The Cinematheque offers a Fistful of Spaghetti (arthouse roundup 2)

Some real classics are included in the Cinematheque's upcoming spaghetti westerns series, and some less-than-classics, and a couple I don't know at all. I highly recommend, in particular, as an obvious move for people brought to the form by Mr. Tarantino, Sergio Corbucci's Django, perhaps the most successful of all spaghettis after Leone's, and the one that spawned dozens (hundreds?) of non-sequels (including Tarantino's film) that use "Django" in the title. It's a strong, strong film - morbid and masochistic without being an out and out downer (like The Great Silence, another great Corbucci, not featured). While its perhaps not my favourite spaghetti (The Big Gundown and Tepepa are kinda tied for that honour, neither of which are programmed), it's certainly considered one of the touchstones of the form, and very entertaining. Franco Nero, the star, has a cameo in Django Unchained, drinking at the bar with Jamie Foxx...

The Leones need no introduction, though be prepared for a bit of a slog if you attempt Duck, You Sucker! - it's not Leone's best film by far (For a Few Dollars More gets my vote for that, actually - it's definitely one of the finest spaghettis ever made, and a must-see if you haven't caught it yet). The casting of the film - also known as A Fistful of Dynamite - is bizarre enough to hold the attention - it stars James Coburn as an Irish revolutionary, who teams up with Rod Steiger as a Mexican bandit - but you're very aware that they're actors acting, throughout. Leone's big flop, it was more-or-less lost for years, though it has now been restored; it certainly does have its admirers, and its moments.

Like many spaghettis - emerging from Europe after the tumult of the late 1960's - Duck, You Sucker! broods long and hard (and cynically) on the theme of the revolution. So does Corbucci's The Mercenary, an uneven film (also known as The Hired Gun) that probably is most noteworthy for featuring the first ever performance by Jack Palance as a character named Curly (who actually has curly hair!). You get to see him naked, too, if any of you are slathering to ogle Jack Palance's ass. I personally was not. Franco "Django" Nero stars, as does a great Actor's Studio actor, Tony Musante, who sort of steals the show, like Steiger playing a bandit-turned-revolutionary. The film bears a certain odd resemblance to Pontecorvo's Burn!, and it's no coincidence; the screenplay was worked on by Franco Solinas (who cowrote several of the Pontecorvos, including The Battle of Algiers, and worked with Costa Gavras, Joseph Losey, and Nick Ray, among others). I'm not a lover of either of these films, but there's enough in both to hold your interest, particularly if you like your spaghetti political. The Mercenary is probably the better of the two, actually...

Lee van Cleef fans further will want to see Sabata - a classic which I've never seen; and they won't want to miss the utterly great revenge thriller Death Rides a Horse. That's probably my vote for the coolest of the programming choices they Cinematheque has made. The film is one of the moodier spaghettis, opening on a torrential downpour, with lots of shots of boots trudging through mud, shortly before a family gets slaughtered. The director, Petroni, also did Tepepa, another Solinas spaghetti - a very ambitious and provocative film - but he keeps things more or less simple with Death Rides a Horse, which makes the most of a straightforward revenge narrative. It's still a nearly perfect little movie, and the one title I'd urge newbies to check out...