And Now ... Make your Peace with God Review: Difference between revisions
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[[Ed ora... raccomanda l'anima a Dio!|See Database page]] | [[Ed ora... raccomanda l'anima a Dio!|See Database page]] | ||
One of the thirteen low-budget spaghetti westerns made by | One of the thirteen low-budget spaghetti westerns made by Demofilo Fidani, the Ed Wood of the Italian western, also known under various colorful, often funny sounding pseudonyms like Miles Deem, Dick Spitfire, Demos Philos or Slim Alone. It's usually called one of his better efforts. | ||
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==Fardin== | ==Fardin== | ||
- ''Special thanks to '''Ellie Bellie''' for her help on the Persian language (Farsi)'' | - ''Special thanks to '''Ellie Bellie''' for her help on the Persian language (Farsi)'' | ||
Revision as of 12:43, 12 August 2014
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| Two men are on their way to Denver City to settle a personal score. One is looking for the murderer of his father, the other for a former friend who stole his gold. They're joined by a third person, a mysterious pistolero. One of Fidani's many low-budget westerns, and not a bad one. Lots of action, and even a whiff of eroticism. |
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And Now ... Make your Peace with God (Ed Ora ... racommanda l'anima a Dio!)
One of the thirteen low-budget spaghetti westerns made by Demofilo Fidani, the Ed Wood of the Italian western, also known under various colorful, often funny sounding pseudonyms like Miles Deem, Dick Spitfire, Demos Philos or Slim Alone. It's usually called one of his better efforts.
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Two men, Cooper and Stanley, travel to Denver City to settle a personal score. Cooper is looking for a man called Jonathan Clay, who murdered his father and grandfather, and Stanley wants to speak to a former partner, Corbett, who once stole his gold and threw him in the river where he had dug up the nuggets. The stagecoach bringing the two men to town is hold up, but the robbers are shot by a man who appears out of nothing. His name is Sanders and he tells the others that he also has some business to look after in Denver. Upon their arrival, they're told that Jonathan Clay has become a local tyrant while Corbett, in league with him, is running for the sheriff's office ...
The film is listed by Imdb as an Italian-Iranian coproduction, but no Iranian production company is mentioned and it looks like the only Persian connection is the presence of actor Mohammed Ali Fardin, a former wrestler turned actor and a mega star in his own country. There are a few continuity problems but the screenplay is a bit more coherent than you might expect from a Fidani movie; there's at least some character motivation and the finale (will this guy Sanders run off with the gold or not?) is well-developed. Thanks to cinematographer Franco Villa there are also a couple of visually inspired moments. But don't get over-excited: we remain firmly in Fidani land with Denver spelled as 'Denwer' on a banner and the (in)famous coyote howl loop played over a night scene.
Ed Ora ... was also the first leading role for stuntman Fabio Testi, but he was still asked to perform as a stunt double for others (1). You might even recognize his strong shoulders during a cat fight (!) involving French actress Cristina Penz, when she and her opponent (probably a dummy) roll down from the stairs. With Testi being a stuntman and Fardin being a former wrestler, the action scenes (especially the fistfights) have a spectacular look. Some of the falls (from balconies, cliffs, rooftops, etc;) are very spectacular, even furious, with the victims making summersaults, double-rittbergers and God knows what else. Other scenes have a comical edge, such as a fat man using his beer belly and butt to bounce back opponents and a guy sliding down a railing after being shot; what makes this scene particularly funny (and even a bit scary) is this railing shaking like hell.
Both Testi and Fardin also had a reputation as ladies' men in their respective home countries, but it's Cameron who has a brief romance with La Penz. In a typical Fidani scene he spies on her while she's having a bath in the presence of one of the villains, an older person licking his lips. Penz is quite sexy and also sings a fairly ridiculous song, Yes I love (with more sighs than words in the lyrics), but apparently she had a double in that scene as well, a voice double called Mary Afi Usuah (2). In a flashback, showing the slaughter of Cooper's family, Testi (with a few grey hairs) plays his own father while the grandfather is played by director Fidani himself. Unfortunately Fidani's daughter Simone (the most beautiful eyes in Italian cinema) is not in the movie - maybe Demofilo was afraid she'd fall for Fardin and travel with him to Iran. A clever guy, this Fidani.
Notes:
- (1) Marco Giusti, Dizionario del western all'italiana
- (2) She's not too well-known but some of her recordings are still available via eBay (that's also where I found the info on her life). Apparently she was a classically trained opera singer who had turned to soul ballads and pop tunes. God only knows how Fidani ever found her!
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Fardin
- Special thanks to Ellie Bellie for her help on the Persian language (Farsi)
(Mohammed Ali) Fardin was born and raised in a poor neighbourhood in the South of Tehran. He won a silver medal for his country during the 1954 World Championship Wrestling (free style) in Tokyo. His popularity as a champ helped launching his career as an actor and ladies man in Persian cinema in the Sixties. He also appeared in his movies as a singer, but his voice was always dubbed.
His popular appeal came from the type of character he played: a blue-collar hero whose physical and moral strength, along with his honesty and altruism, helped audiences of the middle and lower classes to identify with him. He was called The King of Hearts, after the movie of the same title (Soltane Ghalbha, literally: Sultan of the Hearts) that had made him a star. Ed Ora ... appears to be the only movie he made outside his home country.
After the Islamic Revolution of 1979 he appeared in only one more film and his earlier films were banned because they contained 'romantic scenes, alcohol, scantily dressed women, night clubs and a lifestyle altogether frowned by the Islamic establishment' (1). He earned a living by running a bakery in Tehran and although he was banished from the screen, his films became popular among younger Iranians thanks to illegal copies on VHS and DVD. His funeral on April 9, 2000 was attended by more than 20,000 mourners; loud chants were heard at the funeral, which also served as a protest rally against the restrictive cultural policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran (2). Many famous Iranians came to the Behesht-e-Zahra (Paradise of Flowers) cemetery in Southern Tehran to pay their respect to the King of Hearts.
The second syllable of his name -din- is pronounced with a long sound in Farsi, so the transcription 'Fardeen' would have been more logical, but the spelling 'Fardin' is widely accepted, even among authors of Persian descent.
Notes:
- (1) BBC News, Iranian King of Hearts dies, Sunday, April 9, 2000
- (2) Encyclopedia Iranica, iranicaonline.org/
Links:
- Soltane Ghalbha - the movie can be watched on You Tube, but only in Farsi, with no subtitles available:
- Fardin: This short clip may give you an idea why his movies where banned. Farsi language only, but the clip is quite funny:
--By Scherpschutter
