cinema history class: duck, you sucker! (1971)

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 2: Duck, You Sucker! (1971)
Directed by Sergio Leone

My Impressions Going In:
I'd seen his film a few times before and thought very highly of it..

Plot:
In rural Mexico, a thief and a revolutionary join forces in pursuit of their goals.

Reaction and Other Folderol:
Where Once Upon a Time in the West (Leone's prior film, and the movie we saw a week before this), showed us the taming of the West, Duck You Sucker (one of the film's alternate names is Once Upon a Time...the Revolution) went a step further  into modernity. Set during the Mexican Revolution, we see motorcycles, trucks, and what looks like a distant cousin of a military tank. And yet, with the guns, horses and rural settings, it still maintains its identity as a Western. In fact, the opening sequence depicting Juan and his sons robbing a stagecoach clearly declares he film's identity as a Western. But, as Spaghetti Westerns go, there's a distinct maturity to it. So many of the Spaghetti Westerns center on a protagonist (and likely an antagonist as well) with superhuman gunslinging abilities. So much so that many of the movies have a comic book quality. That's absent here. Instead of deadly accuracy, we see the protagonists use machine guns and explosives to cut their enemies down.

In many ways, Duck is also a classic buddy film. Two guys meet as antagonists. But there's enough overlap in their goals that they find themselves working together, often against their better judgement. They are supremely mismatched -- Juan the dirt poor thief who is trying to support his numerous kids (and dreaming of a big score) is working with John, an erudite Irish revolutionary who finds himself fighting the Mexican revolution after becoming a fugitive in his native Ireland. And somehow they develop a grudging respect for each other.

It all wraps itself up into an amusing, if not particularly deep story.

Ratings
Me: 9
Bob-O: 9.8
Dave: 9.8
Ethan: 9.5
Joe: 10