A Fistful of Dollars (4KUHD)

Description

Director Sergio Leone reworks Akira Kurosawa's "Yojimbo" into this landmark "spaghetti western" featuring Clint Eastwood in his breakthrough role as "the Man with No Name." Arriving in a frontier town where two criminal families are competing for control, the grizzled gunslinger begins to pit the opposing factions against each other, lining his own pockets in the process. With Marianne Koch, Johnny Wels; features a score by Ennio Morricone. 100 min. Standard and Widescreen; Soundtrack: English. Review: The best print of this film I have ever seen! - I cannot praise this box set enough. The best print of this film I have ever seen. And it sounds glorious. Colours are great, considering the condition and product quality of the original negative. The book and poster are of high quality as well. So well worth a purchase. For any fans out there; get it while you can as this is a limited run. You won't be disappointed. Review: This movie gave birth to the Spaghetti Western genre. - It's been estimated that up until 1960, 40% of American movies were Westerns. When TV came along, Westerns migrated to the small screen and Hollywood studios cut back on their production, leaving a huge gap in the market that Spaghetti Westerns would fill. The first big Spaghetti Western to take America by storm was 'A Fistful of Dollars', which was released to American audiences in 1967. (It had initially been released in Italy in 1964, but due to legal action being taken by Japanese director Akira Kurosawa, who argued that 'A Fistful of Dollars' was an unofficial remake of his film 'Yojimbo' (1961), the film had to wait three additional years before it was given a general American release.) 'A Fistful of Dollars' was something new for American audiences and therein lies its appeal. First of all, its main star, Clint Eastwood, had been working in TV as cowboy, Rowdy Yates, in the popular television series 'Rawhide', which ran for 8 seasons from 1959 to 1965. Unfortunately (or fortunately as things turned out), Eastwood's TV contract disallowed him from taking movie roles in America, but not in Europe. Sergio Leone, who had seen Eastwood in 'Rawhide', thought he might be the perfect lead in his upcoming movie 'A Fistful of Dollars', so he invited him over to Europe and the two men agreed to work together. The releationship would be a fruitful one, with the partnership spurning two additional Spaghetti Westerns ('For a Few Dollars More', 1965, and 'The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly', 1966) that would eventually become known as the 'Dollars Trilogy'. Eastwood brought his own unique style of acting to role of 'The Man With No Name' in a 'A Fistful of Dollars'. (The Eastwood character is referred to a 'Joe' a number of times by coffinmaker, Piripero.) For example, Eastwood was instrumental in creating the 'Man with No Name's' distinctive visual style. He bought black jeans from a sports shop on Hollywood Boulevard; the hat came from a Santa Monica wardrobe firm; and the trademark cigars from a Beverly Hills store. He also brought props from 'Rawhide', including a Cobra-handled Colt, a gunbelt and spurs. The poncho was acquired in Spain. Director Sergio Leone and costume designer Carlo Simi decided on the Spanish poncho for Eastwood's character. On the DVD commentary for 'The Good, the Bad and the Ugly', it is said that although Eastwood is a non-smoker, he felt that the foul taste of a cigar in his mouth put him in the right frame of mind for his character. Leone reportedly took quickly to Eastwood's distinctive style, and commented: "More than an actor, I needed a mask, and Eastwood, at that time, only had two expressions: with hat and no hat." The second appeal that would have piqued an interest in American audiences was the unique directing style of Sergio Leone, who had his own signature method of visual direction. Leone wanted an operatic feel to his Westerns, so there are many examples of extreme closeups of the faces of different characters, functioning like arias in a traditional opera. The rhythm, emotion and communication within scenes can be attributed to Leone's meticulous framing of his closeups. Leone's closeups are akin to portraits, often lit with Renaissance-type lighting effects, and are considered by some as pieces of design in their own right. Both Eastwood and Leone agreed to keep the dialogue of the main character to a minimum, thus increasing the mystery and aura surrounding him. In the first scene, we see 'The Man With No Name' ride into the little frontier town of San Miguel, where he witnesses a woman and her son being abused by bandits. In a typical American Western, the hero would come to the aid of the women and her child with guns blazing, but in this instance the Eastwood character just watches on and does nothing. Despite spotting 'The Man With No Name', the bandits ignore him and say nothing. The consequence of this is that audiences are left feeling impotent, angry that the lead character has done nothing to stop the abuse, and angry that they themselves are unable to throw the desperate woman and her child a lifeline. 'A Fistful of Dollars' gave birth to a new type of cowboy hero, one that was morally ambiguous and could switch allegiances at any time according to his own selfish interests. The town of San Miguel is dominated by two feuding familes, The Rojos and the Baxters, and 'The Man WIth No Name' has no problem aligning himself with either at different times as well as playing the two off against each other when it suits him. As 'The Man WIth No Name' tells the town's innkeeper, Silvanito: "Baxter's over there, Rojo's there, me right in the middle . . . There's money to be made in a place like this." Finally, we must mention the unique music of Ennion Morricone, who scored 'A Fistful of Dollars' and worked with Leone on six films between 1964 and 1984. Morricone's score features unconventional instruments and adds whistling, bells, Spanish guitars, and male chanting to the opening credits, something never heard before, and a sound that captures our attention immediately. Some of the music is mournful, as during the hostage exchange scene, where the desperate woman we met at the beginning of the film is forced to give up her child and husband and hand herself over completely to Ramon ( Gian Maria Volonté), the cold-blooded leader of the Rojo Brothers. The music at this point in the film is so sad that it tugs at the heart strings and has audiences reaching for the tissue box. 'A Fistful of Dollars' is definitely a pioneer in the Western genre and is one of the best examples of a Spaghetti Western. Hundreds of Spaghettis were made from the early 60s to the late 70s, some good, most bad. One thing is for sure is that 'A Fistful of Dollars' provided the template for the future movies of the genre, which included gritty, low-budget aesthetics, intense graphic violence, and morally ambiguous antiheroes. What's more, most of these movies were shot in Spain (Almeria) and became a European phenomenon that produced a number of iconic European stars, such as Gian Maria Volonté, Franco Nero, Giuliano Gemma, Klaus Kinski and Claudia Cardinale, who sadly passed away on 23 September, 2025. Her role in 'Once Upon a Time in the West' (1968), directed by Sergio Leone, is up there with 'A Fistful of Dollars' when it comes to the creme de la creme of Spaghetti Westerns and shouldn't be missed.