{"id":8503,"date":"2015-01-03T00:25:20","date_gmt":"2015-01-03T08:25:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/franklycurious.com\/wp\/?p=8503"},"modified":"2015-01-03T00:25:20","modified_gmt":"2015-01-03T08:25:20","slug":"sergio-leone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/franklycurious.com\/wp\/2015\/01\/03\/sergio-leone\/","title":{"rendered":"Sergio Leone"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"SergioOn this day in 1929, the great film director Sergio Leone<\/a> was born. It’s rare that a filmmaker like Leone comes along. I wouldn’t call him a complete filmmaker like Akira Kurosawa — from whom Leone learned a great deal. Leone was a highly idiosyncratic filmmaker. There are a lot of fetishistic elements to his films — and I’m not just talking about his vaguely creepy sexual interests. There is something extremely sensual about the way he told stories. His films have a fascination with point of view. I think that is where his interest in extreme close-ups and long takes comes from.<\/p>\n

There is one thing that I think we really need to clarify, however. I’m very fond of A Fistful of Dollars<\/a><\/i>. But it is nowhere near as good a film as Yojimbo<\/a><\/i>. There simply isn’t a single thing that Leone did better in remaking the film. And mostly, he did worse. But given that Yojimbo<\/i> is both a great and a perfect film, that maybe doesn’t say much. But if you have never seen Yojimbo<\/i>, you really should.<\/p>\n

The Leone film that I like best is A Fistful of Dynamite<\/a><\/i>. Most of Leone’s films are more about style than about substance. But this one is about something. Set during the Mexican Revolution, it turns a very cynical eye toward revolution as a means of progress. War means death — whatever the cause. And usually, the cause is just an excuse. Of course, personally, I have mixed feelings about the Mexican Revolution. I certainly admire a lot of the people involved in it, but in the end it didn’t come to much. And even today when Mexico is nominally a democracy, look who leads the country.<\/p>\n

Here is the whole movie online. Watch it while it is available:<\/p>\n