This is the sixth feature length film I've seen by director Sergio Leone. I chose to watch this film based on previous good ratings I've given other films by this director and to better my favorite directors by algorithm listing.
Giù la testa (Duck, You Sucker) (A Fistful of Dynamite)
Sergio Leone is the author of my very favorite film, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. The similarly styled and A Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More, both starring Clint Eastwood as essentially the same character were highly enjoyable lead ups. You could see Leone's style developing and improving along the same path. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly was the perfect climax of that style.
You could say every single one of his films took place at an era in history bit later than his previous one. His next film Once Upon a Time in the West is also fantastic and shares a lot in style with The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, but there is a definite change in direction as well. I guess he was thinking since he had perfected that style, there was no reason to keep remaking it. Once Upon a Time in the West is slower paced, more brooding, and for the first and only time as a lead role for a woman. Something about the movies seem to be more and more dark and socially and politically conscious. To put it frankly, they are less fun.
Since I had already seen his final film Once Upon a Time in America, I can now see that I should have expected what tone Duck, You Sucker would be in. But for some reason I thought I read here that this was Leone's most comical film. That is pretty far from the truth. The two main characters can themselves be comical, but in a way that is covering up or coming out of a lot more sickness and pain.
It's a film about revolution, with some of Leone's signature sparse and enigmatic character flashbacks. Yeah it's a great film, but for pure satisfaction, I prefer the dollars trilogy era Leone.
Sergio Leone:
Total feature length films seen: 6
Previous average film score: 9
New average film score: 8.8333
Rating: 8/10