cinema history class: navajo joe (1966)

The session: "And the Train Kept a Rollin'"
We look at Spaghetti Westerns with an eye toward trains and how they helped change the West

As always, there may be spoilers here. And the trailer may be NSFW and/or NSFL.

Week 3: Navajo Joe (1966)
Directed by Sergio Corbucci

My Level of Prior Knowledge:
I'd never seen this film, though I was aware of it and the fact that it starred Burt Reynolds.

Plot:
In the South, a lone Indian (well, biracial, half Indian/half White) seeks revenge on the white gang who killed his wife.

Reaction and Other Folderol:
One of the unusual things about Navajo Joe, as far as Spaghetti Westerns go (and judging from my experience), is that it involved Indians. For some reason, the Italians behind Spaghetti Westerns generally uninterested in that element of the history of the American West, and Indians are generally not a theme. But here the titular character is half Indian. But, for all intents and purposes, he's fully Indian.

The other thing that I found odd is that there's actually a good guy (that being the titular Navajo Joe). My line is that,  American Westerns that have good guys and bad guys, Spaghetti Westerns have bad guys and worse guys. The heroes are morally ambiguous at best. But in Navajo Joe, Joe is an unambiguously good character. I don't like that. One of the things I like about Spaghetti Westerns is the fact that the heroes are really anti-heroes. I also like that in TV shows -- The Americans, Boardwalk Empire, and The Sopranos, to name a few.

Burt Reynolds does a good job showing off his athleticism, getting into and out of tight spots. And it's fun to watch him outsmarting the rest of the characters (and the other characters outsmarting each other and themselves). And I especially liked the ambiguous ending.

The film does suffer from having too low a budget. I noted in class that Corbucci never did get the great epic feel that Leone managed to put into so many of his films, Keith explained that that was a function of him being on tighter budgets. I have to wonder what he could have done with more money

Ratings
Me: 8
Bob-O: 9
Dave: 9.3
Ethan: 7