charlie.
421
00:28:34,200 --> 00:28:36,680
Tell me!
422
00:28:37,280 --> 00:28:38,440
Say it!
423
00:28:43,480 --> 00:28:49,040
The villain is the most important
character in the whole movie,
424
00:28:49,640 --> 00:28:51,200
The villain runs the show.
425
00:28:51,280 --> 00:28:54,720
The villain tells the story
that's being told.
426
00:28:54,800 --> 00:28:57,600
The villain creates the landscape.
427
00:28:57,680 --> 00:29:01,040
Everything Corbucci
wants to say about Fascism,
428
00:29:01,120 --> 00:29:03,040
he says it through his villains,
429
00:29:03,120 --> 00:29:04,120
and his villains
430
00:29:05,080 --> 00:29:09,160
are always stand-ins
for 20th century or BC villains.
431
00:29:09,840 --> 00:29:14,400
So his films are always a standout
for the National Socialist Party,
432
00:29:14,480 --> 00:29:16,240
THE MERCENARY (1968)
433
00:29:16,320 --> 00:29:18,800
with a brown shirt, Fascist movements,
434
00:29:19,720 --> 00:29:22,720
for Manson-like, gangs of killers…
435
00:29:26,720 --> 00:29:29,040
No! Let go of me!
436
00:29:29,120 --> 00:29:31,480
Now we'll show you what we can do!
437
00:29:31,560 --> 00:29:33,720
-Cowards!
-We will show you!
438
00:29:33,800 --> 00:29:35,040
…a Fascist Police Force,
439
00:29:36,080 --> 00:29:37,720
that has unlimited power,
440
00:29:38,560 --> 00:29:39,800
or Caesar,
441
00:29:40,960 --> 00:29:42,200
or Caligula.
442
00:29:46,080 --> 00:29:47,320
In the later films,
443
00:29:48,320 --> 00:29:53,360
it's only his heroes' combat
with the villains
444
00:29:53,440 --> 00:29:57,480
and the evilness of the villains
that even allows the avengers
445
00:29:57,560 --> 00:30:00,400
to even be portrayed
anywhere in a heroic light.
446
00:30:00,480 --> 00:30:04,240
It's only by contrast to the antagonist.
447
00:30:04,320 --> 00:30:08,320
In this film, Mr. Corbucci,
have you much death and violence?
448
00:30:09,600 --> 00:30:12,000
Well, you probably know that I am a Roman,
449
00:30:12,080 --> 00:30:16,840
and at home, in some closets,
it's presumed to be the skeleton of Nero,
450
00:30:16,920 --> 00:30:19,440
who is proving to be
a good example for me.
451
00:30:19,520 --> 00:30:22,160
Yes, I am killing a lot of people.
452
00:30:22,960 --> 00:30:25,760
I have killed more people
than Nero and Caligula.
453
00:30:25,840 --> 00:30:29,960
But each time, it's more difficult for me
to find a new method of murder.
454
00:30:30,040 --> 00:30:31,520
That's why I hate Westerns.
455
00:30:32,560 --> 00:30:35,040
After this, Mr. Corbucci,
what films will you do?
456
00:30:35,120 --> 00:30:36,280
A Western, naturally.
457
00:30:36,360 --> 00:30:42,240
CHAPTER FIVE
THE PROTAGONISTS
458
00:30:50,680 --> 00:30:54,280
He really wanted me for The Great Silence,
459
00:30:54,800 --> 00:30:56,800
a movie he did on the snow,
460
00:30:58,680 --> 00:31:00,480
where the main character dies.
461
00:31:01,200 --> 00:31:03,600
The bad one survives and the hero dies.
462
00:31:04,400 --> 00:31:06,240
There is a mute character,
463
00:31:06,320 --> 00:31:09,000
and the other one
is played by Klaus Kinski.
464
00:31:10,040 --> 00:31:14,160
I said, "Sergio, I'm off to the US,"
and he didn't take it well.
465
00:31:14,240 --> 00:31:17,440
"Why the heck do you want
to go to the US?"
466
00:31:17,520 --> 00:31:23,560
"You'd better work here now
that we've had a big success with Django."
467
00:31:23,640 --> 00:31:26,000
I said, "Sergio, I'm going to America."
468
00:31:27,400 --> 00:31:30,800
He was very disappointed,
and he hired Trintignant.
469
00:31:30,880 --> 00:31:34,920
Jean Louis Trintignant
is now doing his first Western,
470
00:31:35,000 --> 00:31:37,440
an Italian Western, with me.
471
00:31:37,520 --> 00:31:42,720
It's an unusual one
because the main character is French,
472
00:31:42,800 --> 00:31:47,480
and then, it's entirely set
in the snow, in the winter.
473
00:31:47,560 --> 00:31:50,960
We'll be shooting in a region
where, we are told,
474
00:31:51,040 --> 00:31:54,680
it'll be 21 degrees Celsius below zero,
so it will be challenging.
475
00:31:55,440 --> 00:31:59,760
Among other things about this movie,
which is called The Great Silence,
476
00:31:59,840 --> 00:32:03,520
and which is my sixth Western,
yes, the sixth one, I think,
477
00:32:04,440 --> 00:32:09,520
the main character never speaks.
You never speak in the movie, right?
478
00:32:09,600 --> 00:32:11,640
In fact, he's mute. A mute gunslinger.
479
00:32:20,360 --> 00:32:22,160
You could at least answer me.
480
00:32:29,760 --> 00:32:30,920
Can't you speak?
481
00:32:39,360 --> 00:32:40,280
I'm sorry.
482
00:32:42,280 --> 00:32:45,880
He has other archetypes.
He has his lead protagonist.
483
00:32:45,960 --> 00:32:47,200
His lead protagonists
484
00:32:48,840 --> 00:32:51,880
are never heroes.
They're not what you would call a hero.
485
00:32:51,960 --> 00:32:54,720
The best you could call them
is an avenger.
486
00:32:55,800 --> 00:32:58,960
That's the nicest thing
you can say about them, an avenger.
487
00:32:59,040 --> 00:33:00,680
In another Western,
488
00:33:00,760 --> 00:33:02,320
they could be the villain.
489
00:33:03,040 --> 00:33:06,600
In fact, not only that,
in another Corbucci Western,
490
00:33:06,680 --> 00:33:08,640
a Corbucci protagonist
491
00:33:08,720 --> 00:33:11,320
could be the villain
to another Corbucci protagonist.
492
00:33:15,640 --> 00:33:18,360
One day, Sergio came to me
and said, "Rugge,
493
00:33:20,120 --> 00:33:21,760
we have to make a movie."
494
00:33:21,840 --> 00:33:24,320
And he brings me a comic.
495
00:33:25,400 --> 00:33:27,640
There was a guy pulling a coffin.
496
00:33:28,880 --> 00:33:31,880
It was a great idea,
a guy pulling a coffin.
497
00:33:35,480 --> 00:33:38,800
Django was inspired
by Japanese movies, Seven Samurai,
498
00:33:39,400 --> 00:33:41,400
Rashomon, which were movies
499
00:33:41,480 --> 00:33:43,600
a bit dark, full of mud.
500
00:33:43,680 --> 00:33:46,160
Maybe a bit macabre
because there was a coffin.
501
00:33:46,240 --> 00:33:48,320
A lot of my movies had a coffin.
502
00:33:48,400 --> 00:33:51,160
Even in movies with Totò,
there were often coffins.
503
00:33:51,240 --> 00:33:54,800
Because a coffin in a movie
always brings good luck, not sure why.
504
00:33:54,880 --> 00:33:56,720
So I went to the Elios.
505
00:33:57,440 --> 00:33:58,480
A big mess.
506
00:33:59,360 --> 00:34:02,400
It was really basic, dirty.
507
00:34:03,160 --> 00:34:04,440
And so much mud.
508
00:34:05,200 --> 00:34:07,200
A run-down village.
509
00:34:08,480 --> 00:34:13,640
The extras were horrendous,
510
00:34:13,720 --> 00:34:16,640
but they were cheap
and were already there, so I said,
511
00:34:17,240 --> 00:34:20,280
"Sergio, shall we put
some red hoods on them?"
512
00:34:25,840 --> 00:34:27,520
During the shooting,
513
00:34:28,040 --> 00:34:32,280
the movie with Clint Eastwood
by Sergio Leone was already out.
514
00:34:32,360 --> 00:34:34,200
Since they were friends,
515
00:34:35,040 --> 00:34:38,640
they spoke, and Sergio said to Leone,
516
00:34:38,720 --> 00:34:44,400
"Come and see me on the set,
and I'll show you the actor I chose."
517
00:34:44,920 --> 00:34:47,520
So, one day, Leone showed up.
518
00:34:47,600 --> 00:34:51,280
There was mud everywhere.
We were at Elios, and it was full of mud.
519
00:34:52,200 --> 00:34:56,640
I will never forget
how Leone started staring at me.
520
00:34:56,720 --> 00:35:00,480
He kept looking at me,
and Sergio went, "So what do you think?"
521
00:35:01,440 --> 00:35:03,160
"You hit the jackpot!"
522
00:35:03,240 --> 00:35:05,040
Meaning, you won the lottery.
523
00:35:05,560 --> 00:35:07,880
These were his words, Leone's words.
524
00:35:07,960 --> 00:35:10,440
More mud brought good luck.
525
00:35:11,560 --> 00:35:14,160
Red hoods brought good luck.
526
00:35:14,240 --> 00:35:16,160
Franco Nero brought luck.
527
00:35:17,400 --> 00:35:18,920
He also said,
528
00:35:20,160 --> 00:35:24,760
"I think this movie will be a big hit,
and do you know why?"
529
00:35:26,160 --> 00:35:28,160
"Because it addresses the working class."
530
00:35:28,680 --> 00:35:29,840
And he was right
531
00:35:30,480 --> 00:35:35,320
because it had become
a great political movie,
532
00:35:36,000 --> 00:35:39,480
where the Mexican peons
were the oppressed ones.
533
00:35:39,560 --> 00:35:43,200
When it comes to those Westerns
that we're talking about
534
00:35:43,280 --> 00:35:45,800
of that period,
535
00:35:46,960 --> 00:35:49,520
my two personal favorites
are The Hellbenders
536
00:35:49,600 --> 00:35:51,200
and Navajo Joe.
537
00:35:53,960 --> 00:35:54,920
What's your name?
538
00:35:58,640 --> 00:35:59,480
Joe.
539
00:36:01,400 --> 00:36:03,280
I've never known an Indian named Joe.
540
00:36:05,120 --> 00:36:08,360
And I've never seen a Navajo
so far south before.
541
00:36:09,680 --> 00:36:12,160
And me an Indian girl
that asks so many questions.
542
00:36:13,280 --> 00:36:14,360
Navajo Joe
543
00:36:14,440 --> 00:36:17,280
was the most violent movie
544
00:36:17,360 --> 00:36:19,840
ever released by a studio
545
00:36:20,720 --> 00:36:24,080
to American screens until The Wild Bunch,
546
00:36:24,840 --> 00:36:27,200
which was about two years later, I think.
547
00:36:31,040 --> 00:36:32,840
Navajo Joe was fun
548
00:36:32,920 --> 00:36:39,440
because there was Burt Reynolds
who was meant to replace Marlon Brando.
549
00:36:40,120 --> 00:36:45,200
He was so ill-humored.
I used to go to his trailer to call him,
550
00:36:46,400 --> 00:36:48,920
"I'm not coming.
I'll come when I feel like it."
551
00:36:49,000 --> 00:36:51,400
He was young and just started his career.
552
00:36:52,200 --> 00:36:56,320
So once, I told him, "Fuck you, asshole!"
553
00:36:57,440 --> 00:37:02,600
After 15 years, he came to Rome.
554
00:37:03,120 --> 00:37:08,120
He went to an actor's house, in Zagarolo,
555
00:37:09,080 --> 00:37:10,800
and he said, "Let's call Ruggero."
556
00:37:11,480 --> 00:37:13,960
And so, he went…
557
00:37:14,040 --> 00:37:16,680
Lucio Rosato, the actor,
558
00:37:16,760 --> 00:37:19,640
said to me,
"Burt Reynolds wants to talk to you."
559
00:37:20,240 --> 00:37:23,280
So he puts Burt Reynolds on, and he goes,
560
00:37:23,840 --> 00:37:26,680
"Ruggero, fuck you, asshole."
561
00:37:27,680 --> 00:37:30,360
After 15 years, he remembered that.
562
00:37:41,080 --> 00:37:46,440
His physical performance
is astonishing in that movie.
563
00:37:46,520 --> 00:37:49,120
It's one of the great action
physical performances.
564
00:37:49,200 --> 00:37:52,720
One of the things that's fantastic
about his performance in Navajo Joe,
565
00:37:52,800 --> 00:37:54,760
it's such an athletic performance.
566
00:37:54,840 --> 00:37:56,720
Joe has a fighting style
567
00:37:57,320 --> 00:37:59,920
that is recognizable
when you watch the film
568
00:38:00,000 --> 00:38:02,200
as he attacks Duncan's men.
569
00:38:03,520 --> 00:38:07,560
Burt Reynolds had this blitzkrieg,
football attack against the bad guys.
570
00:38:07,640 --> 00:38:11,760
He's, like, leaping and jumping on them
and doing somersaults in the dirt.
571
00:38:12,480 --> 00:38:15,520
And he practically killed himself
making the movie.
572
00:38:17,000 --> 00:38:19,400
Until martial art movies,
that was not a thing.
573
00:38:19,920 --> 00:38:21,880
Lead characters
didn't have a fighting style.
574
00:38:21,960 --> 00:38:25,280
They didn't have a style you could notice
fighting from this film to that film,
575
00:38:25,360 --> 00:38:28,640
this opponent to that opponent.
It was just donnybrooks.
576
00:38:29,520 --> 00:38:33,400
It's just usually Big Valley.
I hit you. You hit me.
577
00:38:33,480 --> 00:38:35,040
And eventually, I hit you more.
578
00:38:49,040 --> 00:38:53,400
If you look at a lot of the Westerns
from the '50s, and even in the '40s too,
579
00:38:55,000 --> 00:38:56,600
those Western heroes
580
00:38:57,880 --> 00:38:59,080
they weren't cool.
581
00:38:59,960 --> 00:39:00,880
They were tough.
582
00:39:01,640 --> 00:39:02,760
They were badass,
583
00:39:04,280 --> 00:39:05,160
but, you know,
584
00:39:05,760 --> 00:39:07,600
some version of righteousness
585
00:39:07,680 --> 00:39:11,400
was enabled in their character
and then their story.
586
00:39:11,480 --> 00:39:14,800
Even if they were a bad guy,
they were trying to do good
587
00:39:14,880 --> 00:39:16,200
at some point in the film.
588
00:39:16,840 --> 00:39:17,960
They weren't sexy.
589
00:39:18,520 --> 00:39:20,640
Their costumes were more functional.
590
00:39:21,680 --> 00:39:24,080
And, you know, there's nothing…
591
00:39:24,640 --> 00:39:26,800
And I'm not putting them down.
592
00:39:27,400 --> 00:39:29,200
Those '50s Westerns
593
00:39:29,720 --> 00:39:31,080
would have a second…
594
00:39:31,160 --> 00:39:34,800
Some of them
would have a secondary character,
595
00:39:35,400 --> 00:39:39,000
secondary lead, and that was more
of an antihero character.
596
00:39:39,080 --> 00:39:41,800
Were they gonna turn up
being good or bad?
597
00:39:41,880 --> 00:39:44,440
You almost had to watch
the whole movie to find out.
598
00:39:44,520 --> 00:39:47,120
And those kind of characters were, like,
599
00:39:47,200 --> 00:39:51,000
Richard Widmark's Comanche Todd
in The Last Wagon,
600
00:39:51,080 --> 00:39:53,360
which was a direct influence
on Navajo Joe.
601
00:39:53,880 --> 00:39:56,160
Burt Lancaster's character in Vera Cruz.
602
00:39:57,000 --> 00:40:00,760
Even Marlon Brando's character,
Rio, in One-Eyed Jacks.
603
00:40:00,840 --> 00:40:04,920
They all fit into an antihero,
604
00:40:05,000 --> 00:40:06,480
dubious morality.
605
00:40:06,560 --> 00:40:10,080
Were they gonna work out good or bad?
That was almost the point of the movie.
606
00:40:10,680 --> 00:40:13,480
You had to watch the whole damn thing
to find out what was going on.
607
00:40:13,560 --> 00:40:17,760
But those characters were not righteous.
They all had their problems.
608
00:40:17,840 --> 00:40:19,400
They all had their demons.
609
00:40:21,080 --> 00:40:22,760
They were played sexier
610
00:40:23,640 --> 00:40:25,120
than the stalwart lead.
611
00:40:25,200 --> 00:40:29,480
There was a sexy quality about them,
and there was a sense of panache
612
00:40:30,080 --> 00:40:31,880
to the way they were costumed.
613
00:40:32,760 --> 00:40:37,680
They didn't just pick a shirt that fit.
There was a comic-book panache.
614
00:40:38,200 --> 00:40:41,880
And this is something Leone did,
and Corbucci took it further.
615
00:40:43,040 --> 00:40:46,440
I don't know if he took further,
but he double-downed on it for sure.
616
00:40:47,280 --> 00:40:48,680
He gave them
617
00:40:49,880 --> 00:40:53,360
slightly comic-book prowess.
618
00:40:53,440 --> 00:40:56,560
They were faster than fast.
619
00:40:57,440 --> 00:41:00,640
There was something about them
that was more than just…
620
00:41:00,720 --> 00:41:02,680
that went beyond a realistic Western.
621
00:41:02,760 --> 00:41:06,000
There was a comic-book panache
to their prowess.
622
00:41:30,400 --> 00:41:36,160
The one that I have
a special affection for is Sonny and Jed.
623
00:41:36,800 --> 00:41:39,880
But I have a different reading
on Sonny and Jed than the rest.
624
00:41:39,960 --> 00:41:42,280
Sonny and Jed was sort of
his Bonnie and Clyde.
625
00:41:42,920 --> 00:41:45,520
It's a Western,
it's one of the he did into the '70s.
626
00:41:46,280 --> 00:41:49,760
And it was Tomas Milian and Susan George
627
00:41:50,800 --> 00:41:53,480
playing a couple of outlaw rascals
on the run.
628
00:41:56,960 --> 00:41:59,360
Sonny and Jed tends to turn people off.
629
00:41:59,960 --> 00:42:01,520
One, it has
630
00:42:02,840 --> 00:42:06,800
two of Corbucci's
best-directed set-pieces.
631
00:42:06,880 --> 00:42:08,120
The whole opening section,
632
00:42:08,200 --> 00:42:11,520
the whole opening 12-minute section
of the movie.
633
00:42:13,000 --> 00:42:16,680
And then there's the scene
where Jed is hiding in the corn.
634
00:42:17,480 --> 00:42:20,640
Two of Corbucci's
greatest action sequences ever.
635
00:42:21,840 --> 00:42:23,840
But people tend
to be turned off by the movie
636
00:42:23,920 --> 00:42:27,560
because they tend
to be turned off by Tomas Milian's
637
00:42:28,520 --> 00:42:30,000
cretinous character
638
00:42:30,720 --> 00:42:32,040
of Jed.
639
00:42:33,800 --> 00:42:37,440
Now, I'm turned off by Jed too
and his treatment of Sonny,
640
00:42:37,520 --> 00:42:41,080
but there's an aspect about it
that's interesting because
641
00:42:41,760 --> 00:42:44,600
it pretty much looks like,
not even an allegory,
642
00:42:44,680 --> 00:42:46,560
it pretty much looks like what it is.
643
00:42:46,640 --> 00:42:51,600
It looks like a Western story starring
Charles Manson and Squeaky Fromme,
644
00:42:52,080 --> 00:42:54,400
with Susan George playing
the Squeaky Fromme character
645
00:42:54,480 --> 00:42:57,640
and Tomas Milian going all out
playing Charlie Manson.
646
00:42:59,920 --> 00:43:02,600
I think Sonny and Jed
647
00:43:03,280 --> 00:43:06,160
are not the heroes.
I think they are the antagonist.
648
00:43:06,680 --> 00:43:08,800
I think Sonny and Jed are the villains.
649
00:43:08,880 --> 00:43:11,160
Jed is definitely the villain. Sonny…
650
00:43:11,240 --> 00:43:13,800
That's one of the things about Corbucci
we haven't talked about,
651
00:43:13,880 --> 00:43:15,440
Corbucci's female characters.
652
00:43:17,040 --> 00:43:19,120
Corbucci's female characters never
653
00:43:19,200 --> 00:43:23,960
fit the role of the standard archetype
that I laid out.
654
00:43:24,040 --> 00:43:26,240
They're always doubling up.
655
00:43:27,280 --> 00:43:28,840
Give me that bible, Raschietto.
656
00:43:39,240 --> 00:43:41,400
Swear it's not a trap.
657
00:43:42,840 --> 00:43:46,560
Swear that Clay is really
by himself out there.
658
00:43:50,000 --> 00:43:52,040
But be careful, sweetheart.
659
00:43:52,120 --> 00:43:54,560
This will be your last oath
660
00:43:55,320 --> 00:43:57,520
because you'll die soon after.
661
00:43:57,600 --> 00:43:59,400
I'm not scared, Fox.
662
00:43:59,480 --> 00:44:01,640
I don't fear anyone now.
663
00:44:02,240 --> 00:44:04,360
They're hero and victim.
664
00:44:05,520 --> 00:44:07,200
Or townsperson and villain.
665
00:44:14,720 --> 00:44:15,640
Virginia!
666
00:44:18,000 --> 00:44:19,520
-I got him!
-Virginia!
667
00:44:19,600 --> 00:44:20,440
Hurry!
668
00:44:20,520 --> 00:44:23,400
-Call the Sheriff, ma'am! Hurry up!
-Virgina, help me!
669
00:44:23,480 --> 00:44:25,560
Hurry up!
670
00:44:32,400 --> 00:44:34,760
They're, like…
671
00:44:34,840 --> 00:44:37,400
They usually combine
two of the archetypes together,
672
00:44:37,480 --> 00:44:40,360
for his women, which suggests
these women are complicated.
673
00:44:41,600 --> 00:44:46,240
And Sonny is a villain/victim in the film.
674
00:44:46,320 --> 00:44:49,840
But to me, the hero of the movie
675
00:44:50,440 --> 00:44:52,800
is Telly Savalas's character, Francisco.
676
00:44:52,880 --> 00:44:55,440
He's the real hero of the film.
677
00:44:55,520 --> 00:44:57,880
Watch the movie from
678
00:44:58,920 --> 00:45:01,120
Telly Savalas's perspective.
679
00:45:01,200 --> 00:45:04,160
Next time you see it, don't watch it
from Milian's perspective,
680
00:45:04,240 --> 00:45:06,760
watch it from Telly Savalas's perspective.
681
00:45:06,840 --> 00:45:08,800
He is a Corbucci hero.
682
00:45:08,880 --> 00:45:11,080
And then, even when he gets blinded,
683
00:45:11,720 --> 00:45:13,240
when he's completely blind,
684
00:45:13,320 --> 00:45:16,320
he still goes after Sonny and Jed.
He doesn't stop his quest.
685
00:45:16,400 --> 00:45:19,040
Now, that makes him a Corbucci's hero.
686
00:45:19,720 --> 00:45:23,320
Because the thing
that Corbucci did with his movies
687
00:45:23,840 --> 00:45:27,200
that was different than any other
of the Western directors,
688
00:45:28,680 --> 00:45:31,240
he would give his heroes,
689
00:45:31,320 --> 00:45:35,520
like I said, a comic-book panache
when it comes to their prowess.
690
00:45:35,600 --> 00:45:38,920
They were faster
than you could be in real life.
691
00:45:39,000 --> 00:45:44,960
They had something that gave them
almost superhero qualities.
692
00:45:45,640 --> 00:45:46,560
However,
693
00:45:47,560 --> 00:45:49,800
then he takes their prowess
away from them.
694
00:45:50,880 --> 00:45:53,360
The thing that sets them up as…
695
00:45:54,280 --> 00:45:56,720
as a superhero cowboy is gone.
696
00:45:57,400 --> 00:45:59,960
He literally removes
their superpowers from them.
697
00:46:00,560 --> 00:46:04,560
Even a skilled gunslinger
needs his hands. Isn't that right, Django?
698
00:46:05,920 --> 00:46:07,160
Bye now, Django.
699
00:46:07,840 --> 00:46:10,040
My men and I are going back to Mexico,
700
00:46:10,120 --> 00:46:12,000
to either win or die!
701
00:46:12,080 --> 00:46:14,440
Vamos compañeros!
702
00:46:18,160 --> 00:46:21,160
Adios, gringo! See you in hell!
703
00:46:29,320 --> 00:46:31,680
And then he makes them face the villain.
704
00:46:32,800 --> 00:46:36,320
And it's only them facing the villain
705
00:46:36,400 --> 00:46:40,440
without their superpowers
that they can claim to be a hero.
706
00:46:40,520 --> 00:46:44,200
It's only the end,
when they actually face up
707
00:46:44,280 --> 00:46:47,320
against these figures of Fascism
708
00:46:48,040 --> 00:46:49,680
without, you know…
709
00:46:50,880 --> 00:46:54,520
without their superpowers
in their back pocket,
710
00:46:54,600 --> 00:46:56,160
without their ace in the hole.
711
00:46:56,240 --> 00:46:57,560
That's… There…
712
00:46:57,640 --> 00:47:00,080
From that point on,
for the last five minutes,
713
00:47:00,160 --> 00:47:02,160
that's the moment
they can call themselves heroes.
714
00:47:02,760 --> 00:47:04,080
And so it shall be!
715
00:47:26,960 --> 00:47:32,640
When you just take the Spaghetti Western
as a genre in totality,
716
00:47:32,720 --> 00:47:37,920
I actually think Lee Van Cleef
and Franco Nero are the two genre leads.
717
00:47:38,440 --> 00:47:42,280
They are the two most iconic figures,
not for just one character,
718
00:47:42,360 --> 00:47:45,520
but it's also for, you know,
they did a series of movies.
719
00:47:45,600 --> 00:47:47,160
They created a persona,
720
00:47:47,240 --> 00:47:50,440
and they became
New World Western mythology.
721
00:47:51,120 --> 00:47:55,440
All my movies
have always been inspired by comics.
722
00:47:55,520 --> 00:47:59,920
Those adventure comic books
that when I was little were called
723
00:48:00,000 --> 00:48:01,760
Mandrake, Tim Tyler's Luck…
724
00:48:02,560 --> 00:48:06,240
and that when I grew up,
as a director, became many Westerns,
725
00:48:06,320 --> 00:48:10,200
costume movies,
Bud Spencer and Terence Hill…
726
00:48:10,280 --> 00:48:14,520
And, for example, I see Terence Hill
as a Milton Caniff hero.
727
00:48:14,600 --> 00:48:19,320
Do remember Terry?
Or Bud Spencer as Dick Fulmine.
728
00:48:20,040 --> 00:48:21,480
Adriano Celentano…
729
00:48:22,760 --> 00:48:25,720
could also be a Li'l Abner character.
730
00:48:26,400 --> 00:48:32,240
CHAPTER SIX
SHADOW AND LIGHT
731
00:49:06,440 --> 00:49:07,640
How are you, Hud?
732
00:49:12,680 --> 00:49:17,840
God knows how happy I am
to see you here visiting your brother.
733
00:49:17,920 --> 00:49:23,480
If it wasn't for me and the sheriff,
they wouldn't have even buried him.
734
00:49:23,560 --> 00:49:27,600
They'd have said, "He's a thief.
Let's leave him to the vultures."
735
00:49:28,200 --> 00:49:31,920
As much as he hates his Fascists,
he hates the communities all the more.
736
00:49:32,000 --> 00:49:35,200
The communities represented
by every single one of these towns,
737
00:49:35,280 --> 00:49:37,360
whether it'd be Pollicut's little town…
738
00:49:37,440 --> 00:49:39,400
Welcome to Snow Hill.
739
00:49:39,480 --> 00:49:41,200
…or Blackstone…
740
00:49:45,720 --> 00:49:47,240
The people who live in the town,
741
00:49:47,320 --> 00:49:49,640
they're horrible representatives
of society.
742
00:49:51,960 --> 00:49:56,520
It's almost a sick joke
on John Ford's characters,
743
00:49:57,240 --> 00:50:00,360
of the pioneers,
"We are the people that rule the West,
744
00:50:00,440 --> 00:50:03,280
and we're creating a community."
745
00:50:04,840 --> 00:50:08,000
The community that Ford created
of his characters,
746
00:50:08,080 --> 00:50:10,680
trying to create a community
in this wasteland,
747
00:50:10,760 --> 00:50:13,160
is really what he's about.
748
00:50:14,720 --> 00:50:19,120
And then, in Corbucci's movies,
it's like society is a cesspool.
749
00:50:19,640 --> 00:50:21,240
Society is a sewer,
750
00:50:21,320 --> 00:50:25,080
and all these people in this town
deserve anything that's happening to them.
751
00:50:26,520 --> 00:50:28,480
They've all got it coming.
752
00:50:30,360 --> 00:50:36,280
He actually makes that subtext
actually text in The Specialists.
753
00:50:36,360 --> 00:50:39,680
Come on! Horrible pigs!
754
00:50:39,760 --> 00:50:42,360
-Crawl!
-Look! He's coming!
755
00:51:05,920 --> 00:51:09,400
All the three movies I did with Sergio
are political movies,
756
00:51:09,920 --> 00:51:12,400
because The Mercenary
is a political movie too,
757
00:51:12,480 --> 00:51:14,880
and so is Compañeros, so…
758
00:51:14,960 --> 00:51:19,400
In Compañeros,
there was the famous professor,
759
00:51:19,480 --> 00:51:20,560
Fernando Rey,
760
00:51:21,080 --> 00:51:25,520
who taught young people about revolution,
in the right way.
761
00:51:25,600 --> 00:51:31,360
They used to wear the red scarves,
you know, the students…
762
00:51:32,680 --> 00:51:35,560
Yes, definitely.
They were political movies.
763
00:51:36,200 --> 00:51:38,360
Those soldiers you killed to save me
764
00:51:38,880 --> 00:51:40,400
were human beings.
765
00:51:42,120 --> 00:51:43,880
And killing a human being,
766
00:51:43,960 --> 00:51:45,560
even if he's our enemy,
767
00:51:46,080 --> 00:51:47,160
is a crime.
768
00:51:47,800 --> 00:51:50,400
Haven't I always taught you this?
769
00:51:51,280 --> 00:51:52,480
Answer me!
770
00:51:52,560 --> 00:51:55,160
What should have we done?
Let them shoot you?
771
00:51:55,240 --> 00:51:58,240
The ideals I believe
are fearless of death,
772
00:51:58,760 --> 00:52:01,000
and they don't need guns to prevail.
773
00:52:01,640 --> 00:52:02,640
Guys,
774
00:52:03,920 --> 00:52:06,080
never forget this principle.
775
00:52:07,320 --> 00:52:11,920
When fighting for the right ideal,
you can also win without violence.
776
00:52:15,280 --> 00:52:17,600
Clearly, I am too old,
777
00:52:18,720 --> 00:52:20,520
and you are all too young.
778
00:52:21,880 --> 00:52:24,440
All of Corbucci's films
aren't created equally.
779
00:52:24,520 --> 00:52:28,080
There's not much humor in Navajo Joe.
780
00:52:28,160 --> 00:52:30,600
There's not much humor in The Hellbenders.
781
00:52:30,680 --> 00:52:33,400
There's no humor in The Great Silence.
782
00:52:35,440 --> 00:52:38,680
I did The Great Silence
for all those who believe in freedom
783
00:52:38,760 --> 00:52:41,240
and for all those who want to fight.
784
00:52:41,320 --> 00:52:44,320
He breaks out of that when he does the…
785
00:52:46,000 --> 00:52:47,440
the Mexican Revolution trilogy.
786
00:52:47,520 --> 00:52:49,160
God, how beautiful this is.
787
00:52:49,760 --> 00:52:51,160
Thirteen red.
788
00:52:56,720 --> 00:53:00,640
They stand separate. They stand separate
from Navajo Joe, from Django.
789
00:53:00,720 --> 00:53:04,160
They stand separate from Hellbenders.
They're different.
790
00:53:04,240 --> 00:53:07,320
Those are the ones
where he's indulging more like Leone,
791
00:53:08,360 --> 00:53:10,560
in, like, more comedy bits.
792
00:53:11,840 --> 00:53:15,800
And it's not always black humor
in the Mexican Revolution trilogy.
793
00:53:29,040 --> 00:53:31,240
Paco wants to see you, gringo.
794
00:53:31,320 --> 00:53:35,480
And when Leone does Duck, You Sucker!,
that's absolutely his version
795
00:53:35,560 --> 00:53:39,760
of a Corbucci Mexican Revolution Western.
796
00:53:40,400 --> 00:53:41,640
Four Jacks.
797
00:53:44,960 --> 00:53:45,920
Two ladies…
798
00:53:47,120 --> 00:53:48,240
plus two more…
799
00:53:50,480 --> 00:53:51,440
makes four.
800
00:53:51,520 --> 00:53:56,480
The Mercenary was meant
to be directed by Gillo Pontecorvo.
801
00:53:57,200 --> 00:53:58,680
Here's the story.
802
00:53:58,760 --> 00:54:03,240
Alberto Grimaldi, back then,
wanted to produce four movies,
803
00:54:03,760 --> 00:54:06,680
one by Elio Petri, one by Fellini,
804
00:54:08,160 --> 00:54:10,160
one by Pontecorvo,
805
00:54:11,200 --> 00:54:15,960
and the other one should have been
by Corbucci, but not this film,
806
00:54:16,040 --> 00:54:17,520
just a film by Corbucci.
807
00:54:18,520 --> 00:54:19,600
Basically,
808
00:54:21,400 --> 00:54:24,360
Pontecorvo pulled out of making the movie.
809
00:54:24,880 --> 00:54:28,200
Corbucci, with his usual savoir faire,
810
00:54:28,280 --> 00:54:33,720
one day, went to what should have been
Pontecorvo's office and said,
811
00:54:33,800 --> 00:54:35,960
"Hey, I'll make this movie!"
812
00:54:36,040 --> 00:54:40,600
So he convinced Grimaldi that he was
the right director to make The Mercenary.
813
00:54:40,680 --> 00:54:41,680
Go!
814
00:55:09,880 --> 00:55:11,680
-Thanks.
-Come on. Let's run!
815
00:55:16,040 --> 00:55:18,280
The cast should have been made up of
816
00:55:18,840 --> 00:55:21,960
James Coburn, playing the American guy,
817
00:55:22,480 --> 00:55:25,360
and Franco Nero, playing the Mexican.
818
00:55:27,280 --> 00:55:31,000
One day, I went to watch a movie,
The Incident,
819
00:55:32,320 --> 00:55:36,000
and I noticed this incredible actor,
Tony Musante.
820
00:55:36,080 --> 00:55:39,120
I called Sergio and said,
"Go and watch this movie."
821
00:55:39,200 --> 00:55:41,800
"You've found the Mexican, if you ask me."
822
00:55:41,880 --> 00:55:44,760
He watched the movie and said,
"You were right."
823
00:55:44,840 --> 00:55:46,600
And he hired Tony Musante.
824
00:55:52,440 --> 00:55:55,000
I must say you're rather fast.
825
00:55:55,520 --> 00:55:56,880
Who are you?
826
00:55:56,960 --> 00:55:59,840
The Polish,
but for you, I'm called Bad Luck
827
00:55:59,920 --> 00:56:02,520
because if they don't let me pass,
I'll kill you.
828
00:56:02,600 --> 00:56:05,000
You're in bad luck too, buddy,
829
00:56:05,080 --> 00:56:08,800
because they don't care
whether you kill me or not.
830
00:56:09,400 --> 00:56:12,400
-You know how to count to ten?
-Sure, I can.
831
00:56:12,480 --> 00:56:16,600
I can also add,
and occasionally subtract too.
832
00:56:17,160 --> 00:56:18,600
Fine.
833
00:56:18,680 --> 00:56:20,680
Start counting.
834
00:56:21,480 --> 00:56:24,400
While Corbucci specialized in doing
835
00:56:25,320 --> 00:56:27,960
these Westerns, these cowboy pictures,
836
00:56:28,960 --> 00:56:31,320
he never took Leone on,
837
00:56:31,920 --> 00:56:38,080
when it came to the whole concept
of the showdown and the Morricone score,
838
00:56:38,920 --> 00:56:41,640
except for the first
of the Mexican Revolution movies,
839
00:56:41,720 --> 00:56:43,440
except for The Mercenary.
840
00:56:43,520 --> 00:56:45,360
That's his only time
841
00:56:45,440 --> 00:56:49,880
he actually, "Okay now I'm gonna
take Sergio with a full-on showdown,
842
00:56:49,960 --> 00:56:51,840
with a full-on Morricone score."
843
00:56:51,920 --> 00:56:54,400
And as far as I'm concerned,
along with the Leone ones,
844
00:56:54,480 --> 00:56:57,000
it's the best of all those ever done.
845
00:58:41,080 --> 00:58:46,920
CHAPTER SEVEN
THE LAST REVOLUTION
846
00:58:49,880 --> 00:58:54,120
Of all the great Western directors,
Corbucci created the most pitiless West
847
00:58:54,200 --> 00:58:55,400
that there was.
848
00:58:55,480 --> 00:59:00,000
The most pitiless, the most pessimistic,
the most surrealistically grotesque,
849
00:59:00,760 --> 00:59:02,320
the most violent.
850
00:59:03,680 --> 00:59:06,880
Nobody is guaranteed safe passage
851
00:59:07,560 --> 00:59:08,680
in a Corbucci film.
852
00:59:08,760 --> 00:59:12,360
The hero could die at the end
just as easily as anybody else.
853
00:59:24,280 --> 00:59:27,440
The sheriff's girlfriend.
854
00:59:27,520 --> 00:59:29,120
Chester! No!
855
00:59:31,160 --> 00:59:34,240
A priest.
Nobody is guaranteed safe passage.
856
00:59:38,480 --> 00:59:42,160
And actually,
their innocence could doom them.
857
00:59:46,160 --> 00:59:48,000
Don't cry.
858
00:59:49,040 --> 00:59:49,880
No!
859
00:59:51,400 --> 00:59:53,480
We said no witnesses, remember?
860
00:59:55,080 --> 00:59:57,680
You boys better decide
what to do with the kid.
861
00:59:59,560 --> 01:00:00,400
So…
862
01:00:01,360 --> 01:00:02,440
Wow!
863
01:00:04,160 --> 01:00:09,560
So, if I was gonna try
to create that surrealistic, grotesque,
864
01:00:10,560 --> 01:00:14,400
absolutely pitiless West
865
01:00:15,560 --> 01:00:20,720
that Corbucci created for American Mexico,
and I was gonna put it in America,
866
01:00:21,240 --> 01:00:22,400
where would that be?
867
01:00:23,880 --> 01:00:26,320
And then I was,
"Well, the antebellum South."
868
01:00:27,280 --> 01:00:28,760
That's exactly where it'd be.
869
01:00:28,840 --> 01:00:31,360
It would be Mississippi,
it would be Louisiana
870
01:00:31,440 --> 01:00:34,640
during the time of slavery.
America under slavery would…
871
01:00:34,720 --> 01:00:37,960
is, actually, that grotesque world
872
01:00:38,680 --> 01:00:40,840
that Corbucci drew on.
873
01:00:41,920 --> 01:00:47,480
And there, the most surrealistic things,
the most garish things actually happened.
874
01:00:48,480 --> 01:00:50,600
What makes them grotesque
is their reality.
875
01:00:54,160 --> 01:00:55,600
What's everybody staring at?
876
01:00:56,200 --> 01:00:58,400
They've never seen no nigger
on a horse before.
877
01:01:03,320 --> 01:01:08,480
Corbucci, ultimately, did Westerns
because he's a genre filmmaker,
878
01:01:09,080 --> 01:01:11,160
and that was a popular genre at the time.
879
01:01:12,480 --> 01:01:14,320
The same reason he did peplums.
880
01:01:14,400 --> 01:01:16,400
That was the popular genre at the time.
881
01:01:16,480 --> 01:01:18,360
So Westerns became the popular genre.
882
01:01:19,240 --> 01:01:23,640
Early '70s, when they fizzled out,
he abandoned them.
883
01:01:24,720 --> 01:01:26,480
And apparently never looked back.
884
01:01:27,920 --> 01:01:32,880
And then he concentrated
on doing comedies.
885
01:01:32,960 --> 01:01:33,960
However,
886
01:01:35,400 --> 01:01:38,120
some of those comedies
that he did in the '70s,
887
01:01:38,640 --> 01:01:39,960
are, to this day,
888
01:01:40,040 --> 01:01:43,000
some of the most successful movies
in the history
889
01:01:43,080 --> 01:01:45,120
of the Italian film industry.
890
01:01:47,360 --> 01:01:49,960
When he's doing his Revolution trilogy,
891
01:01:50,040 --> 01:01:53,920
it's that third one
that's kind of the transition.
892
01:01:54,520 --> 01:01:56,880
The whole film gets
this kind of comical aspect.
893
01:01:58,400 --> 01:02:00,760
He used to enjoy trying new things.
894
01:02:01,720 --> 01:02:05,280
He wasn't a director
tied to strict patterns,
895
01:02:05,360 --> 01:02:10,880
so probably with Villaggio,
jokingly, they went,
896
01:02:10,960 --> 01:02:14,920
"Let's make a movie
with the sober Gassman too,
897
01:02:15,000 --> 01:02:21,760
and we'll talk about revolution
with a comic twist."
898
01:04:49,280 --> 01:04:51,360
Sergio used to do different things.
899
01:04:52,240 --> 01:04:53,920
That was a great quality he had.
900
01:04:54,880 --> 01:04:58,520
He'd easily go from a movie with Totò
to all the other movies.
901
01:04:58,600 --> 01:05:02,800
Something that not all directors could do.
902
01:05:02,880 --> 01:05:06,600
Sergio knew
903
01:05:06,680 --> 01:05:08,800
that he would never win an Oscar.
904
01:05:09,520 --> 01:05:11,400
He said, "I will never win an Oscar."
905
01:05:11,960 --> 01:05:14,480
But he had won the people's Oscar.
906
01:05:14,560 --> 01:05:19,080
And he knew this because he was
truly the people's director.
907
01:05:19,600 --> 01:05:22,040
I really don't understand Corbucci's
908
01:05:24,120 --> 01:05:27,200
career once you get past the early '70s.
909
01:05:27,800 --> 01:05:31,200
{\an8}There was a commercial director aspect
to Corbucci,
910
01:05:31,280 --> 01:05:34,360
and it's actually one of the things
I actually kind of admire.
911
01:05:35,800 --> 01:05:37,840
There's part of me that kind of wish
912
01:05:37,920 --> 01:05:40,080
he was a little bit more
artist-in-residence
913
01:05:40,800 --> 01:05:42,440
the way that Leone was.
914
01:05:43,280 --> 01:05:45,440
{\an8}I think it's a damn shame that
915
01:05:45,520 --> 01:05:48,240
{\an8}so few of the Italian directors
came to America
916
01:05:48,320 --> 01:05:50,680
to try their hand doing American movies.
917
01:05:51,280 --> 01:05:55,200
I brought it up once about the idea
of "What if Sergio had done that?"
918
01:05:55,840 --> 01:05:59,880
And then people,
"No, he would never do that."
919
01:05:59,960 --> 01:06:03,720
He would never leave Italy
to make a movie in America.
920
01:06:03,800 --> 01:06:08,480
I remember this actor, Tony Musante,
who came to Italy to work with me,
921
01:06:08,560 --> 01:06:10,840
and then he also had a great career.
922
01:06:10,920 --> 01:06:15,200
He came for a movie, with Palance
and Franco Nero, called The Mercenary.
923
01:06:15,280 --> 01:06:18,840
He was one of those engaged actors,
like Kazan.
924
01:06:19,360 --> 01:06:22,640
{\an8}As he was getting off his horse once,
I said, "Look…"
925
01:06:22,720 --> 01:06:27,360
{\an8}We had a scene where he was
going to exit the shot, running.
926
01:06:27,440 --> 01:06:31,600
{\an8}He was leaving the scene
during a bombing, something like that.
927
01:06:32,120 --> 01:06:36,320
{\an8}He had to get off his horse, run,
then throw himself to the ground later.
928
01:06:37,200 --> 01:06:39,760
Because of the next scene requirements,
929
01:06:39,840 --> 01:06:44,360
I told him, for the second shot,
when he was meant to come back in,
930
01:06:44,440 --> 01:06:48,440
I said, "Come in the scene running,
then lay down on the ground
931
01:06:48,520 --> 01:06:52,120
because I need to lower the camera
to film a guy shooting over there.
932
01:06:52,200 --> 01:06:54,120
He said, "Why do I need to go down now?"
933
01:06:54,200 --> 01:06:57,800
I went, "I don't know.
Pretend you have a stone in your boot."
934
01:06:57,880 --> 01:07:01,560
"So you need to sit down,
take your boot off, let the stone out,
935
01:07:01,640 --> 01:07:06,560
and put the boot back on, which is funny
while they're all shooting at you."
936
01:07:06,640 --> 01:07:08,200
"I think it could look nice."
937
01:07:08,840 --> 01:07:11,840
He went, "We'll have to redo
the previous scene then."
938
01:07:11,920 --> 01:07:12,800
I went, "Why?"
939
01:07:12,880 --> 01:07:17,840
He said, "Because in the previous one,
I left the scene without the stone."
940
01:07:18,520 --> 01:07:20,440
I was like, "What do you mean?"
941
01:07:20,520 --> 01:07:22,440
He said, "This has to start earlier
942
01:07:22,520 --> 01:07:26,440
because I'd have felt the stone
as soon as I put my foot on the ground,
943
01:07:26,520 --> 01:07:30,120
so I would have left the scene
differently from now."
944
01:07:30,760 --> 01:07:34,840
I went, "Look, we're doing
an Italian Western here."
945
01:07:34,920 --> 01:07:36,360
"I mean, you know…"
946
01:07:36,880 --> 01:07:43,280
I said, "If you need to show you have
a stone in your boot, just do it now."
947
01:07:43,360 --> 01:07:46,920
"You didn't realize it before,
but you're realizing it now."
948
01:07:47,000 --> 01:07:53,360
He went, "That's fine, but I need time
in my trailer to focus on how to do this."
949
01:07:53,440 --> 01:07:56,040
I said, "Okay, go.
I'll do something else."
950
01:07:56,120 --> 01:07:58,320
Then he came back and said, "I got it."
951
01:07:58,400 --> 01:08:02,000
I said, "I've moved on now.
No more stone in the boot."
952
01:08:02,080 --> 01:08:07,240
"We'll do something different.
The sun went down. The horse was thirsty…"
953
01:08:22,080 --> 01:08:23,440
Where are we going?
954
01:08:23,520 --> 01:08:24,880
Inside the cannons!
955
01:08:28,360 --> 01:08:29,360
Jump out, quick!
956
01:08:54,840 --> 01:08:56,920
There's nothing wrong with the label
957
01:08:57,000 --> 01:09:01,400
"second-best Spaghetti Western
director after Leone," all right.
958
01:09:02,440 --> 01:09:06,040
I don't believe Ford is the greatest
of American Western directors,
959
01:09:06,120 --> 01:09:09,600
but if you take that thought, all right,
960
01:09:10,800 --> 01:09:13,080
if you take that place,
then who's the second?
961
01:09:14,080 --> 01:09:17,680
Is it Peckinpah? Is it Hawks?
962
01:09:17,760 --> 01:09:19,840
Is it Raoul Walsh? Is it Delmer Daves?
963
01:09:19,920 --> 01:09:23,080
Who is it? Who's number two?
All right? That's a dogfight.
964
01:09:23,960 --> 01:09:25,720
It's not a dogfight in Italy.
965
01:09:25,800 --> 01:09:27,720
Number two is fucking Corbucci.
966
01:11:54,120 --> 01:12:01,120
{\an8}TO NORI CORBUCCI
967
01:12:14,800 --> 01:12:17,240
There's an interesting thing
about Django solely…
968
01:12:18,680 --> 01:12:22,880
I haven't talked that much about Django,
so I might talk a bit about it, okay?
969
01:12:23,600 --> 01:12:26,280
There's an interesting aspect
to the movie.
970
01:12:27,480 --> 01:12:29,000
Who is Mercedes?
971
01:12:30,160 --> 01:12:33,360
And it's never ever answered
972
01:12:34,080 --> 01:12:35,320
who Mercedes is.
973
01:12:35,840 --> 01:12:41,240
All right, and what I mean by that is
Django has come to this town.
974
01:12:42,040 --> 01:12:44,400
It seems like he's coming there
975
01:12:45,160 --> 01:12:46,160
for a vengeance.
976
01:12:48,280 --> 01:12:54,440
You see him visiting a grave
of a woman named Mercedes.
977
01:12:56,640 --> 01:12:59,640
Who this woman is, is not clear.
978
01:13:00,760 --> 01:13:06,480
The only thing we know about Django is
he was probably in the Union Army
979
01:13:06,560 --> 01:13:10,040
or the Union Cavalry,
because of his cavalry pants.
980
01:13:10,120 --> 01:13:13,520
So he was in the war, and he was
definitely on the side of the North.
981
01:13:16,760 --> 01:13:18,240
He's going to the South.
982
01:13:22,160 --> 01:13:26,720
And the Colonel's character,
he's definitely a figure from the South.
983
01:13:26,800 --> 01:13:29,320
He's definitely a figure
from the Confederacy,
984
01:13:30,280 --> 01:13:33,000
and he has this Ku Klux Klan,
985
01:13:34,480 --> 01:13:38,440
like, hooded army, all right,
that are, you know…
986
01:13:38,960 --> 01:13:45,280
it would appear that they've wiped out
all the Black folks in the area,
987
01:13:45,360 --> 01:13:47,840
and now they're working on their way
through the Mexicans.
988
01:13:47,920 --> 01:13:52,040
It would appear there were Black folks
in this area, and they were all murdered,
989
01:13:52,120 --> 01:13:53,720
and now it's the Mexican's turn.
990
01:13:57,880 --> 01:13:59,000
Who is Mercedes?
991
01:14:00,600 --> 01:14:02,120
Is Mercedes Django's wife?
992
01:14:04,520 --> 01:14:06,880
Well, that's an interesting story.
993
01:14:08,320 --> 01:14:12,000
He has a wife. He leaves her
in this village, a Southern village,
994
01:14:12,080 --> 01:14:13,880
and goes off to fight for the North?
995
01:14:16,240 --> 01:14:18,920
He comes back, and she's dead,
but it doesn't seem to suggest
996
01:14:19,000 --> 01:14:21,520
that he's just come back
the minute the war's over.
997
01:14:22,200 --> 01:14:24,520
He's done a bunch of stuff,
and now he's there.
998
01:14:26,000 --> 01:14:27,080
So that's his wife.
999
01:14:28,720 --> 01:14:30,000
That doesn't seem likely.
1000
01:14:30,640 --> 01:14:33,440
It doesn't seem likely
he would have a wife.
1001
01:14:33,520 --> 01:14:36,960
It doesn't seem likely if he had a wife,
he would abandon her.
1002
01:14:38,200 --> 01:14:41,920
I've come up with a version of it
that I think is the case.
1003
01:14:46,200 --> 01:14:47,160
I think…
1004
01:14:49,920 --> 01:14:51,640
he never knew Mercedes.
1005
01:14:52,960 --> 01:14:54,600
I think he was in the war.
1006
01:14:56,480 --> 01:14:58,840
And I think Mercedes…
1007
01:15:00,960 --> 01:15:03,760
is the wife of somebody he served with.
1008
01:15:05,360 --> 01:15:10,920
Mercedes was the wife of somebody
in the Union Army that he served with,
1009
01:15:12,400 --> 01:15:13,440
that he died,
1010
01:15:14,240 --> 01:15:15,160
and he died
1011
01:15:16,280 --> 01:15:18,200
in Django's arms or around Django.
1012
01:15:19,280 --> 01:15:23,240
Before he died, he gave him something
to give to his wife.
1013
01:15:24,640 --> 01:15:27,800
"And when the war's over,
when you get around to it,
1014
01:15:27,880 --> 01:15:31,080
go down to this village and find my wife."
1015
01:15:32,560 --> 01:15:36,400
And I'd like to think,
since I'm writing this all on my own,
1016
01:15:37,560 --> 01:15:39,040
that it was a Black soldier.
1017
01:15:42,480 --> 01:15:44,400
And so, finally,
1018
01:15:44,920 --> 01:15:47,960
he goes to this village to track down
1019
01:15:48,040 --> 01:15:50,480
the wife of the Black soldier
that he knew,
1020
01:15:51,880 --> 01:15:55,040
in the town that she was living in,
to find her murdered.
1021
01:15:56,720 --> 01:15:58,440
And he finds the whole history
1022
01:15:59,080 --> 01:16:01,440
of how this Ku Klux Klan-like gang
1023
01:16:02,040 --> 01:16:04,520
has genocided the Black folks in the area,
1024
01:16:04,600 --> 01:16:07,000
and are now working
their way through the Mexicans.
1025
01:16:08,520 --> 01:16:10,720
And then revenge is perpetrated
1026
01:16:10,800 --> 01:16:13,680
against the leader of this Klan Army
1027
01:16:14,240 --> 01:16:16,720
by an actor whose last name is Nero,
1028
01:16:17,360 --> 01:16:18,840
which is Italian for "black."
1029
01:16:20,080 --> 01:16:22,240
That's my version of it.