Face to Face (1967)

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Movie
German title Face to face
Original title Faccia a faccia
Country of production Italy
Spain
original language Italian
Publishing year 1967
length 112 minutes
Age rating FSK 16 (formerly 18)
Rod
Director Sergio Sollima
script Sergio Sollima
Sergio Donati
production Alberto Grimaldi
music Ennio Morricone
camera Rafael Pacheco
cut Eugenio Alabiso
occupation
synchronization

Face to Face (original title: Faccia a faccia ) is a 1967 by Sergio Sollima twisted spaghetti western with Tomas Milian , Gian Maria Volonte and William Berger in the lead roles.

content

action

The very sick, Boston history professor Fletcher is recovering in Texas when he falls into the hands of gang leader Bennet. Due to their respective situation, the two are initially bound to each other. In the course of the film, a mutual respect develops between the two, Fletcher is fascinated by the gang Wilde Horde and their violence and finally even integrated into the gang that live in the Pietra di Fuoco settlement with women and children as outlaws. At the same time, the Pinkerton detective Siringo is on the trail of the wild horde. He manages to infiltrate the gang as well, and can ultimately thwart a bank robbery (albeit with complications) and arrest Bennet. Fletcher escapes. That is not enough for local entrepreneurs. You start a punitive action against the settlement, in which only a small part of the residents survived and, under the direction of Fletcher, flee into the desert. It comes to a showdown when finally both the escaped Bennet and Siringo meet Fletcher in the desert. At this point, all three characters have changed fundamentally, so that the end is not Bennet with Fletcher against Siringo.

meaning

The second part of Sollima's western trilogy is considered to be one of the most intellectual and profound spaghetti westerns ever. Sollima shows a character study or character change, which is guided by power, violence and a sense of justice influenced by the environment. Here, too, the typical political tones of Sollima can be heard. B. Interpretations that seek parallels to Italian fascism. In contrast to his first western, Sollima not only had a larger budget available, but was also able to determine the script and the story himself, which according to experts contains autobiographical elements of betrayal and trust from the Second World War . Even though Sollima had a free hand with this film, according to various interviews, producer Alberto Grimaldi was initially concerned about the demanding plot.

Even though not as high as the first part of Sollima's trilogy (“ The Hound of the Sierra Madre ”), it is still considered one of the best spaghetti westerns because of its plot.

Cast, shooting and stylistic means

Sollima worked with Tomas Milian as in the previous film, but in a slightly different role. With the other actors, Sollima resorted to spaghetti western veterans. The character of the Pinkerton detective Charlie Siringo is based on the historical figure of the same name who worked for this detective agency.

Like most spaghetti westerns , this one was shot in southern Spain near Almería and in Cinecittà in Rome . The music was written by Ennio Morricone , with Bruno Nicolai working as conductor .

Frames

A special feature is that this film has not been cut in the German version. However, various aspects have been removed in other languages. So z. B. In the US-American version, which was cut by approx. 16 minutes, the transformation of the characters is much less pronounced.

In addition to the almost literal translation of Faccia a faccia exist side Face to face even Hallelujah, the devil can be beautiful / greet you , two left, two right and Hallelujah and two for Hallelujah as German title. The English title is Face to Face .

Reviews

"A thematically unusual, psychologically comparatively credible spaghetti western about the fascination of violence."

“An interesting outsider among the Italian westerns with a tendency to melodrama: Unclear in thought and not always credible in the psychological drawing, the film fails to achieve its ambitious goal, namely a confrontation between non-violent law and lawless violence. In his endeavors to deepen his thoughts, he is not unsympathetic. "

synchronization

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Face to face. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  2. Evangelical Press Association Munich, Critique No. 337/1968.