Sabata Review (Scherpschutter): Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 16:27, 27 April 2018

In 1969 the production of spaghetti westerns was in decline, but Gianfranco Parolini's tongue-in-cheek If you meet Sartana, Pray for your Death (1968) had done reasonably well. A sequel was inevitable, but because Parolini had fallen out with his producer Aldo Addobbati, it was directed by Giuliano Carnimeo. Parolini then got the offer, from Alberto Grimaldi (from Leone's production house Pea), to direct a similar tongue-in-cheek movie, featuring a character named Sabata. Lee Van Cleef had no experience with the more light-hearted approach to the genre and was therefore rather sceptic, but he was taken to a showing of Parolini's war adventure movie Five for Hell, a kind of light version of The Dirty Dozen. Lee didn’t understand a word of it, but the cinema had been full of young Italians who apparently had the time of their life. He thought it was time for a career move ...

Sabata accidently witnesses a bank robbery in which a load of army money is stolen. He kills the robbers and takes the money back into town, only to discover that the robbery was masterminded by three respected citizens, the judge, the banker and a rancher called Stengel, a homosexual sadist who has a private room in which he executes people. Sabata threatens to inform the army and starts blackmailing the three dignitaries. Two of them are willing to pay, but Stengel convinces them to hire professional killers to eliminate Sabata. They all fail, but then Stengel asks Sabata's former friend Banjo if he's interested ...

Sabata full movie 1969 720p.mp4 005716421.png

Parolini wasn't the only person who made the switch from Sartana to Sabata. William Berger had been in the first Sartana movie too, and so had Rizzo (the fat judge). Sabata would become one of the most colorful heroes within the genre: Like Sartana, he has a preference for miniature guns and a staggering ability to pop up in the wrong place at the right time. Like Colonel Mortimer, he uses a rifle with an extendable barrel for long-range shooting. He is the proverbial new man in town who changes everything, and by challenging the local authorities he also attracts the attention of those who live in the margin. Significantly two outcasts obtrude themselves upon him, a foul-mouthed town drunk called Garrincha (or Carrincha), and a mute acrobat by the name of Alley Cat.

Spaghetti westerns had always had an ambiguous relationship with realism, but in Sabata the thinnest of lines is cut when Van Cleef throws a coin in a nickelodeon from across the room. A similar coin trick is used during the film’s finale, but this time to eliminate the main villain. Instead of the tense atmosphere and ritual gun duels à la Leone, we get a gimmick-ridden variety of trick weapons, acrobatic stunts and pyrotechnics. But the body count is still quite high and the action pretty tough. Lee is a privilege to watch (as always) and excellent support is given by Franco Ressel, as Stengel, and Berger - in what is most probably is best spaghetti western part - as Banjo, the red-haired womanizer with a rifle hidden in the instrument that gave him his name. Linda Veras adds a touch of sexy class to the movie as Banjo’s love interest.

The film has a typical labyrinth plot, with endless twists and double-crosses, in which no-one can be trusted. Not even when he's dead. Carlo Simi's great production design does a lot for the movie; the western town of the Elios Studios never looked more colorful and lively and Stengel's torture room is a fascinating creation (see: screenshot 3). Giombini's score is excellent, although the main theme is used a few times too many.

Sabata (1969) | Adios Sabata (1970) | Return of Sabata (1971) - View Database Page

Director: Gianfranco Parolini - Cast: Lee Van Cleef, William Berger, Linda Veras, Franco Ressel, Pedro Sanchez (Ignazio Spalla), Nick Jordan (Aldo Canti), Gianni Rizzo, Antonio Gradoli, Robert Hundar (Claudio Undari), Spartaco Conversi, Janos Bartha, Romano Puppo, Marco Zuanelli - Music: Marcello Giombini

BRIEF REVIEW

One of the best of Parolini’s circus westerns, featuring Lee van Cleef as the titular hero, a gunslinger who owes as much to James Bond as to No Name. William Berger co-stars as Banjo, the ladies’ man with a lethal musical instrument. The two fight each other and a trio of corrupt dignitaries, the judge, the banker and a rancher called Stengel, a homosexual sadist who has a private room in which he executes people.

--By Scherpschutter

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{| align="right" style="border:1px solid gray; padding:5px; margin:5px;" |
+----
-|[[File:Sabpostwee.jpg|260px]]
+<center> [[File:Ehi-amico-ce-sabata-hai-chiuso.jpg]] </center>
-|-
-|<center>'''[[Ehi amico... c'è Sabata, hai chiuso!|SABATA]]''' (1969)</center>
-|-
-|'''Director:'''
-* Gianfranco Parolini
-'''Cast:'''
-* Lee Van Cleef
-* William Berger
-* Linda Veras
-* Franco Ressel
-* Pedro Sanchez (Ignazio Spalla)
-* Nick Jordan (Aldo Canti)
-* Gianni rizzo
-* Antonio Gradoli
-* Robert Hundar (Claudio Undari)
-* Spartaco Conversi
-* Janos Bartha
-* Romano Puppo
-* Marco Zuanelli
-'''Music:'''
-* Marcello Giombini
-|}
+In 1969 the production of spaghetti westerns was in decline, but [[Gianfranco Parolini]]'s tongue-in-cheek If you meet Sartana, Pray for your Death (1968) had done reasonably well. A sequel was inevitable, but because Parolini had fallen out with his producer Aldo Addobbati, it was directed by [[Giuliano Carnimeo]]. Parolini then got the offer, from Alberto Grimaldi (from Leone's production house Pea), to direct a similar tongue-in-cheek movie, featuring a character named Sabata. Lee Van Cleef had no experience with the more light-hearted approach to the genre and was therefore rather sceptic, but he was taken to a showing of Parolini's war adventure movie ''Five for Hell'', a kind of light version of ''The Dirty Dozen''. Lee didn’t understand a word of it, but the cinema had been full of young Italians who apparently had the time of their life. He thought it was time for a career move ...
-=='''Sabata''' (Ehi amico... c'è Sabata, hai chiuso!)==
+Sabata accidently witnesses a bank robbery in which a load of army money is stolen. He kills the robbers and takes the money back into town, only to discover that the robbery was masterminded by three respected citizens, the judge, the banker and a rancher called Stengel, a homosexual sadist who has a private room in which he executes people. Sabata threatens to inform the army and starts blackmailing the three dignitaries. Two of them are willing to pay, but Stengel convinces them to hire professional killers to eliminate Sabata. They all fail, but then Stengel asks Sabata's former  friend Banjo if he's interested ...
-[[Ehi amico... c'è Sabata, hai chiuso!|See Database Page]]
+----
+<center> [[File:Sabata_full_movie_1969_720p.mp4_005716421.png]] </center>
+----
+Parolini wasn't the only person who made the switch from Sartana to Sabata. [[William Berger]] had been in the first Sartana movie too, and so had Rizzo (the fat judge). Sabata would become one of the most colorful heroes within the genre: Like Sartana, he has a preference for miniature guns and a staggering ability to pop up in the wrong place at the right time. Like Colonel Mortimer, he uses a rifle with an extendable barrel for long-range shooting. He is the proverbial new man in town who changes everything, and by challenging the local authorities he also attracts the attention of those who live in the margin. Significantly two outcasts obtrude themselves upon him, a foul-mouthed town drunk called Garrincha (or Carrincha), and a mute acrobat by the name of Alley Cat.
-Although Lee van Cleef is wearing a kind of Colonel Mortimer outfit, Sabata is much closer in spirit to director Gianfranco Parolini's own [[Se incontri Sartana prega per la tua morte|If you meet Sartana, Pray for your Death]]. 1969 was a difficult year for the Italian western industry. The Golden Years of the spaghetti western seemed over, and Sergio Leone had created an unsurpassable keystone with his meta-western [[C'era una volta il West|Once upoon a time in the West]]. The production of spaghetti westerns was in decline, but Parolini's  small, tongue-in-cheek western, made on a shoestring, and presenting a hero who owned more to James Bond than to the man with No Name, had done reasonably well. Sergio Leone was one of the first to notice that there was something in the air when he heard people in the street corrupting the film's title to ''If you meet Sartana, tell him he's an asshole'' (stronzo). This film would turn the genre upside down and inside out. Parolini had been at odds with his producer Aldo Addobbati and when Alberto Grimaldi,  from Leone's production house Pea, offered him the chance to direct this movie, he gladly accepted. Grimaldi offered him a much bigger budget and the chance to work with genre icons like Lee van Cleef and Carlo Simi.
+Spaghetti westerns had always had an ambiguous relationship with realism, but in Sabata the thinnest of lines is cut when Van Cleef throws a coin in a nickelodeon from across the room. A similar coin trick is used during the film’s finale, but this time to eliminate the main villain. Instead of the tense atmosphere and ritual gun duels à la Leone, we get a gimmick-ridden variety of trick weapons, acrobatic stunts and pyrotechnics. But the body count is still quite high and the action pretty tough. Lee is a privilege to watch (as always) and excellent support is given by Franco Ressel, as Stengel, and Berger - in what is most probably is best spaghetti western part - as Banjo, the red-haired womanizer with a rifle hidden in the instrument that gave him his name. Linda Veras adds a touch of sexy class to the movie as Banjo’s love interest.
+----
+<center> [[File:Vlcsnap-2016-02-22-17h21m52s496.png|440px]] [[File:Vlcsnap-2016-02-23-10h50m50s360.png|440px]] </center>
+----
-Sabata witnesses a bank robbery in which a load of army money is stolen. He kills the robbers (from a distance, with one of his superior weapons) and takes the money back into town, but then discovers that the people behind the robbery are three respected citizens, the judge, the banker and a rancher called Stengel, the most dangerous of the three, a homosexual sadist who has a private room in which he executes people. Sabata threatens to inform the army and starts blackmailing the three dignitaries. Two of them are willing to pay, but Stengel convinces them to hire professional killers to eliminate Sabata. All professional gunmen are outsmarted by Sabata, but then Stengel asks Sabata's old acquaintance Banjo if he's willing to give it a try ...
+The film has a typical labyrinth plot, with endless twists and double-crosses, in which no-one can be trusted. Not even when he's dead.  [[:Category:Carlo Simi|Carlo Simi]]'s great production design does a lot for the movie; the western town of the Elios Studios never looked more colorful and lively and Stengel's torture room is a fascinating creation (see: screenshot 3). Giombini's score is excellent, although the main theme is used a few times too many.
-Parolini wasn't the only person who made the switch from Sartana to Sabata. Berger had been in the first Sartana movie too, and so had Rizzo, the fat judge. Furthermore Parolini took the cameraman, screenwriter and editor with him. It looked like a reunion, resulting in a Sartana part II. There are indeed lots of similarities. The film has a typical labyrinth plot, with endless twists and double-crosses, in which no-one can be trusted. Not even when he's dead. Like Sartana, Sabata is a black-clad gunman with a preference for miniature guns and a staggering ability to pop up in the wrong place at the right time. At the same time Sabata is more down-to-earth than the near-spectral Sartana. Like Colonel Mortimer, he uses a rifle with an extendable barrel for long-range shooting and as a person he is the proverbial new man in town who changes everything. By challenging the authority of the people in command, he also attracts the attention of those who live in the margin. Significantly two outcasts obtrude themselves upon him, a foul-mouthed  town drunk called Garrincha (or Carrincha), and a mute acrobat by the name of Alley Cat. And then there's also this man in the middle, Banjo, who has his eyes on the money too.  Banjo seems to follow him as his shadow: he attracts his attention with the sound of his instrument. Sabata is presented as an a-sexual person, only interested in trickery and blackmail, and in this sense Banjo is his supplement: a inexorable womanizer. But at the same time he is his very picture: Sabata cannot be trusted, not even when he's dead. Banjo can't even trusted when he plays.
-Lee was a little reluctant to accept the role, because he didn't know Parolini. He therefore asked Parolini to show him one of the things he had done. Parolini took Lee to a showing of Five for hell, a lighthearted version of the popular men-on-a-mission genre. It broke the ice. He's a pleasure to watch, as always, but probably goes a bit too often for that famous smile. It's also clear that working in the desert, and his daily quantity of beers, had started to take their toll at this point in his career. But excellent support is given by Franco Ressel, as Stengel, and Berger - in what is most probably is best spaghetti western part - as the red-haired womanizer with a rifle hidden in the instrument that gave him his name. To honor Robert Hundar, the first star of the now large production company Pea, he was given a small part in the movie: he's the first victim Stengel shoots in his execution room. The casting of the beautiful Linda Veras as Banjo's love interest is a bit surprising: at the time she was the wife of Sergio Sollima, the most serious of all spaghetti western directors; maybe she needed a more light-hearted experience after all this talk about Marxism and Revolution at home.
-Carlo Simi's excellent production design does a lot for the movie; the western town of the Elios Studios never looked more colorful and lively and Stengel's torture room is a fascinating creation. Giombini's score is excellent, although the main theme is used a few times too many, as is more often the case in spaghetti westerns. Van Cleef's comments on the movie, haven't been very consistent. He seemed happy with it (and its success) first, but was more sour in later interviews (*). This is understandable; the movie seemed to give him a new breath as an western actor, but would also contribute to the eventual downfall of the genre (and his career, after Sabata it went downhill for him).
-The serpentine plot unfolds at a high speed, but if you look closer, some hooks and eyes may become visible (at one point sabata is asked why insists on playing all these tricky games instead of simply taking the money and run!); it also looses focus a little along the way, turning the movie more in a series of sketches in which Van Cleef shakes off opponents who are after his life. It doesn't really matter: this is not a film you watch for great story-telling or deeper meanings. But If you're looking for a concoction of tongue-in-cheek humor and violent action, Sabata may well be the movie you're looking for: they don't get much better than this. And if by any chance you have to watch it and don't like those ingredients, you can always gape in admiration at Linda Veras: they don't get much better than her either.
 [[Category:Reviews]]
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 [[Category:Linda Veras]]
 [[Category:Carlo Simi]]
-[[Category:Marcello Giombini]]
+<div style="border:1px solid #AAAAAA; padding:2px; margin:0px; font-size: 90%; font-weight:bold; text-indent:0.5em;">'''Sabata''' (1969) | [[Adiós Sabata Review|Adios Sabata]] (1970) | [[Return of Sabata Review by Scherpschutter|Return of Sabata]] (1971) - [[Ehi amico... c'è Sabata, hai chiuso!|View Database Page]] </div>
+'''Director:''' Gianfranco Parolini - '''Cast:''' Lee Van Cleef, William Berger, Linda Veras, Franco Ressel, Pedro Sanchez (Ignazio Spalla), Nick Jordan (Aldo Canti), Gianni Rizzo, Antonio Gradoli, Robert Hundar (Claudio Undari), Spartaco Conversi, Janos Bartha, Romano Puppo, Marco Zuanelli - '''Music:''' Marcello Giombini</center>
+<center> '''BRIEF REVIEW''' </center>
+''One of the best of Parolini’s circus westerns, featuring Lee van Cleef as the titular hero, a gunslinger who owes as much to James Bond as to No Name. William Berger co-stars as Banjo, the ladies’ man with a lethal musical instrument. The two fight each other and a trio of corrupt dignitaries, the judge, the banker and a rancher called Stengel, a homosexual sadist who has a private room in which he executes people.
+''
 --By '''[[User:Scherpschutter|Scherpschutter]]'''