A Train for Durango Review: Difference between revisions

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The film has a rather clean look. Tessari must have written the Gringo part – played by Steffen - with Giuliano Gemma in mind. At the same time, the movie is rather verbose (and noisy), with characters raising their voices while having lasting discussions. We’re far removed from the classical world of the taciturn spaghetti western hero. Maybe this is the Di Leo factor. Most crime films he would direct himself in the seventies would also be talkative and noisy. Steffen is not the most likely choice to play a Gemma character (2), but apparently he picked up enough during the comedy classes given by Mark Damon to pull himself through (3). Damon is his usual charming/slimy self as the American on wheels. Some people can’t stand the guy (who’s obviously very full of himself), but I think he’s quite effective in these type of roles. But it’s definitely Salerno’s movie, it’s a pity that this fine actor (who dubbed Eastwood in Italian for the Dollar movies) wasn’t asked more often to play similar roles. The trio of actors are joined by the lovely Dominique Boschero and an entire family of Spanish supporting actors: Roberto Camardiel, Lorenzo Robledo, José Bodalo, Tito Garcia, José Canelejas, Simon Arriaga, you name it, they’re all there (yes, even José Manuel Martin, and last but not least Aldo Sambrell). Carlo Rustichelli’s score is as upbeat and lively as the movie itself. The traditional plaintive trumpet is only used during the build-up to the final duel.  
The film has a rather clean look. Tessari must have written the Gringo part – played by Steffen - with Giuliano Gemma in mind. At the same time, the movie is rather verbose (and noisy), with characters raising their voices while having lasting discussions. We’re far removed from the classical world of the taciturn spaghetti western hero. Maybe this is the Di Leo factor. Most crime films he would direct himself in the seventies would also be talkative and noisy. Steffen is not the most likely choice to play a Gemma character (2), but apparently he picked up enough during the comedy classes given by Mark Damon to pull himself through (3). Damon is his usual charming/slimy self as the American on wheels. Some people can’t stand the guy (who’s obviously very full of himself), but I think he’s quite effective in these type of roles. But it’s definitely Salerno’s movie, it’s a pity that this fine actor (who dubbed Eastwood in Italian for the Dollar movies) wasn’t asked more often to play similar roles. The trio of actors are joined by the lovely Dominique Boschero and an entire family of Spanish supporting actors: Roberto Camardiel, Lorenzo Robledo, José Bodalo, Tito Garcia, José Canelejas, Simon Arriaga, you name it, they’re all there (yes, even José Manuel Martin, and last but not least Aldo Sambrell). Carlo Rustichelli’s score is as upbeat and lively as the movie itself. The traditional plaintive trumpet is only used during the build-up to the final duel.  
I'd say ''A Train for Durango'' is on a level with Castellari’s [[Vado... l'ammazzo e torno|Any Gun Can Play]], better than his [[Tre che sconvolsero il West - vado, vedo e sparo, I|I came, I saw, I shot]], but not as good as [[Lo chiamavano Trinità|They call me Trinity]] or ''Don' turn the other Cheek''. It's decent, not great, and something's missing. I'm not too fond of slapstick fistfights, but somehow they seem to belong to comedy westerns. And Caiano's direction isn't always inspired. It often feels like a Tessari movie, and with him in the director's chair and Gemma in front of the camera, it would have been a great movie, half serious, half tongue-in-cheek, with the comedy better integrated into the story.





Revision as of 11:02, 19 November 2011

Durango poster1.jpg
UN TRENO PER DURANGO
Cast:
  • Anthony Steffen
  • Enrico Maria Salerno
  • Mark Damon
  • Dominique Boschero
  • Roberto Camardiel
  • Manolo Zarzo
  • José Bodalo
  • Tito Garcia
  • Aldo Sambrell
  • Mirella Pamphila
  • Rafael Albaicin
  • Simon Arriaga
  • Lorenzo Robledo
  • José Canelejas
  • José Manuel Martin

Director:

  • Mario Caiano

Story & Screenplay:

  • Duccio Tessari
  • Mario Caiano
  • Fernando di Leo

Music:

  • Carlo Rustichelli
Vlcsnap-2011-11-18-16h50m40s67 - kopie.png

A Train for Durango (Un Treno per Durango)

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A comedy western from the glory days of the genre, years before the Trinity craze took over. It picks up some ideas from Leone’s Dollar trilogy (and the train from A Bullet for the General) to create a picaresque adventure movie set against the background of the Mexican revolution. With a rapid succession of lighthearted and violent vignettes, it seems to announce the Zapata westerns in the style of Corbucci, but the atmosphere is more relaxed, less tense, more in the line with Duccio Tessari’s post-western Don’t turn the other cheek. Tessari is mentioned – alongside director Caiano – as the author of the original story as well as the screenplay, but Ferdinando Di Leo has claimed that he had rewritten Tessari’s original story and that the screenplay was entirely his (1).

Durango 4.jpg


Steffen and Salerno are Gringo and Lucas, two adventurers on their way back to Texas from Guatemala (where Steffen was shot in the behind). They sell their horses and guns to buy tickets for the train to Durango. On board is also a safe carrying a large sum of government money. While Steffen is flirting with a French mademoiselle and Salerno is sneaking up on passengers to steal their food, the train is robbed by three different gangs, led by the unholy trinity of El Lobo, Heraclio and El Jefe, who have joined hands for the occasion. The safe is stolen and the mademoiselle is kidnapped, but Gringo and Lucas, the only survivors of the massacre, accidently find the two keys of the safe, and are now the only ones who can open it.


The remainder of the movie has the couple getting in (and out of) all sorts of trouble while trying to get close to the safe. At various occasions, the two get help from a mysterious American, who’s driving around in a red car and seems to have a special gift to be on the right spot in the right moment. We get a series of infiltrations, double-crossings and misunderstandings, plus a few truly unexpected twists (the least expected of them all echoes a similar moment in Seven Winchesters for a Massacre). The movie refrains from the elaborated fistfights from the Trinities (and the comedies Castellari made at about the same time), concentrating on situational humor rather than slapstick. The best remebered scene of the entire movie, is probably the (rather grim) 'Death Ring' scene, with a group of people gathered round a table, playing a Mexican variation on Russian Roulette.


In a traditional picaresque story the roguish protagonists – good-natured but lethal – use their wit to outsmart their enemies; in this movie the two are not so clever and more than once outsmarted by their opponents. A nice, very funny example (referring to a scene in For a Few dollars More) has Gringo and Lucas offering their help to bandit leader Bodalo: they are in possession of the keys and he might introduce them to El Lobo, who’s in possession of the safe. In Leone’s movie Colonel Mortimer was smart enough to show his proficiencies with the gun before he started talking about the safe, and he was also the only person capable of applying the appropriate techniques. Our two heroes have no guns, only two keys, and are helpless when the bandit puts them up to their neck in the sand and start threatening and torturing them.


The film has a rather clean look. Tessari must have written the Gringo part – played by Steffen - with Giuliano Gemma in mind. At the same time, the movie is rather verbose (and noisy), with characters raising their voices while having lasting discussions. We’re far removed from the classical world of the taciturn spaghetti western hero. Maybe this is the Di Leo factor. Most crime films he would direct himself in the seventies would also be talkative and noisy. Steffen is not the most likely choice to play a Gemma character (2), but apparently he picked up enough during the comedy classes given by Mark Damon to pull himself through (3). Damon is his usual charming/slimy self as the American on wheels. Some people can’t stand the guy (who’s obviously very full of himself), but I think he’s quite effective in these type of roles. But it’s definitely Salerno’s movie, it’s a pity that this fine actor (who dubbed Eastwood in Italian for the Dollar movies) wasn’t asked more often to play similar roles. The trio of actors are joined by the lovely Dominique Boschero and an entire family of Spanish supporting actors: Roberto Camardiel, Lorenzo Robledo, José Bodalo, Tito Garcia, José Canelejas, Simon Arriaga, you name it, they’re all there (yes, even José Manuel Martin, and last but not least Aldo Sambrell). Carlo Rustichelli’s score is as upbeat and lively as the movie itself. The traditional plaintive trumpet is only used during the build-up to the final duel.


I'd say A Train for Durango is on a level with Castellari’s Any Gun Can Play, better than his I came, I saw, I shot, but not as good as They call me Trinity or Don' turn the other Cheek. It's decent, not great, and something's missing. I'm not too fond of slapstick fistfights, but somehow they seem to belong to comedy westerns. And Caiano's direction isn't always inspired. It often feels like a Tessari movie, and with him in the director's chair and Gemma in front of the camera, it would have been a great movie, half serious, half tongue-in-cheek, with the comedy better integrated into the story.


How to watch this movie? The Koch Media DVD is probably the best option. I’ve only heard good things about it, but personally I watched the Italian DVD by Medusa. It has excellent video quality (I guess they used the same master as Koch) and two audio tracks, both in Italian, one Mono (192 kb/sec), one 5.1 surround (448 Kb/sec). In spite of the different bitrate, both tracks are equally loud. Rustichelli’s score sounded a bit better on the surround track, but I found dialogue easier to understand on the mono track. There are optional Italian subtitles HOH. Other than the trailer and some written info, there are no extras. There’s also a Spanish DVD by Suevia (4), but according to Julio Alberto video quality is mediocre.



Notes:


--By Scherpschutter

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