A Fistful of Dollars (1964)

“You’ll get rich here, or you’ll be killed.”

I saw this film on DVD many years ago as a twentysomething, and remembered very little about it. I know, though that this and Sergio Leone in particular are supposed to be highly regarded, this is said to be a prime example of the spaghetti western and of Clint Eastwood’s loner type character. Also, I’ve only seen a couple of proper Westerns at this point (High Noon and The Man Who Killed Liberty Valance). So I’m not saying anything here with any deep knowledge of the genre.

I can say that the Spanish locations look convincing as the American West and the setting, just into Mexican territory, means the film can just about get away with the fact that Eastwood is the only(!) American actor. And yes, the film works very well on a basic level- Eastwood convinces as the mysterious but intelligent loner, cynical but not without morals deep down, who cleverly plays the two criminal families that are destroying a town against each other to eliminate them both. Plus the whole thing is well shot.

Except... the other Westerns I’ve seen were about something, about moral dilemmas and doing the right thing where it isn’t clear or easy and where there may be no reward. They were about character, in both senses of the word. They had depth, and worked as drama. This is... well, it’s a good action film but an action film is what it is. Do Westerns not necessarily have that depth I’ve seen before? Are spaghetti westerns different and a bit more superficial? Is Clint Eastwood known for this kind of more superficial Western? I’m sure I’ll slowly find out.

Incidentally, this is pure coincidence but the previous film I saw was Back to the Future, Part II, which had a clip from the climax. But surely, if Biff Tannen changed history in 1955, the butterfly effect would mean the same film in 1964 would never quite appear?