A low-life bandit and an I.R.A. explosives expert rebel against the government and become heroes of the Mexican Revolution.A low-life bandit and an I.R.A. explosives expert rebel against the government and become heroes of the Mexican Revolution.A low-life bandit and an I.R.A. explosives expert rebel against the government and become heroes of the Mexican Revolution.
- Awards
- 1 win & 2 nominations
- Santerna
- (as Rick Battaglia)
- Gutierez
- (Italian, English version)
- (as Domingo Antoine, Jean Michel Antoine)
- …
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaSergio Leone offered the role of Juan Miranda to Eli Wallach, but Wallach had already committed to another project. After Leone begged Wallach to play the part, he dropped out of the other project and told Leone he'd do his movie. However, the studio already had Rod Steiger signed. Leone offered no compensation to Wallach, and Wallach subsequently sued.
- GoofsIn the train, the automatic pistol that Juan Miranda uses is a Browning GP35. As its names suggests, this model became available in 1935 (so a contemporary of the aforementioned MG42).
- Quotes
Juan Miranda: What's that?
John H. Mallory: It's a map.
[Juan lies down on top of it]
John H. Mallory: It's your country you're lyin' all over, there!
Juan Miranda: [drowsily] Hm-hm. Not my country. My country's... me and my family.
John H. Mallory: Well, your country's also Huerta, the governor, the landlords... Günther Ruiz and his locusts... this little revolution we're having here.
Juan Miranda: [alert] A revolution? "Little revolution"? Please, don't try to tell me about revolution! I know all about the revolutions and how they start! The people that read the books, they go to the people that don't read the books, and say "Ho-ho! The time has come to have a change, eh?"
John H. Mallory: Shhhh...
Juan Miranda: [mimicking John] Sh, sh, sh, sh, sh, SHIT, SHUSH! I know what I am talking about when I am talking about revolutions! The people who read the books go to the people who can't read the books, the poor people, and say, "We have to have a change." So, the poor people make the change, ah? And then, the people who read the books, they all sit around the big polished tables, and they talk and talk and talk and eat and eat and eat, eh? But what has happened to the poor people? THEY ARE DEAD! That's your revolution! Sh... so, please... don't tell me about revolutions. And what happens afterwards? The same fucking thing starts all over again!
John H. Mallory: [exhales] Whew. Hmmm.
[throws a book he was reading into the mud: Mikhael A. Bakunin, The Patriotism]
- Crazy creditsA quote from Chairman Mao regarding the nature of revolutions was removed from original English prints out of fear that audiences would misinterpret the quote's use as an endorsement of communist revolution. The quote was later put back into uncut prints.
- Alternate versionsThe new 5.1 remix of the soundtrack on the restored Region 2 Special Edition release uses incorrect music cues for several scenes including the restored long flashback scene at the end, and edits out two expletives, one is uttered by Juan while talking to himself before attacking the bridge, the other spoken by John on the train. Both of these are intact in all other restored versions. The title of the restored version is now "Duck You Sucker" while the title on the cover remains "A Fistful of Dynamite".
- ConnectionsEdited into Spaghetti Western Trailer Show (2007)
A Leone film, however, can only be as strong as the leads pushing it up, as in the dozens and dozens of westerns and other films that inspired Leone. Here he uses two character actors (for the most part of their careers), but indeed very good and astute ones at playing their parts. Rod Steiger, who has been in classic films like On the Waterfront and The Pawnbroker, here is slightly like a maturer version of Tuco from The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: he's still a bandit, with pillaging and beating and raping his way across the countryside, but he's also got a family to look after, who within his anti-hero heart are the most important things to him. Steiger's Juan is usually either surprised, quietly delighted, or agitated off to certain degrees. He plays this for all it's worth, but he also finds the best notes in the moments when he brings out laughs, and in the more sorrowful moments later on in the film.
There's also James Coburn, veteran of many, many films, given one of the great themes of any character in a Leone film by composer Ennio Morricone (there's some sort of instrument or distortion of one in his theme that calls for complete, unusual attention on the viewer). Coburn's Sean (err, John, depending) is a character with some ghosts, perhaps, in his past, and who unlike Juan is more interested in 'other' interests. Although Juan tries not to notice it until the sequence at Mesa Verde (which I won't reveal), Sean has been through a revolution in Ireland, and understand more or less what happens with it. He brings in Juan, after a rather strange yet hilarious encounter, into his web of revolutionary fighters, which doesn't go over to well with him at first. As their story unravels, Coburn still plays it like a pro, being the straight character to Steiger's very theatrical-like performance. He doesn't quite have the mystery an Eastwood or Bronson had in the other Leone films, but he does carry a certain quality about him that puts him in a needed place in the Leone cannon.
Speaking of which, one must not over-look how complex a film like this is in some ways. Leone was not originally the director (it went through the hands of Peter Bogdanovich and Sam Peckinpah before coming to him, coincidentally the opening scene with Juan is a cool homage to the Wild Bunch opening). Yet somehow he puts his stamp, and wonderful mark, on Fistful of Dynamite. This time more history is worked into the film- unlike the civil war acting like a harsh backdrop to the more 'fun' elements of the adventure in The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, the war in this film affects the main character, and adds a serious tone to an otherwise standard genre picture.
The Steiger character, along with the audience, gets a look at a massive amount of death, or rather the images of the dead: a tower filled with soldiers blown at night, the powerful pans and camera moves across the bodies, real combat, and the suggestions of what goes into the revolution. But its not just the violence of battles that get into the film, its also the personal attitudes during the revolution- the bourgeois vs the peasants (one of Leone's masterstrokes at close-ups in montage is displayed when Juan is on the train with the near monstrous American wealthy early in the film). Leone manages to work in various and cinematic explosions, in-depth or testing close-ups, and sweeping long shots of soldiers, landscapes, and struggle.
Coming back to Ennio Morricone's score- this time, Morricone experiments with some styles of his talents. As when Leone uses a funny, almost cartoon-like, image above Sean from Juans' eyes of a 'Banco' sign (akin the a 'dollar' sign above cartoon characters), Morricone adds a church organ and choir to go along with it. There are also the uses of themes throughout the film, as in Leone's other films, that act like striking, beautiful calling cards. The opening theme is pounding; Sean's flashbacks are given the sumptuous qualities that go with the best (and worst) nostalgia; the scenes with action and suspense, though almost a little standard, still work far better than many standard score of today.
Fistful of Dynamite is entertainment on an epic scale, with a broader and somewhat deeper sub-text, and it comes out with flying colors. Some may not take to it; it could be argued that Steiger, much like Eli Wallach, isn't very convincing as a Mexican bandit, or that the shifting in tones is a little much, even conventional in a weird sense. But it's hard to argue the sense of control that Leone has over his environment in the film, the assuredness of style, and that at the least the parts are greater than the whole. For me, it's a film I've seen twice in one week (once to soak in and get more of the enjoyment, the second time to get even more out of it, and to notice the visual details), and I hope it gets better the next time around.
- Quinoa1984
- Aug 5, 2005
- Permalink
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- A Fistful of Dynamite
- Filming locations
- Toner's Pub, Baggot Street, Dublin, Ireland(Flashback scenes in pub)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross worldwide
- $980