Duck, You Sucker (1972)

While not being at all my favourite Sergio Leone film, I still believe this movie is one of those you should have seen to consider yourself a proper cinephile. "Duck, you sucker" starts with a guy peeing, something kind of strange in a western film. In fact, the first scene that comes after that introduces very well and seriously one of the biggest themes in the movie, the discrimination of the poor and the Mexican revolution. Then we have the encounter between the two main characters, and a whole alteration of really silly, humorous and childish moments to very serious scenes and events. This film depicts violence of the Mexican dictatorship as crudely as many films depict Nazis. Homever, it also shows an aspect of revolutions not always obvious. As Mao-Tze tung'squote says at the beginning, "Revolution is an act of violence". The film, through the experiences of John as an I.R.A. terrorist shown in flashbacks, paralleling events in the film, how inglorious and dirty were actually the really hosannated revolutions, making the viewer feel at the end similarly to John, who says at a point in the film, "I don't believe in anything but dynamite." This movie though is not anti-revolutionary or justifies dictatorships. "Duck you sucker" has a quite complex theme and seriousness, next to some really silly and childish situations or jokes, and an unmemorable score which are what make the movie fall down to mark 8/10. Every Sergio Leone fan should try to understand it homever.

Made after the success of the 'The Dollars trilogy', (1964's A Fistful of Dollars, 1965's For a Few Dollars More and 1966'sThe Good, the Bad and the Ugly) and a few years after one- off success of 1968's 'Once Upon a Time in the West', 'Duck! You Sucker!' was director Sergio Leone's last Spaghetti western. It was, as well, one of his most overlooked films. I think, one of the reasons why this movie didn't really shine and became an overnight success, was because, of the odd title. Known as 'Giu La Testa'(Keep your head down') in Italy, the title didn't really translate well with the American audience. For me, 'Duck! You Sucker!' sounds more like a Blaxploitation movie, than a Spaghetti Western. It's sound too cartoony. Because of that, I really didn't like the title. I'm one of those critics; that agrees with the studio. They should had retitling the film. They should had changed it to 'A Fistful of Dynamite'. That title works so much better, because how much this story, remind us, of Leone's older films, while, also giving us, something new. Better yet, I would rather see the movie be call, by its French title, 'Once Upon a Time in a Revolution', because it match so well with Sergio Leone's other 'Once Upon a Time' films. Though, all of those 'Once' films, widely differ in location, character and time periods, the recurrent themes of time and memory, plays a big part of these films. Not only that, Leone's style alters sharply here. It's here, where you see his bitter metamorphosis from Spaghetti Western to gritty post-modern Polizieschi crime drama. In scope, Sergio knew, times were indeed changing. Audience weren't as interested in Westerns, anymore. Sergio was able to show, with this Zapata film, in a metaphor way. He shows that the 19th century, primitive frontier life was indeed dying, to make way, for the 20th century, complex, and post-industrial revolution life. The way, he use weapons like dynamite, trains, machine guns, and tanks as a metaphor to bring the end of western is haunting. It's scary, when you think, deep around it. After all, a lot of his dark imagery here, remind us, way too much of massive World Wars imagery that later would come alive. Still, it wasn't that dark, there were a lot of cool, bloodless action moments, extreme close-ups, semi smart dialogue, great epic scope in cinematography, and funny moments to make it, a more rounded picture. Also, the moody soundtrack by composter Ennio Morricone was beautiful and simply wonderful to listen to. It match the film, so well. Set during the Mexico Revolution of the 1910s, the film tells the story of Juan Miranda (Rod Steiger), an amoral Mexican outlaw, and John Mallory (James Coburn), an ex-Irish Republican revolutionary, trying to rob a bank, only to find themselves, accidentally and involuntarily becoming heroes of the Revolution. I love the allegory that Leone is using with these two main protagonists. Miranda is the old, Mexican bandit unaware that his era is almost over. And then we have Mallory as the 20th Century bandit, unaware where his love for technology is going to take him. While, it's might be hard to cheer, for two main characters who are technically murderers, rapist, and terrorists. At least, the movie gives them, enough positive depth and character development to overlook their dark side and faults. However, it's hard to understand what motivates them to do what, they do, since both Mallory and Miranda hates revolutions. Despite that, both actors in this movie were amazing in their roles. James Coburn is able to show how haunted, his character was, with his past, while also dreaming of living the American Dream. I love the scene where he was in the pub, looking at the mirror at his betrayer. Very moving. Then you got Rod Steiger, who pretty much seem like a real-life Mexican bandit. Despite the fact that he is playing off, a carbon copy of the Tuco's buffoon type character from 1966's 'The Good, the Bad and the Ugly'. He was still able to pull this off with his strict method acting. After all, the character was originally written for actor, Eli Wallach, instead of him. Lucky for him, Eli Wallach drop out, during the early stages of production. That wasn't the only time, he got lucky. The studio save him, a second time, when Leone wanted to replace him, with Wallach, after they butt-heads over Steiger demands on Leone to film his scenes with natural sound. Once again, Steiger won out, and Wallach was cause to subsequently sued, when Wallach had to dropped out of the other project when Leone promise him, the role. While, Steiger and Leone didn't get along, I thought, personally, that he had great screen chemistry with his co-star, James Coburn. Both, seem to work best with each other. However, other than them. Most of the supporting characters were very bland and underdeveloped. Another conflict, I had with the movie is the pacing. Like, any other of Sergio Leone's movies, this movie also suffers from a long seat. It was slow and tedious, at parts. 157 is a lot of minutes sit through. I know, not all U.S versions of this movie has that long of a run-time, but most modern DVDs has this same copy, in which I watch this film. All, I know, about the other copies, is that it's 22 minutes, shorter with awkward editing. The ending is also disappointing. Without spoiling it, it's bittersweet, at best, but also a bit anti-climax. Overall: I wouldn't call this my favorite Leone film, but it's still worth checking out. There's just something very appealing about it. Check it out, if you want. Just note, it does have problems.

I did watch all the Sergio Leone movies in chronical order. I did start with A Fistful of Dollars, couldn't find the earlier stuff. If you compare this title with The Good the bad and the ugly and Once upon a time in the west then this title is a disappointment. Especially because this title came after those classics; then you think his next title will be crap, but Once upon a time in America is an absolute classic! The acting in Duck you Sucker is not so good. The actors aren't icons. The story is a little boring and the movie takes too long; 90 minutes was probably enough. Ennio Morricone did better on his early soundtracks. But I like the filming locations very much; mostly in Andalucia Spain!

"Where there's revolution there's confusion, and when there's confusion, a man who knows what he wants stands a good chance of getting it."With every new opportunity I get to watch a Sergio Leone film, the more I fall in love with his direction and style of film making. He is becoming one of my favorite directors of all time, and so far every film of his that I've seen is either a masterpiece or very close to being one. Duck, You Sucker (also known as A Fistful of Dynamite or Once Upon a Time… the Revolution), is a glorious and epic film that unfortunately has been overlooked by many. I got to experience the two and a half hour restored version of the film and all I can say is that it is incredibly entertaining. This is the second film in Leone's Once Upon a Time trilogy although this one takes place in Mexico during the Revolution of 1913 and it is his most forgotten work probably because its squeezed in the middle of his most revered films. This was Leone's final spaghetti western, and I only wish he had made more films like this because they are completely captivating. His classic trademarks are all included in this film beginning with his fascination for extreme close-ups contrasted with his wide angle shots, his collaboration with Ennio Morricone, whose score is always influential in the story, and his unique introduction of main characters who we don't know for sure if they'll be the hero or the villain. The introduction of the two main characters in this film is memorable and the chemistry both Rod Steiger and James Coburn shared together was a plus. There is very little I can criticize about this film because Leone once again had me guessing where the story was heading and what motivated each character. His spaghetti westerns always broke genre conventions and he did so once again with Steiger's character who is an outlaw we eventually end up rooting for. Leone loves to mix things up and during some flashback scenes it becomes evident how much he has influenced modern filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino.We are introduced to Juan Miranda (Rod Steiger) in the very opening scene as he is begging a traveler who is passing by to take him into town. He is mocked due to his poor man appearance but eventually is allowed into the comfortable and elegant stagecoach where some wealthy passengers are heading to America. He is treated with disdain and has to listen to all kinds of hateful and racial remarks when all of a sudden a group of bandits hold up the stagecoach. We discover that they are Juan's bandit family, and it was all part of a well planned robbery. The victim ended up being the leader of the band and he leaves the disrespectful passengers naked in the middle of the road taking all their belongings with him. As they are celebrating their conquest, a series of explosions go off near the road and a man in a motorcycle passes by them. Juan shoots at the tire and the man suddenly stops revealing himself as John Mallory (James Coburn). Not too pleased with what the bandits did to his motorcycle he sets off an explosive in the stagecoach and threatens them. John is an Irish Republican who is wanted by the British army, but due to his expertise with explosives Juan wants to recruit him for a bank robbery and tries to convince him to stay with his family. What Juan doesn't know is that John is really in Mexico trying to help the revolutionaries led by Doctor Villega (Romolo Valli) and isn't interested in money. Juan unwillingly becomes a part of the revolution by trying to stick with John and that gets him into trouble with army Colonel Gunther Reza (Antonie Saint-John) and the tyrant Governor Don Jaime (Franco Graziosi). What ensues is a series of epic and confusing adventures for Juan and John. Duck, You Sucker is a wonderful epic film that perfectly balances the comedic moments with the action. Steiger and Coburn are excellent together and it was fun to see how they each kept on facing each other when Juan was trying to force John to do things his way. At first I didn't really care much for Steiger's character, but over time he grew on me. The true hero however was Coburn's John. His entrance is as splendid as any of Leone's introductions and he literally shows up on screen with a bang. The visuals might not have been as groundbreaking as they were in Once Upon a Time in the West, but the performances and the score truly enriched the story. What's fun about Leone's style is that his narratives are never straightforward and that always makes for an entertaining adventure. It is missing the usual western duels but it focuses more on building the friendship between the two leads so you can take it as a western buddy comedy of sorts more than anything else. It also has some very emotional scenes as well so Leone once again manages to squeeze different genres into this powerful film. It may not be a masterpiece, but I had a blast with Duck, You Sucker. http://estebueno10.blogspot.com/