It's San Miguel, in Mexico. The town's got two bosses; neither likes the other. Both bosses lord over a clan of bad guys. The town is not moral; it's a town of death. Into this gloom rides Joe the stranger (Clint Eastwood). The stranger may or may not be a good guy. But he's a sharpshooter with a .45 pistol, and he uses it, a lot. He sizes up things in San Miguel and formulates a clever plan. This stranger is smart.
Commonly referred to as the first spaghetti western, "A Fistful Of Dollars" evokes a new style: a script with grungy, mean characters; minimal dialogue; a hip protagonist vaguely similar to James Bond. Also, sets, costumes, and music are all highly stylized. I like the style.
The script is engineered for maximum entertainment. There are action climax sequences about every ten minutes. Sounds of gunshots are heightened. We never learn anything about Eastwood's character, which makes him mysterious, indeed.
Outdoor visuals were shot mostly in southern Spain. Cinematography makes use of long camera shots and extreme close-ups. Camera filters are poorly used in day for night shots. Production design is terrific. San Miguel looks pleasantly minimal with its whitewashed adobe dwellings and dirt streets.
The look of the film and the script convey a sense of isolation, mystery, and death. There are references to Easter: a crucifixion, resurrection, a last supper. Though I have never been an Eastwood fan, and would have preferred another actor in his role, the multi-national cast perform their parts well.
Aside from the casting of Eastwood, my main problem is the blurring of villains. With two evil gangs, it was hard to tell who was who, and which side each character was on. Overall, though, "A Fistful Of Dollars" is an entertaining western. I like its 1960s style much better than the stale, stereotypes of pre-1960 westerns. And that mournful, funereal dirge of Morricone's soundtrack adds enormously to the film's emotional tone.
Commonly referred to as the first spaghetti western, "A Fistful Of Dollars" evokes a new style: a script with grungy, mean characters; minimal dialogue; a hip protagonist vaguely similar to James Bond. Also, sets, costumes, and music are all highly stylized. I like the style.
The script is engineered for maximum entertainment. There are action climax sequences about every ten minutes. Sounds of gunshots are heightened. We never learn anything about Eastwood's character, which makes him mysterious, indeed.
Outdoor visuals were shot mostly in southern Spain. Cinematography makes use of long camera shots and extreme close-ups. Camera filters are poorly used in day for night shots. Production design is terrific. San Miguel looks pleasantly minimal with its whitewashed adobe dwellings and dirt streets.
The look of the film and the script convey a sense of isolation, mystery, and death. There are references to Easter: a crucifixion, resurrection, a last supper. Though I have never been an Eastwood fan, and would have preferred another actor in his role, the multi-national cast perform their parts well.
Aside from the casting of Eastwood, my main problem is the blurring of villains. With two evil gangs, it was hard to tell who was who, and which side each character was on. Overall, though, "A Fistful Of Dollars" is an entertaining western. I like its 1960s style much better than the stale, stereotypes of pre-1960 westerns. And that mournful, funereal dirge of Morricone's soundtrack adds enormously to the film's emotional tone.