Il Mercenario (1968)
Genre: Western
Duration: 110 minuten
Alternative titles: The Mercenary / A Professional Gun
Country:
Italy / Spain
Directed by: Sergio Corbucci
Stars: Franco Nero, Jack Palance and Tony Musante
IMDb score:
7,1 (6.986)
Releasedate: 20 December 1968
Il Mercenario plot
"He sells death to the highest bidder! Buy or die!"
The Mexican revolutionary Paco Roman tries to capture a silver mine for the population from a profiteer (Curly) who in turn has recruited the Polish mercenary Kowalski to secure a silver transport. However, this mercenary sided with the revolutionary. They gradually become friends in the fight for the people.
Actors and actresses
Sergei Kowalski, The Polish
Paco Roman
Ricciolo ("Curly")
Columba
Pepote
Alfonso García
Studs
Ramon
Mateo
Sebastian
Reviews & comments
wendyvortex
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- 5309 messages
- 7322 votes
Modern times are starting to creep into this spaghetti western:
machine guns, airplanes and billboards for His Master's Voice.
Franco Nero is practically the embodiment of this genre and goes to work here for the bandit/revolutionary Musante.
Jack Palance still has an old score to settle with both of them.
Everyone will agree: The highlight of the film is the nerve-wracking duel in the arena, with magnificent musical accompaniment by Ennio Morricone on the soundtrack.
Perhaps the most beautiful duel in a western ever.
Furthermore, plenty of pace and gunfire, a sort of Tarantino-esque humor, and a bit of sadism.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Sergio Leone
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- 4480 messages
- 3158 votes
Reasonable.
After Sergio Leone, Sergio Corbucci is arguably the director of his generation who comes closest to my ideal vision of the Spaghetti Western. The Mercenary has the potential to come close to the better Spaghetti Westerns, but it doesn't quite make it.
First of all, the film is unbalanced. There are quite a few twists and turns to keep the somewhat lighthearted dynamic between Kowalski and Paco alive. Too many twists and turns, for my liking. The often lighthearted tone is also a miss in my opinion.
Franco Nero, with his prominent beard, is nonetheless a charismatic lead actor. I wouldn't immediately associate his Southern accent with a Polish immigrant, but there are plenty of over-the-top things in this film, making this the least of it. Unfortunately, I didn't really feel the buddy connection with Tony Musante. There have been duos in the past that are easier to remember. Here again, a somewhat more serious relationship would have been better and/or more unpredictable.
With the shoot-out in the arena, Corbucci proves he knows his stuff—even with a clown—and it is a shame that it doesn't go in that direction more often. The Revolution is, however, a grateful backdrop for telling a slightly more coherent and serious story, and the work of Ennio Morricone is once again absolutely mouth-watering.
3
Translated from Dutch · View original
Filmkriebel
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- 10206 messages
- 4775 votes
Fine and archetypal spaghetti/zapata western by Corbucci... only the second film of his I've seen after Il Grande Silenzio (3.5*). A Polish mercenary, driven by profit, accepts a job from two brothers to move silver, but ends up with a gang of Mexican revolutionaries led by Paco Roman. The film is told in flashback when Kowalski sees his former partner performing a clown act in an arena. After that, it is what you would expect from a spaghetti western: betrayal, shootouts, female beauty, a lighthearted and sometimes comical tone...
Substantively, it is also slightly stronger due to the political reflection. After all, it shows that the revolutionaries are the first to trample on their own ideology (fighting for the common people) by prioritizing wealth and power. Anyone who disagrees with them is immediately sent to the firing squad. But the characters are dubious anyway: the Pole only out to extort the Mexicans, and the extorted Mexican who will get rid of him at the appropriate time... The ending is therefore a very beautiful one, in which friendship and respect have prevailed over self-interest.. I also always enjoy seeing Jack Palance, but unfortunately, his bad-guy role has been somewhat underexposed and the actor has too little screen time.
Translated from Dutch · View original
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