You sell death
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | You sell death |
| Original title | Una ragione per vivere e una per morire |
| Country of production | Italy , France , Federal Republic of Germany , Spain |
| original language | Italian |
| Publishing year | 1972 |
| length | 96 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Tonino Valerii |
| script |
Ernesto Gastaldi , Rafael Azcona , Tonino Valerii |
| music | Riz Ortolani |
| camera | Alejandro Ulloa junior |
| cut |
Franco Fraticelli , Heidemarie Haschke |
| occupation | |
| |
They sell death (original title: Una ragione per vivere e una per morire ) is a civil war western with Bud Spencer and James Coburn in the leading roles. The film was later released in a comedy version, entitled The Fat and the Warthog . It was shown for the first time in cinemas in German-speaking countries on December 27, 1972.
action
During the American Civil War : Colonel Pembroke and the thief Eli Sampson are arrested by soldiers of the Northern states for theft and taken to the nearest military base. During a conversation between Pembroke and the commanding officer, it turns out that the northern states suffered a heavy defeat, as Pembroke surrendered the Fort Holma, which he controlled, to the Confederates without a fight. Pembroke offers to infiltrate and retake the fort, which is considered impregnable, with a small band of men. The commander cannot dispense with soldiers, but has criminals brought before them who have the choice between the hitch and the mission. Eli is also among them. Except for one religious fanatic, the men accept the offer. The troop consists largely of thieves and murderers; Sergeant Brent, who had stolen from Pembroke and therefore "volunteered", is one of them.
So that the criminals do not abandon him at the earliest opportunity, Pembroke tells them about a treasure in the fort that he had previously hidden under a sundial and that taking the fort is only a means to get it back into possession. As they approach the fort, Pembroke Eli tries to impersonate a Confederate and gain access to Fort Holma. Thanks to a stolen uniform and Eli's acting talent, he succeeds in entering, but Eli soon realizes that there is no sundial in the fort and therefore no treasure either. After delivering an improvised message to the fort commandant - Major Ward - he asks him to be able to stay at the fort overnight. Ward grants his request. On the same night Eli tries to sabotage one of the alarm systems in order to facilitate access for the rest of the troops , but is discovered beforehand.
The next day, Eli visits the fort with Southern Sergeant Spike. When they reach the bridge behind the fort, Eli learns that Pembroke's surrender was only because Major Ward held his son hostage and threatened to hang him up to let. After the surrender, Ward had the son murdered anyway. In an unobserved moment, Eli drops a piece of thread near the bridge so that Pembroke's people can pull a rope up and climb it. Immediately afterwards, Eli is exposed by Spike and arrested.
Although the alarm system is still fully functional, Pembroke and his people manage to get over the bridge into the ammunition depot. From there they blast a hole through the wall and can bomb the fort with dynamite from above. In the fighting that followed, several soldiers from the fort, but also almost all of Pembroke's men, were killed. Eli had previously managed to escape from his cell and, like Sergeant Brent, manned a machine gun . He shoots the remaining soldiers and makes them surrender. Brent, on the other hand, slaughters everyone with his Gatling.
When Pembroke asked Ward to show himself, he is first shot at by Brent, who wants to get the promised treasure. Eli has no choice but to aim his Gatling at Brent and kill him. Ward then asks for an honorable surrender, which Pembroke does not grant him and takes revenge for his son with a saber. At the end Eli says: "Today was the first time I killed someone." Pembroke replies: "And I for the last time."
Reviews
“Moderately exciting spaghetti westerns, whose thematic ambitions seem artificial. Ironic approaches get lost in superficial effects and shooting orgies. "
“Greed, death and vengeance are the main themes of this quiet and melancholy work, which at the time was shown in cinemas under the title 'You are selling death'. Why the original title - literally translated 'A reason to live, a reason to die' - became the stupid and unimaginative title 'The fat man and the warthog' unfortunately has to remain unanswered. "
Segnalazioni Cinematografice found the film to be well constructed and effectively filmed, but criticized the tone that oscillated between tragedy and comedy, which also came at the expense of the plausibility of the characterizations.
synchronization
There are three German dubbed versions; Wolfgang Hess Bud Spencer speaks in the two made for the cinema , while Engelbert von Nordhausen speaks in the one made for ZDF . While the first theatrical version was only slightly shortened, the second version under the title The Fat Man and the Warthog was shortened by 33 minutes, edited in the style of Schnoddersynchronizations and the content changed significantly - Major Ward stays alive in this version. Only the ZDF version is complete and unadulterated.
Remarks
In some versions, all actors have English-sounding pseudonyms. Allegedly Ralph Goodwin (Kolldehoff), Joseph Mitchell (Suarez), William Spafford (Fangareggi), Robert Burton (Mairesse), Guy Ranson (Lastretti) and Alan Leroy (Géret) play.
Web links
- They sell death in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The film at comingsoon.it
Individual evidence
- ↑ You are selling death. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
- ↑ The fat man and the warthog on prisma.de
- ↑ Segnalazioni Cinematografiche, Vol. 75, 1973.
- ↑ Schnittbericht The thickness and Warzenschwein at schnittberichte.com
- ↑ You are selling death in the German dubbing index
- ↑ You are selling death in the German dubbing index
- ↑ You are selling death in the German dubbing index