Wednesday, January 23, 2013

A Very Good Tribute To The Sphagetti Western Genre:

I am again taking a break from my daily 24K entries to pay homage to the Sphagetti Western Genre.  For those of you who don't remember, Sphegetti Westerns are cowboy or gunfighter films made by Italian filmmakers that started around the 60's that often featured a drifter with no name take on the lawless bandits.  The protagonist often talks little but takes on the whole evil gang and comes out victorious against the odds.  Despite its origins, many of these Western films spawned a cult following and even Hollywood actors such Charles Bronson, Lee Van Cleef  and of course Clint Eastwood starred in these films.  One of the best of the Sphagetti films that I remember was "Django" that starred Franco Nero and for this post, I am using theme from his movie.

I was inspired to put the soundtrack to this post after watching Quentin Tarantino's remake that starred Jaime Foxx in the title role.  Though he made changes in his version, there was no doubt that the elements of the  Sphagetti Genre were there.  I found the film very entertaining and the dialogue was something all of us can relate with.  Like all his other films, Tarantino also dishes out his fair share of action and ends the film in true Sphagetti Western fashion.  It was one of the best films that I have watched in a long time.

From what I've seen, this is Tarantino's best work to date since Pulp Fiction.  I am amazed at how he can turn a cult genre from the past into a critically acclaimed film.  I also liked the fact that he employed the old 70's actors such as Don Stroud, Don Johnson and the original Django Franco Nero in the film.  I hope the remake does well at the Oscars.  It's a great tribute to the Sphagetti Western Genre.





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