A Fistful of Dynamite (1971)

Sergio Leone’s least known western (although nothing of Leone’s could really be described as obscure) and probably his most complex one. I’m not entirely convinced as to whether that complexity is a good thing (there’s aspects of the story here that I think are something of a mess) but it’s still an excellent film, just not one that immediately feels like a classic in the way that his other Westerns do.

The story is substantially the “standard” Spaghetti Western Mexican revolution plot (see for example The Mercenary and Companeros, although unusually in this case it somewhat appears that Leone is borrowing from Corbucci rather than the other way round…) with an unlikely Mexican peasant (Rod Steiger) somehow finding himself as a revolutionary hero with the aid of an experienced European/American gun-for-hire (James Coburn, as a former IRA fighter). There are some important nuances to this basic plot: in this case its the foreigner who seems commited to the revolutionary cause while the peasant’s support is somewhat wavering and largely motivated by money initially.

There’s considerable ambiguity in the story, especially relating to the James Coburn character. Some of that’s good – most notably his past involvement in the IRA told in flashback and featuring betrayal and a love triangle. Some of the ambiguity it less convincing: it isn’t really made clear what interest Coburn has in Steiger and why they are interacting in the early part of the story, and in my mind this comes off as slightly non-sensical rather than “unresolved mystery”.

There’s an well-handled shift in tone throughout the story, initially starting out as broad comedy (albeit violent and somewhat more rape-y than you’d probably see in a modern film) but gradually getting sadder and bleaker as the film progresses. Key turning points in this are the executions upon arrival in Mesa Verde (which largely take place in the background), the loss of Steiger’s family in a massacre and also the offscreen torture and confession of a doctor revolutionary leader (Romolo Valli) and how that relates to Coburn’s past.

The Blu-ray looks excellent to my eyes. There’s some complaints on the internet about a lack of the original mono sound track, which would certainly be nice and there’s little excuse for not including but which didn’t really spoil it for me. There isn’t currently a better format to see it in though.