Original subtitles

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won't you swing around the collar

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show

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producer to make a big star out of me

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mascara murray

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my little chubby murray

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so

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a western

yes

but made in italy

the italian western exploded across the

screens of europe when an unknown

director sergio leone made a little

sleeper called peronpuno de dollari or

for a fistful of dollars and broke every

italian box office record sergio leone

imported his hero clint eastwood the

american tv star who was then unknown in

europe to sell the italian public every

effort was made to pass it off as the

authentic hollywood product names of

italian actors were changed and even

sergio leone became

bob robertson

but fistful was a smash hit so bob

robertson became sergio leone again and

clint eastwood well rowdy yates wasn't

rowdy eights no mo

in fact clint starred in the sequel for

a few dollars more with lee van cleef an

even bigger success

well that set the trend dollar it seemed

was the magic word so all the films had

dollar in their titles

then somebody discovered ringo changed

giuliana gemma's name to montgomery wood

and made a bundle on a yarn called a

pistol for ringo now ringo was the magic

word

so italians went to see ringo the face

of revenge with anthony steffen

ringo of nebraska with ken clark

a woman for ringo with sean flynn

kill johnny ringo with brett halsey and

finally

a coffin for ringo with mr x tarzan lex

barker

about this time sergio leone made his

third winner the good the bad and the

ugly to clint eastwood and lee van cleef

he added another american eli wallach by

now titles were going in wild directions

gringo throw the gun away

run man run

stranger make the sign of the cross

three crosses not to die

chrysanthemums for a load of carrion

his name screamed vendetta

if you meet sartana pray for your death

kill them all and come back alone

excuse me are you the head stunt man

i'm the director here

sorry

oh what is the title of this film

the italian title is vado vedo espar a

western now what's your name enzo g

castellare

tell tommy why are western so popular in

italy

westerns are popular everywhere

some of the first films made were

westerns

in italy there's no doubt that it was

sergio leone

and the big success of for a fistful of

dollars

that opened the road to the westerns

made in europe

i would say it is the public who decides

on the success of a film or a kind of

film

and the public finds in westerns

an escape from its

its daily problems and worries

there have been so many serious heavy

difficult films in recent years that the

public is tired of trying to understand

him

me too

the western is different

the spectator sits and is just amused in

a world of fantasy with horses rides

fights and chases

i guess that it is directed at the child

that remains in most of us

me alfondo

okay follow him

panoramic

okay stop that's enough

enzo

yeah how many westerns have you directed

so far

only four but very very good

and what were you doing before making

westerns

the usual thing

assistant director

i'm very thankful to the western because

they gave me my first chance to direct

you see i'm 29 years old which i think

is pretty young for a director

there's such a demand for westerns that

they need many directors

and that always gives a chance to the

young ones

if it were not for the western i would

probably still be an assistant

in fact

italian westerns are noted for their

scenes of violence what about your films

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i think that violence has gone a bit out

of fashion

the first italian westerns had scenes

with broken heads broken limbs tortured

much blood

yes it made a strong impression on the

spectators but such effects they cannot

be repeated too often

while they lose their punch

personally

i am not able to shoot these scenes

sometimes i would like to

they fascinate me

but i cannot

my style

is much lighter

my ears exchange punches

but i never do show blood

it would interfere with the movement and

with the humor i like to give to my film

enzo besides westerns what other kind of

films would you like to do

action films from each enemy is motion

moving pictures it must move

more than the type of film it is the

action really that counts i personally

like making fast moving films and adding

a little fun

i believe the spectator should be taken

along by the speed of the action

but smile while looking at it

oh

[Applause]

still westerns are westerns they all

have horses good guys and guns

here at china chita are shelves of guns

and some so original

they've never been west of the tiber

river

tell me

who is using these guns

at this moment

six westerns are using our guns and arms

this is one of them

this revolver you see here

was live and clipped in the film for a

few dollars more but besides revolvers

what other guns do you have i have

everything rifles

mostly civil war winchesters

73 repeaters

all these have been made by italian

craftsmen

they are exactly like the originals and

they all can be fired

an expert could not tell them apart from

the real weapon

part of my job is special effects

this compressed airgun fires a pellet

at the same time the actors shoot the

blank

the pellet

breaks the window

now for the good guy

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shiny boots

laundered levi's crisply iron shirt

fresh shave and those dark italian eyes

oh

they're blue

well clint eastwood started the whole

bit after all

but you can't be sure the hero will win

in the end in some italian westerns the

good guy loses

villains are different too

with a savage taste for torture the

italian bad guy does not kill for profit

only

but for the violent and sadistic

pleasure he gets out of it

as for the girl

well she's not very important

she's often mexican young and well

constructed

usually being raped in front of the

camera

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the western is also having a big

influence on roman life

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let's follow this daytime cowboy to the

bunk house

the western club where john and wayne

hold forth every

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no other night to survive

yes i'm running running running

never returning

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a bounty hunter found me and bowed and

gunned me down ten thousand was

surprised of my reward

now let me tell you buddy he ain't

around today now some might say play

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there's no other way to survive

yes i'm running running running

never returning

alone

[Applause]

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i'll do my

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can't remain on this earth

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is

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we made on this earth

yes

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the western fed has also spread into

high fashion

here in a church on the palatine hill in

the heart of rome

we observe italy's first western wedding

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i wonder if these two met in the bunk

house

or maybe on a western movie set

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do

italy has always been known for its

scenic beauty

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ideal setting for a honeymoon

vacation

or skiing

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hey

listen this is the road to the ski lift

isn't it sorry i don't know no no i'm

just making a lesson here man

doing so many westerns

italian filmmakers looked for new twists

like a western in the snow

after all doesn't it snow in montana

this brings up new problems

like horses who don't like snow

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and if it's too rough for a camera car

well

get a camera horse

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if horses don't like the snow

neither do technicians or actors in

sub-zero temperature

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but italian cowboys no ways to cope with

the weather

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do

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of course snow on the mountains calls

for snow on the set

would you believe 26 tons of shaving

cream

these are only a few of the problems

director sergio korbuchi had to solve

sergio korbuchi you are directing your

7th italian western the great silence

what do you think is the reason for the

success of this type of film uh success

ah the westerns uh the main reason i

believe is that well we assume or

or recreate the atmosphere of our time a

time of violence

violence without reason and often just

for the sake of violence

uh it's the same i think the main reason

for the success of the films of james

bond

in this film mr korbuchi have you much

death and violence

uh well you probably know that i am a

roman and uh tome

in some class is presumed to be the

skeleton of nero who is proving to be a

good example for me yes i am killing a

lot of people

i have killed more people than mira and

caligula but each time it's more

difficult for me to find a new

method of murder

that could be used

in each film

i have used revolvers and winchesters

i have killed with dynamite with gas

with fire with

i cut many things

i have cut ears and

made my characters eat their own ears

in this film i cut thumbs

i don't make my actors eat them because

because they refused unfortunately i

killed too many people i would like to

make a film like i did

much earlier like them i made when i was

beginning my people usually lived when i

wasn't making westerns i wouldn't shoot

anybody

now in this film i noticed that you're

not recording any direct sound

how do you arrange this with your actors

speech usually in westerns of minor

importance because we use every

nationality french

mexican american it is often better for

the actors to count

then to speak for example the frenchman

would say en detroit the american says

one that means yes but it could mean

anything it's unimportant that's why i

ate westerns after this mr kobuchi what

films will you do a western naturally

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from the snowbound streets of a western

cattle town

to the placid roman countryside is a

long step

but the international success of italian

westerns which at first were taken

lightly

is drawing well-known actors from all

over the world

many of them have come from america

others from germany

england

australia

spain

scandinavia

and yes

even japan

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from france

has come one of its best-known actors

jean-louis tritignon

do you enjoy doing a western

day

it is fun

i enjoy it

this is one of the tricks of the western

you start with your head down then you

catch a ray of light under the hat

then down with your head and up again

like this since you're known primarily

as a romantic actor don't you find it

strange to play in a western

no but

romantic not so much

i have done a lot of films which are

more serious or intellectual

but it's fun to be in a film which is

the complete opposite of what i've been

doing as the hero do you kill many

people

yes maybe 30. in the first two minutes

of the film i've already killed four

professional killers who ambush me

somehow i get them before they get me

it goes on that way until i kill about

40. what part do you play

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i play the part of a muted

the audience won't realize it because

during the first two thirds of the film

there's no reason for him to speak

i like it because in most westerns they

talk too much and say nothing

is it an easy part

wait no

yes but not physically

it's difficult for me because i'm

basically clumsy i hurt myself all the

time

like when i draw my gun

did you have to practice a lot

oh have i in the film every time i draw

my gun i have to take my glove off

so at home i used to practice it with a

sock in my hand

and a long stemmed artichoke in my

pocket

and i used to go through the motions

taking off the sock

reaching for the artichoke and

here an italian stuntman demonstrates

the technique of smashing through a door

in italian westerns death is quick for

an extra

a little longer for an actor

a feature player dies slowly

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but for a star it's a show in itself

uh

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action

go ahead

hold it

watch out

your hands are hurting bad generies

very bad but wait you can't now you feel

that everything is slipping away

it's your life that's going

careful

look again

now reach you for your gun go on try to

make it fast try go ahead

go and grab it

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now italian stuntmen

never mind

sergio solema

am i disturbing you no

what are you doing now

i was just working on the editing of my

latest western korewamakori

mr sulima you're known as the

intellectual of the italian cinema

how is it that you're making westerns

well

for one thing the western has always

appealed intellectuals as we know to

most italians

also it gives me the possibility of

using a fable

that is a very popular story which can

be understood by any public

to express myself i can describe

characters and present themes dealing

with the great problems of our times

and various controversial questions

thank you

may i see what you're editing sure by

all means

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now this character we see here

we call him kuchiyo

which means knife in mexican

he is an illiterate indian who doesn't

even know how to use a gun

so he uses a knife

and he's good with it

but for him the knife is a defensive

weapon

only in exceptional cases

does it become a weapon of attack

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this isn't the right distance for a

knife

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you chose the knife i chose the gun

take a step forward

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another two

is that okay cochio

a bit more

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so your hero is a mexican indian

yes

i believe the time has come to draw a

film hero from the people of the

underdeveloped countries

of the third world so to speak

well if he represents the underdeveloped

countries what about the white man what

does he stand for the technicians the

villain

in a way yes but it's not as simple as

all that

it's just that once in a while in the

face of super technology

super efficiency

the one who should get the public

sympathy is the man who is human

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who is simple but resourceful

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breaking through a door has always been

one of the most difficult

oh well never mind

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commercial successes in themselves

italian westerns have also brought

prosperity to al maria on the costa del

sol of southern spain

once a sleepy provincial town almaria

has bloomed under the influx of italian

film capital into a spanish hollywood

luxury hotels fashionable restaurants

and shops have sprung up to cater to the

international film set

the reason for al maria's success is not

only because there are more sunny days

here than anywhere else in europe

but also because of its real western

countryside

within 20 miles of the city there are

barren deserts mexican villages and deep

canyons

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so

oh

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al maria also has its western towns

today it's hickland gateway to the

mexican border

tomorrow it could be dodge city

tombstone or abilene

but always populated by local gypsies

pressed into service as mexican trick

riders and stuntmen

al maria's five western villages and

rome's 10 are the world's liveliest

ghost towns

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do

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while dozens of small producers

are following each other in and out of

the western towns

the man who started it all sergio leone

has completed his fourth and biggest

western

he says it will be his last

the unknown director who couldn't

interest anyone in his first western

is now the all-time italian box office

champion

for his film about the construction of

the railroad across the american west

sergio leone built his own track in the

remote spanish countryside

he even blasted a mountain out of the

way

and then hauled an ancient spanish

locomotive rescued from a barcelona

scrap heap

to run on his iron road

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and who'll be riding the train

well there's henry fonda claudia

cardinale jason robarts and charles

bronson among others

[Applause]

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yes american actors are coming to work

in the european version of the old west

the most recent arrival

is television star chuck connors

hi chuck how's your italian coming along

chuck

according to your experience starring in

american tv and feature westerns

how does the italian western differ

from those made in the usa

well there are many things basically the

same about doing a western here in italy

as well as america

the sets look the same we have the

horses and the extras and the cavalry

and the

cowboys and what have you i would say

the

underlying difference to me is the

emphasis that's placed on the elements

of the western that make it a western

uh by that i mean for instance in a

western you usually have one or two or

maybe three fights fist fights among the

contesting parties

well in american western there might be

five or six or maybe seven punches

thrown

here you'll see a fight go on for five

minutes they may throw 25 or 30 or 40

punches

another element of the western is the

shooting of a gun

when we make one at home

we fire the gun two or three times

here that gun may fire 40 or 50 times

i'm sure that when we get to riding

horses the same thing will be true what

they do is that they set it up in a

larger frame the western element of the

western motion picture and i think

they've come a long way and i expect

that they'll get better as time

progresses uh basically however i uh

i've enjoyed it very much and will

continue to the one element which might

be in contradiction to that is that from

what i've seen of course my viewing is

limited i've seen about seven or eight

italian westerns and of course i know

this script that

the early american western the hero was

always a pure hero it was a question of

black

and white

and

i notice in most italian pictures i've

seen

that the hero was really an anti-hero

there's a lot of bad in him as a matter

of fact i myself for the first time in a

long time

i'm playing someone somebody who's not a

pure hero and truthfully i kind of like

it all right we'll give that stuntman

just one more chance

i just don't believe it

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you