Taste for Killing Review: Difference between revisions
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The bounty hunter Hank "Lanky" Fellows watches an assault on a money transport from a distance, but doesn't take action when all soldiers escorting the money are killed. The leader of the bandits, Sanchez, departs with two of his men to put the money in a safe place, and sends the rest of his gang to the town, in the uniforms of the soldiers they have just killed. Lanky starts stalking Sanchez and eventually kills him and his men. He then rides into town to return the stolen money to the rightful owners and helps them wiping out the entire. The banker and mine owner ask him to put the money he has earned in the town's bank and ask his assistance for the protection of a gold transport, against a bandit far more dangerous than Sanchez, a guy called Gus Kennebeck. Lanky gladly accepts the offer, because Kennebeck is the man who has killed his brother years ago ... | |||
Taste of Killing was the first western directed by Tonino Valerii, better known for two of his other genre entries often appearing on people's lists of favorite spaghetti westerns, [[Giorni dell'ira, I|Day of Anger]] (1967) and [[Mio nome è Nessuno, Il|My Name is Nobody]] (1974). Vallerii, who had worked for [[Sergio Leone]] on both Per un pugno di dollari|A Fistful of Dollars and per qualche dollaro in più|For a few Dollars More, was recommended for the job by Leone himself after the original - Spanish - director had been fired by the producers. It is also sometimes said that Leone had come up with the original idea for the movie - a bounty hunter who doesn't chase outlaws but follows money transports, knowing that outlaws inevitably will turn up - but I haven't been able to find any conformation of this. However, stylistically the film is deeply indebted to Leone, with lots of familiar faces from the Dollar movies appearing in supporting roles. | |||
Taste of Killing lacks the psychological dimension of ''Day of Anger'' and the ambitions of ''My Name is Nobody''. It's more a straightforward (if morally ambiguous) action movie. Nevertheless, it is considered by some to be Valerii's best film (1). Personally I'm not sure what to think of it. The first twenty minutes, with Lanky Fellow stalking Sanchez and his men from a safe distance, are wonderful. Lanky's rifle, fitted with a telescope, carries further than the rifles of his opponents and he repeatedly shows them how easily he could kill them. Valerii manages to create a nail-biting tension, helped by Fernando Sancho's flamboyant performance as the outrageous but desperate bandit leader. Those twenty minutes may have influenced Don Medford's exercise in sadism [[The Hunting Party Film/DVD Review|The Hunting Party]](1971). But afterwards the film never regains the full grandeur of this cat and mouse play. Lanky is offered to protect the bank on a no cure, no pay basis: when the bank will be robbed, he'll lose everything, if he manages to protect it successfully, the money he has earned by killing Sanchez and his gang, will be doubled. The story has enough twists to hold your attention, but several story elements aren't properly elaborated and the key characters feel a little underdeveloped. | |||
The main character, Lanky Fellows, is analphabetic and nearly completely unworldly, caring more for his rifle than for anything else. A person hard to relate to. Furthermore his behavior is far from consistent: he shoots people - according to the original Italian title - ''per il gusto di uccidere'' that is: ''for the taste of killing''. This seems to suggest that he is a sadist, but he has a sense of fair play: when Martin believes Lanky's rifle is better than his, he proposes to swap them. You may say that it's not easy to relate to characters like No Name or Django either, but they serve as a kind of moral anchor: we know we have entered a perverted world, and that they probably are the only ones that can prevent a state of total anarchy. Lanky's opponent, Gus Kennebach, is a bit hard to fathom as well: he's not presented as the incarnation of evil; he's bad, he's dangerous, but he's not an egomaniac misanthrope: he cares for his girlfriend and his girlfriend cares for him. The story progressing, we sense the desire to learn more about these two opponents, but these wishes aren't granted. | |||
Taste of Killing is a violent, spaghetti western, made by a Leone student. It's beautifully shot, by Stelvio Massi on familiar Almeria locations, with lots of familiar faces from the Dollar movies appearing in supporting roles. In an inventive reference to A Fistful of Dollars it is George Wang, one of the villains, who is severely beaten up, and not the hero. We also get a character modeled after The Prophet from For a Few Dollars More: an old timer observing all procedures from his garret with the help of a portable mirror. | |||
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'''''Note:''''' | |||
(1) "''When first released, I found it wonderful (...) none of Valerii's films, despite their bigger production values and greater success, has ever given me that same impression of freshness''" - Marco Giusti, Dizionario del western all'italiana | |||
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Revision as of 12:06, 23 April 2014
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The bounty hunter Hank "Lanky" Fellows watches an assault on a money transport from a distance, but doesn't take action when all soldiers escorting the money are killed. The leader of the bandits, Sanchez, departs with two of his men to put the money in a safe place, and sends the rest of his gang to the town, in the uniforms of the soldiers they have just killed. Lanky starts stalking Sanchez and eventually kills him and his men. He then rides into town to return the stolen money to the rightful owners and helps them wiping out the entire. The banker and mine owner ask him to put the money he has earned in the town's bank and ask his assistance for the protection of a gold transport, against a bandit far more dangerous than Sanchez, a guy called Gus Kennebeck. Lanky gladly accepts the offer, because Kennebeck is the man who has killed his brother years ago ...
Taste of Killing was the first western directed by Tonino Valerii, better known for two of his other genre entries often appearing on people's lists of favorite spaghetti westerns, Day of Anger (1967) and My Name is Nobody (1974). Vallerii, who had worked for Sergio Leone on both Per un pugno di dollari|A Fistful of Dollars and per qualche dollaro in più|For a few Dollars More, was recommended for the job by Leone himself after the original - Spanish - director had been fired by the producers. It is also sometimes said that Leone had come up with the original idea for the movie - a bounty hunter who doesn't chase outlaws but follows money transports, knowing that outlaws inevitably will turn up - but I haven't been able to find any conformation of this. However, stylistically the film is deeply indebted to Leone, with lots of familiar faces from the Dollar movies appearing in supporting roles.
Taste of Killing lacks the psychological dimension of Day of Anger and the ambitions of My Name is Nobody. It's more a straightforward (if morally ambiguous) action movie. Nevertheless, it is considered by some to be Valerii's best film (1). Personally I'm not sure what to think of it. The first twenty minutes, with Lanky Fellow stalking Sanchez and his men from a safe distance, are wonderful. Lanky's rifle, fitted with a telescope, carries further than the rifles of his opponents and he repeatedly shows them how easily he could kill them. Valerii manages to create a nail-biting tension, helped by Fernando Sancho's flamboyant performance as the outrageous but desperate bandit leader. Those twenty minutes may have influenced Don Medford's exercise in sadism The Hunting Party(1971). But afterwards the film never regains the full grandeur of this cat and mouse play. Lanky is offered to protect the bank on a no cure, no pay basis: when the bank will be robbed, he'll lose everything, if he manages to protect it successfully, the money he has earned by killing Sanchez and his gang, will be doubled. The story has enough twists to hold your attention, but several story elements aren't properly elaborated and the key characters feel a little underdeveloped.
The main character, Lanky Fellows, is analphabetic and nearly completely unworldly, caring more for his rifle than for anything else. A person hard to relate to. Furthermore his behavior is far from consistent: he shoots people - according to the original Italian title - per il gusto di uccidere that is: for the taste of killing. This seems to suggest that he is a sadist, but he has a sense of fair play: when Martin believes Lanky's rifle is better than his, he proposes to swap them. You may say that it's not easy to relate to characters like No Name or Django either, but they serve as a kind of moral anchor: we know we have entered a perverted world, and that they probably are the only ones that can prevent a state of total anarchy. Lanky's opponent, Gus Kennebach, is a bit hard to fathom as well: he's not presented as the incarnation of evil; he's bad, he's dangerous, but he's not an egomaniac misanthrope: he cares for his girlfriend and his girlfriend cares for him. The story progressing, we sense the desire to learn more about these two opponents, but these wishes aren't granted.
Taste of Killing is a violent, spaghetti western, made by a Leone student. It's beautifully shot, by Stelvio Massi on familiar Almeria locations, with lots of familiar faces from the Dollar movies appearing in supporting roles. In an inventive reference to A Fistful of Dollars it is George Wang, one of the villains, who is severely beaten up, and not the hero. We also get a character modeled after The Prophet from For a Few Dollars More: an old timer observing all procedures from his garret with the help of a portable mirror.
Note:
(1) "When first released, I found it wonderful (...) none of Valerii's films, despite their bigger production values and greater success, has ever given me that same impression of freshness" - Marco Giusti, Dizionario del western all'italiana
--By Scherpschutter
