A short time later, burning blue-eyed Swedish gunslinger and mercenary Yodlaf Peterson (Franco Nero), frequently called “The Penguin” due to his formal attire, strolls into San Bernardino and dispatches two of Mongo’s men. He’s confronted by Vasco and buried in the sand up to his head as punishment for conspiring with revolutionaries and aiding local girl Lola (Iris Berben), the leader of Xantos’ (Fernando Rey) student-based army. Yodlaf is a longtime friend of Mongo, however, and is released to locate Professor Xantos, a morality-preaching, turtle-collecting, peaceful protester, to obtain the combination for an un-crackable safe full of money needed to fund the war. Vasco accompanies the Swede as a chaperone, and the two must make their way through soldier-filled deserts, merciless towns and heavily armed forts. One such predicament comes from cackling, marijuana-smoking gunrunner John (Jack Palance, in a deliciously idiosyncratic, villainous role with a hilariously bizarre accent – perhaps the most prominent reason this movie should be seen), a bitter man with but one friend: Marsha, a bird of prey that saved him from a torturous crisis in Cuba (thanks to a betrayal from Yodlaf) by chewing off his hand. He continually pops up at inconvenient times to thwart their advancement. Another hardship comes from the constant attacks by Xantos’ revolutionaries, even though they don’t believe in bloodshed and refuse to cause physical harm. And lastly, Yodlaf and Vasco can’t seem to get along, forced to help one another to complete the mission, but intent on toying with each other’s lives and neglecting deadly dilemmas that affect only one of them. They also engage in random fistfights and verbal spats for good measure. One of the most entertaining aspects of Companeros is the humor that presides over the adventure, giving the serious violence and zany characters a level of enjoyable lightheartedness. The cinematography is also stunning, with bright blue skies, vividly colored costumes and highly detailed desert landscapes. And a snappy Italian theme song frequently and thrillingly cuts into the action sequences, accompanied by compositions reminiscent of The Good, The Bad and the Ugly, and whistling tunes, also scored by Ennio Morricone, not unlike the most intense moments in The Wild Bunch. While a tiresome theme of “violence begets more violence” interferes with the pacing a touch, the explosive and bloody conclusion (involving Yodlaf swiping a Gatling gun for the second time, Vasco bringing a machete to a gun fight, the demise of John and the symbolical destruction of the only thing of monetary value in a town where every character is driven by money), is grandly electrifying.
Posted on: Tue, 11 Nov 2014 19:07:07 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015