Sergio Leone Web Board
Films of Sergio Leone => Other Films => Topic started by: MARKGPL on January 31, 2003, 06:09:17 PM
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Hi..
I'm relatively new here and have enjoyed reading your posts about Leone's films.
However, I'm struck by the fact that I've not seen anybody talk about "My Name Is Nobody" with Henry Fonda and Terence Hill.
I don't think it's comparable to OUATITW or TGTBATU in terms of its cinematic genius, but I've always thought it's a very entertaining and thoroughly enjoyable film.
I suspect that Henry Fonda enjoyed working so much for Leone in OUATITW that he did this as a labour of love.
A great story about a young guy who worships an aging gunfighter and another incredible score by the soundtrack master, Ennio Morricone and you have all the ingredients for a great western.
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This one was a little hokey for me, more comedy and not as plausable (espcially the shots of the what seemed like 5,000 wild bunch, lol) I just don't rate it up there with the others.
For me anyway as soon as a SW pushes the reality envelope, I loose a little respect for it. For example I think it was maybe "Sabatta"?, that had the gun hidden in the banjo, or the troop of acrobats, or maybe both, that was to me more "Wild Wild West" ish. Take it with a grain of salt.
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Cigar Joe..
You make some very legitimate points and I have to concede that I tend to agree with you.
There are obviously scenes that strain the limits of credibility ie anybody think it's possible to draw a gun three times and holster it while releasing a saddle and catching it before it hits the ground..??..or chug-a-lugging several large glasses of straight whisky and then shooting a shot glass flying through the air..??
I'd never put it on the same level with Leone's other masterpieces, but for entertainment, I definitley enjoyed it..and, of course, Morricone came up with another incredible soundtrack.
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I agree with the fabulous music of Morricone. But you don't have to forget that My Name is Nobody was directed by Tonino Valeri and not by Leone himself. Even if "Sergio Leone presents" My name is nobody, it's not really a Leone's film.
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I agree.Good film for sheer entertainment value but not to be taken too seriously.I always enjoy the ending with Fonda sitting on board waiting to depart, reminiscing on the end of an era.Wacky music, good fun.
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Indeed, the music was a goddamn riot, but I was rather disappointed in the film. It has its funny moments, but the kind of slapsticky humor just didn't work... Those moments were really bad, I mean something to be ashamed of... But the rest was alright... Especially the beginning at the barbershop. :-X
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However, I'm struck by the fact that I've not seen anybody talk about "My Name Is Nobody" with Henry Fonda and Terence Hill.
I don't think it's comparable to OUATITW or TGTBATU in terms of its cinematic genius, but I've always thought it's a very entertaining and thoroughly enjoyable film.
You haven't seen anyone talking about "My Name is Nobody",because it isn't usually regarded as a genuine Sergio Leone film,even though Leone was the producer,I think,and,according to a legend,may have directed the one or two first scenes.
However,the movie in question is very good. :)
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I would say it,s not as good as the films Sergio actually directed but on its own it is a good watch.Some of the slapstick comedy jars with the rest of the film and I,ve never really rated Terence Hill but Henry Fonda is superb and Ennio,s score is another classic-I love the Jack Beaureagard theme even if it does sound like my Way by Frank Sinatra!
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And don't forget the hilarious "wild bunch" theme.
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Yeah,it is a terrific score inwhich Morricone seems to be having great fun,sometimes taking the mickey out of previous scores he wrote,such as the 'stand-off'music which is like a funny combination of the 'Man With the Harmonica'from OUATITW and 'The Trio' from The Good,the Bad,and The Ugly!
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According to Terence Hill, Sergio directed the opening scene of "My name is Nobody" (and was present on the set throughout the shoot). I tend to think that´s correct; the opening scene really has that "Sergio feel" to it.
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I didn't know this, it's new for me.
Where did you read it?
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I didn't know this, it's new for me.
Where did you read it?
Terence Hill mentioned this in one of the interviews on the Japanese DVD release of "My name is Nobody" (or maybe it was on the "A genius two partners and a dupe" DVD, I don´t remember)
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I think Leone was drafted in as a third unit director to try and make the deadline and budget, not sure which scenes he directed though, but as soon as Leone was on board as 3rd unit director it became a "Leone film" which Valeri was warned about.
Never the less it's a classic, ok it has it's bad comedy moments, but what an opening and Terence Hill is superb.
Does anyone know which scenes Leone directed?
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Yes, Christopher Frayling confirms that Leone directed some sequences in "My name is nobody".
And he even directed some sequences of the sequel film to that, called "Nobody is the greatest", directed by Damiano Damiani with again, Morricone's music.
Appearances of Klaus Kinski and Mario Brega (who also appears in FOD, FFDM and GBU.
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These two films are being released on 7th April according to Play.com. I've just bought the german versions off ebay so i'm not too happy. Typical innit it.
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Was in my local HMV the other day,came across a DVD of My Name Is Nobody,was surprised since I had not heard of any release on the UK[or anywhere].Picture quality is good if not great,extras are a bit limited but there is a 10 min interview with Terence Hill which is quite interesting.Good to see it in full widescreen at last.
Thoughtv you might be interested,it is available from www.play.com.
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yes I bought it last week, I assumed it had been out for a while, haven't watched it yet but dissapointed to hear picture quality isnt great, unlike the Trinity DVD which is superb in picture quality.
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I haven't heard anything about a Region 1 release for My Name is Nobody. I tried to look it up to see if it was going to come out or was already out, but couldn't come up with anything.
Been a long, long time since I've seen it. Glad to hear it's out on DVD in some regions, at least.
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I haven't heard anything about a Region 1 release for My Name is Nobody. I tried to look it up to see if it was going to come out or was already out, but couldn't come up with anything.
Been a long, long time since I've seen it. Glad to hear it's out on DVD in some regions, at least.
pardon my ignorance, is region 1 US and region 2 europe & uk???
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Yes, R2 is Europe and R1 America.
My Name Is Nobody has been released on region 1 as well, in Canada. You can either by it new from www.dv-depot.com or used from www.amazon.com
The quality is said to be rather good. You can read customer reviews at www.amazon.com
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i think it is one of the best westerns, better than a fistful of dollars... (but a bit disappointing in a few ways). Why don't we talk about this very good "almost leone" western?
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I also really like this film,though not as much as Fistful Of Dollars.The film seems a bit uneven,with some bits obviuosly coming from Leone the producer and others from Valerei the director.However,it's great fun!Some of it is indeed funny and the Henry Fonda character adds a touch of melancholy,giving the film some depth.I adore the Morricone score,which often seems like s spoof of his other Leone music.
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what about the hall of mirrors scene, brilliant,
but (I know I've asked this before, but I'll try again) when Bond duels with Scaramanga at the end of The Man with the Golden Gun it is very remenisence of Nobody. There must be a Bond enthusiast out there who knows where the inspiration for this scene came from, it must be Nobody?
Unless, nobody knows.
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Probable first use of Hall of Mirrors for a shootout is in Orson Welles' LADY FROM SHANGHAI.
Antonio Margheriti liked the idea so much he used a Hall of Mirrors fight in ANTHAR L'INVINCIBILE, and a Hall of Mirrors shootout in E DIO DISSE A CAIANO.
ENTER THE DRAGON features Bruce Lee in a Hall of Mirrors Kung Fu fight.
There must be many more instances.
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so it was Orson Welles, thanks amigo.
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Hi!
No doubt, Sergio Leone was a genius.
In 1968 he directed his first masterpiece ("OUaTiA" is the second) "Once Upon a Time in the West".
After that film everyone knew that he was a fantastic director.
But why was he in 1974 and 1975 just the Co-Director of the "Nobody"-films?
I mean, he was just the second director, although he did the cinematic masterpiece "Once Upon a Time in the West" almost ten years previously.
Can somebody explain the reason to me, please?
Pesci
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I just watched Nobody for the first time this weekend and thought it was Great!! I peronally think it's way better than FOD and Fistful of Dynamite, just my opinion though.
THe characters are great, and the comedy in it is hilarious.
A great movie, did Leone produce/present any other films, or is this it?
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I just watched Nobody for the first time this weekend and thought it was Great!! I peronally think it's way better than FOD and Fistful of Dynamite, just my opinion though.
THe characters are great, and the comedy in it is hilarious.
A great movie, did Leone produce/present any other films, or is this it?
He did quite a few, including a (very poor according to what I've heard) sequel to "Nobody"; "The Cat", which I have no idea of what it was about; "I'll Get A Gun", about an Italian security guard (I think) who buys a firearm and grows dangerously attached to it; and a few more, which I forget at this moment.
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health problems causing him to cut his schedule ?
maybe he enjoyed co dir. the nobody films. possible he thought the public would like to see a western comedy.
earning money from these films to film OUATIA ?
a good question.
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Don't forget Leone had a big hand in this spaghetti western...
Genio, due compari, un pollo, Un (1975)
... aka Genius, The (1975)
... aka Genius, Two Friends, and an Idiot, A (1975) (USA)
... aka Genius, Two Partners and a Dupe, A (1975)
... aka Nobody ist der Größte (1975) (West Germany)
... aka Nobody's the Greatest (1975) (video title)
... aka Trinity Is Back Again (1975) (USA)
... aka Un génie, deux associés, une cloche (1975) (France)
I haven't seen it yet but plan to order the new UK dvd - anyone else seen this dvd recently?
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Nobody's the greatest is what mine is called, it's not the best film you'll ever see.
The plot is mystifying, if you can understand it all your doing better than me, it's an enjoyable film, it's basically my name is nobody the sequel but not as good.
It's start off well and Leone was supposed to have directed the first scene, it shows because of the stylistic sense, and there's a cameo from Klaus Kinski which is the best bit in the film for me.
Ennio morricone's score is as always brilliant, and there's a superb piece of music during a chase scene which is one of the best he's written, and also leone used for one of his adverts that he directed.
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Hello everybody !
Does anyone actually know which scenes Sergio Leone directed himself ?
What about the final shootout and the epilouge for instance ?
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I would like to see 'A Genius' and 'Nobody' someday and see if I (or someone with me) can tell which scenes Leone directed (or had influence in). Is the DVD release of 'A Genius' good?
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i have been looking for 'my name is nobody' on r2 dvd to replace my old battered vhs copy. is it out? and has anyone any idea where i can get it?
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try www.play.com
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i have been looking for 'my name is nobody' on r2 dvd to replace my old battered vhs copy. is it out? and has anyone any idea where i can get it?
Welcome aboard Chuck! ;D I've been waiting for you to post so I could say hi.
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try www.play.com
thanks for the help!!!!! managed to bag a copy
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Welcome aboard Chuck! ;D I've been waiting for you to post so I could say hi.
thanks for the welcome!
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Hello everybody !
Does anyone actually know which scenes Sergio Leone directed himself ?
What about the final shootout and the epilouge for instance ?
I think it was the opening shot.
From my own judgement :-\ but i could be wrong.
You can see a contrast between the 2 directors.
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He did quite a few, including a (very poor according to what I've heard) sequel to "Nobody"; "The Cat", which I have no idea of what it was about; "I'll Get A Gun", about an Italian security guard (I think) who buys a firearm and grows dangerously attached to it; and a few more, which I forget at this moment.
The "I'll Get a Gun" movie aka IL GIOCATTOLO or THE TOY is worth seeing. It's a Montaldo directed film but with all the RAFRAN hands on board, including script by Sergio Donati. The tone shifts from light comedy of middleaged mediocrity caught up in bureaucratic red tape into TAXI DRIVER gun and vendetta craziness somewhere around the half way point. All scenes directly detailing crime violence and its effects come out of a recognizably Leone Universe. Though I'm not suggesting he had any direct influence on the set, the shootouts appear to express or at least reflect his stylistic ideas. Especially memorable is a robbery massacre in a Roman bar with time incredibly dragged out and dilated, quite brilliant. There's also a great camera study of well-off folks whacking targets of thugs at an ultramodern shooting gallery, each with headphones on, totally isolated in their fantasies of revenge.
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Leone was not a Hollywood director. He had too much trouble finding money to make his movies.
From time to time, he made or produced some films (he produced for example"Il Gatto" in 1977 with probably the most "bossanovistic" Morricone music ever) in make money in order to realize his other projects.
Sean Penn does the same thing right now.
I read somewhere that for his project "900 days" he was able to get 100$ million dollars from different producers round the wolrd, just by talking to them and explaining them his project. What a carisma!!!!
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Have you noticed a typical Leone think in this movie?
A man with no name... again.... without any known past.
A man who came from nowhere.
And on the other hand a man tortured by his past (Henri Fonda, Jack), like Noodles, like Harmonica, like Van Cleef character on Per Qualche dollaro in piu.
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Has anyone seen MY NAME IS NOBODY? If you have..
Does anyone have access to the screenplay?
Henry Fonda - Terence Hill
JACK BEAUREGARDE (Fonda)
NOBODY (Hill)
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I agree whole heartedly!!
MY NAME IS NOBODY is one of my favorite movies.
If you are Sergio Leone Fan, you need to watch this movie. You can buy of of Amazon like I did which will have the entire score of the film as well.
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Hello everybody !
Does anyone actually know which scenes Sergio Leone directed himself ?
What about the final shootout and the epilouge for instance ?
yeah, that's a good question. it's quite interesting, that valerii said once that MY NAME IS NOBODY has no leone-like scenes, because it's his movie. rumours say that valerii was only leones assistant. it's obvious that the passion of leone is in this movie. for example the whole opening scene.
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ive never seen my name is nobody but anyone whos in the UK if youve seen the brilliant satirical comedy Nighty Night - Ennio Morricone's main theme of My Name is Nobody is the soundtrack - his influence knows no bounds!!!!
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Check this out:
according to IMDB, Director Sam Peckinpah's name is on one of the graves in the graveyard.
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and so remarks nobody:
'Peckinpah, that's a lovely name in navajo.'
Tho ive never seen it i really want to not least because main morricone theme is the theme tune to the british comedy nighty night
apparently leone wanted to have peckinpah in the grave to show that leone is better than peckinpah cos he put his name there
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and so remarks nobody:
'Peckinpah, that's a lovely name in navajo.'
Tho ive never seen it i really want to not least because main morricone theme is the theme tune to the british comedy nighty night
apparently leone wanted to have peckinpah in the grave to show that leone is better than peckinpah cos he put his name there
sam peckinpah was the director of THE WILD BUNCH (1969). nice to mention him in MY NAME IS NOBODY just before the wild bunch enters the scene.
Have you noticed? In one scene in NOBODY the musical theme of Frank (OUTITW) mixes with the theme of Jack Beauregard...very nice!
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Let's not forget that My Name is Nobody is not really a Leone movie, even if he was in charge of the second unit in some scenes.
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I´ve seen the movie again a few days ago and liked it more than ever.
I created a thread over @ rottentomatoes.com concerning Leone´s amount of influence on the movie.
Well, I got practically no reply ...
Will it ever remain a mystery ?
I think the opening sequence and the final duel easily could have been "influenced" by Sergio,
probably even the ingenious confrontation between Jack and the Wild Bunch.
BTW
Any information on a possible RC2 release (with a German audio track) ?
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According to Christopher Frayling (Sergio Leone - Something To Do With Death ISBN 0-571-16438-2) Leone directed following scenes:
-The Beginning (Barbershop)
-The Battel (Beauregard vs. Wild Bunch)
-The Final Duel
-The Carnival Scene
-The Terence Hill scenes in Spain including the Saloon Scene
-The Urinal Scene
A funny thing is what Ernesto Gastaldi says about Leone:"...it was going to be a very good Western indeed - maybe better than his Westerns! And he couldn't bear it!...he began...telling people he had been the real director!"
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I just remember how incredible funny the urinal scene is...Anyway, I heard he directed the final duel, and the opening sequence in the sequel. I love My Name Is Nobody, and I also find the sequel pretty entertaining. Will have to watch them again soon.
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I just watched My Name is Nobody and thought it was really good. The score is fantastic and the cinematography is beautiful. Fonda is very good. I found the hall of mirrors scene too silly to really enjoy. I would recommend this film and definately place it in the top 20 of "Non-Leone" SW, even though leone "presented" the movie. If he directed any scenes I would bet $100 it was the opening scene. That has Leone written all over it.
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I saw tcm is airing it in August. I will probably see it there before a widescreen dvd is released.
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i thought it was perhaps slightly too 'tongue-in-cheek' but yes, i agree the cinematography was great and i thought terence hill is better than people give him credit for. it was a decent half-spaghetti, half-hollywood western. and the score is great and immortalised in the british comedy Nighty Night...tho i think ive done that observation to death. ;)
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I saw tcm is airing it in August. I will probably see it there before a widescreen dvd is released.
That's cool! Thanks for the heads-up. I think we have a copy of it straight off from TV (with commercials), which was taped years ago.
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My name is Nobody is a very funny, and also tender movie.
One of my favourite scenes is Henry Fonda shooting against the Wild Bunch, with the music of Morricone.
I think alos that Terence Hill (and his fellow Bud Spencer) is a real funny guy.
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He men, I supposed you have noticed that the final duel music of my name is nobodies (my fault) parodies the music theme of OUATITW the man with harmonica: not the harmonica score itself, but the oboe accompaniments, as a sort of signature. It's amazing.
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Here you go kids ...
http://www.filesoup.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=48078&hl=
If the link doesn't work just go to filesoup.com and search for my name is nobody
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These just came out in Denmark - I bought "My name is Nobody" for next to nothing - discount release but widescreen presentation:
http://www.star-video.dk/
Click on the Nobody-film and you'll enter a site with a little trailer from the saloon. Personally Nobody is the only of these films that I can stand to watch. And still, at times it's nearly too damn hard. The mix of melancholic feelings, grandeur, and comedy... it is more pastiche than anything else.
Like that pseudo-Bond movie.. Casino Royale.. The problem with Nobody is that it still tries to maintain some corny seriousness, like when Fonda is writing his cheesy farewell note in the end. With Leone all these things are left unsaid or expressed in subtle facial movements, music or scenery.
Anyway, some scenes in Nobody makes me laugh out loud. The "take Squirrel's gun and slap him 40 times in the face" scene gets me every time. And so does the scene with the "turning slapping doll". It's pure Charlie Chaplin slapstick.
And OK, the scene with the train and the Bunch is pretty cool too.
The "Valkyrien" Wagner theme that Morricone included in his theme for the bunch remind me of "Apocalypse Now" and the Choppers. Maybe Coppola got the idea from the wild bunch in Nobody....
sorry about this long post, cheers :o
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I read somewhere that Bud Spencer and Terence Hill could made another movie toghether.
Any news about this?
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I got a few Morricone songs from this movie, and I like them quite a bit. More light than the Leone films, but still quite creative IMO.
I was just wondering if anyone seen "My Name Is Nobody"? I am big Henry Fonda fan and so.....
How was it?
Is this out on DVD or VCR?
blah blah blah
Thanks so much in advance,
-Tom
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Long time ago, more in the comedy spaghetti western phase. In a different class altogether IMO. Its on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00005IC53/qid
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I really like My Name Is Nobody quite a bit. It is, of course, not in the same league as Leones (other) movies, but then again, it's not the same kind of movie. It's more like a parody of the entire genre and you can find lots of connections. Especially to Leones movies and The Wild Bunch. If you've seen those you will probably end up either loving it or hating it. I'd say it has a cute, kinda dream-like story. And of course, there's the music. At first I didn't really like the main theme, but as I have gotten alot better acquainted with Morricone's music over the years I have really taken a liking to it. There are other great tracks on the soundtrack as well, especially the track called "The Wild Bunch" (aka "The Wild Horde") and "With Best Wishes". There's even a track called "Valkyries", and Morricone has indeed borrowed alot from Wagner's "Ride Of The Valkyries". ;) I think GDM just released a new version of this album this december. Check it out. http://shop.gdmmusic.com/index.php?f=scheda&s=txt&id=172
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As has been said , doesn't have the qualitity feel of Leone, but is a great lighthearted feel. it has got something and is better than most other spag.westerns that i've seen.
it is on dvd
http://www.play.com/play247.asp?searchtype=r2title&searchstring=my+name+is+nobody&page=search&Go.x=9&Go.y=12
i like it!
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I think only a very small sequence was shot by Leone but its mostly a Tonino Valerii film, you may want to check out his other serious SW's "Price of Power" and "Day of Anger".
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At the beginning, with the barber, it makes Leone no, with the sound... And the end has been shot by Leone himself!!! ;)
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There are some good scenes but the entire movie doesn't really work for me.
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It's not nearly as bad as people make it out to be... it's a very good movie... you heard me correct... very good... not up with anything else leone did... but definitly up there with the best of the rest of the spags.
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I totally agree with you. It's just different. A totally different style and it has a totally different goal. I mean, you can't compare a submarine and an airplane, right?
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Well, looks like next time I have the $ to buy an import DVD, I am going for this one. Thanks for all your imput guys! Having Henry sold me out :)
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i agree: it''s a good movie, not great but better than many other spag westerns. Morricone did a great job, and fonda is wonderful.
But there are too many ridiculous thing, that could recall the "trinita" kind of western.
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mmm, sorry guys, it looks nice and its quite good fun, but any message its trying to convey is a bit confused and 2 be honest i think its a bit stupid really. I dont like what Morricone did with the parodies of his own scores, though the main theme is quite catchy
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it is a very good movie that could have been GREAT... if leone had entierly directed it, that could really have been a very important movie. Fonda is great, the script contains so much leone, so does the thema and the characters... a few great jokes... it lacks the poetry that leone would have given to it.
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It's been years since I've seen My Name is Nobody. My dad taped it off television a long time ago. The only thing I remember about it is his fast draw.
I was just glancing around and saw a new DVD is being released for Region 1 on April 26. LINK (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0007M21Z8/ref=pd_sbs_d_1/103-7965335-1729412?v=glance&s=dvd)
It doesn't list any features but the price isn't bad.
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The story itself is really good, but the comedy sequences do annoy me. But as I've mentioned before, I'm not too keen on the comedy SW's (ala Trinity). Certainly worth a view or two.
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I watched this film on TCM, and it confused the hell outta me. I watched out mostly out of curiosity, but I was simply underprepared for how freakin' weird it is.
I did not mind the slapstick scenes too much, and I loved certain surrealist pieces of the film. The shooting contest in the bar, for one; the shootout in the fun house I thought was funny; ESPECIALLY the urinal scene; and, of course, "The Ride of the Valkyries" being played on car horns floored me every time I heard it. ;D I couldn't honestly say too much about the film, though if I get the chance I'll certainly watch it again. The only part of the film I didn't really like was Beauregard's showdown with the Wild Bunch, but other than that, no major specific complaints.
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Wow, what a week for Leone enthusiasts! The 3 UK discs AND the R1 release of MNIN. I had really high hopes for this new edition, as the package promised a newly remastered transfer and an anamorphic image. Some scenes do look nice, but there are many with annoying artifacts (lines jumping about, for example). Generally, outdoor vistas and close-ups look good, dark interiors with a lot of lines cause problems, and rapid camera movements also cause the image to break down. Still, it may be the best presentation of the film we've had on video so far. I hope someday they'll do a full restoration to restore colors and eliminate some of the fading that is evident, and then make a definitive transfer. But I guess we'll have to wait for HD for that.
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I am looking forward to seeing this movie. It will be like watching it for the first time, and maybe it will be since I don't actually remember if I saw the whole thing when I was little. But I'll definitely be picking it up though since my dad wants the movie.
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Tonight on Turner classic (US); letterbox, 9:30pm eastern time.
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Especially interesting was the photographer in New Orleans trying to get everything in frame in his "Techniscope shape" image (upside down), maybe an "in-joke" about the issues of getting things framed in that format.
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I like the western comedies with Terence Hill. This one was funny as well. How about the scene with them commenting over "Sam Peckinpah's" grave?
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I love the idea of My Name is Nobody, but always struggled with the slapstick aspect of Terence Hill generally.
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Ok bought for my collection and watched this about a week ago, its light on plotting, seems cheaper on the budget and is not on par with Leone directed films, it very gimmicky, the house of mirrors sequence, the bar glass shooting sequence, the pool table pool ball shooting sequences are great but these spoof westerns are just not as highly appreaciated by me. My honest opinion, it seems as if its just a bunch of cool ideas strung together haphazzardly with a loosely constructed plot, just for the sake of making some money on the last trend of SW's. The opening shootout in the barbershop is superb wether or not is was actually directed by Leone or Valerii after that its downhill. The Morricone track is ok but not up there with the great ones. Its a spoof and pokes fun at the genre and the Leone style.
Worth getting for a reference.
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The opening shootout in the barbershop is superb wether or not is was actually directed by Leone or Valerii after that its downhill.
Boy, for me the highlight is when Terrence Hill manipulates Fonda into going up against the Wild Bunch all alone. I love the action shots intercut with the still images, suggesting old photographs of a legendary battle.
Also, the final "showdown" between Nobody and Beauregard is very well done.
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Now just to let you knwo this is my first time on this particular board (Other Movies). I am on vacation in Kansas at my grandparents and on the drive up we always stop in Norman OK at the Borders. I found two great classic Westerns. My Name is Nobody and Nevada Smith. 2 forgoten westerns. I had never seen Nobody but I knew it was Classic because its a SW. But watching it. Wow. Half the time I was like what the hell is going on? I was relived to find it was not Leone but another Italian director that directed that Leone just produced and gave the idea.
Couldn't follow the story too much. I uderstood Nobody's purpose to make Jack a legend. But the other stuff. Who's sullivan, who's the guy with the trashing skimpy moustache? what was going on in the fun house? I just didn't follow it. But it was funny esp. the fairy tale. The way the old man is just loving it and getting all wrapped up in the story. Good moral too.
Anyway just my first viewing of My Name is Nobody
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It's good to hear that I wasn't alone in understanding this movie completely the first time. That's what actually makes it so interesting for me. It was so intriguing that I watched it again, and again, and again...you get the picture. I think I've actually seen it about 7 or 8 times. Each time I learn something interesting that I missed.
One thing's for sure, Sergio knows how to stir your imagination with his combination of story telling, humor and music. The music in these spagetti westerns is without question what contributes to their uniqueness.
If you like Nobody, I think you'll really like these films that also include Terence Hill:
They call me Trinity
Trinity is still my name
Check out more about him at http://www.terencehill.com/
PS They just released a DVD of this movie in it's original widescreen format. The scenery is excellent as is the sound. I'm in heaven.
Cheers,
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Well Sergio did direct I think the opening of the movie, but I haven't seen it, I just read a lot about it ;D According to IMDB Sergio "hijacked" the director's chair for this one.
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Well, I don't think Leone did much directing for this, though he liked people to think he did. If he did, sure the result would have been miuch different. I like the movie, which I have re-seen recently, expecially as you are left in the lurch about what is happening and what really Nobody is (and sure, that he is revealed in the end simply as a Fonda admirer and not as some kind of supernatural or psichological entity, is quite a letdown) but it is uneven. The Trinity movies have more rhythm.
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The credits read "Based on an idea of Sergio Leone".
After getting my first job, I haven't found much time for movies as I did before but I have just recently seen it so I have time to watch it again and again like you say. The same thing went for OUTW. I'd learn something new each time I watched it.
Thanks for the Terence Hill stuff!
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According to Howard Hughes excellent new book "Once Upon A Time in the Italian West" parts of My Name Is Nobody were filmed in New Mexico and were directed by Tonino Valerii which includes the opening barbershop scene,the Navajo Graveyard with the Wlid Bunch riding past,Red's shack, and the saloon where Nobody meets Beauregard
Valerii also directed scenes in New Orleans where Nobody and Beauregard fake the final duel and Beauregard catches the boat to take him to Europe.
However a second filming unit was based in Almeria,Spain and the scenes filmed here were directed by Sergio Leone -including the battlescene between Beauregard and the Wild Bunch,the Cheyenne City scenes involving the drinking/shooting/face slapping,the fairground shootout and the public urinal scene.
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Does he mention the sources of these infos?
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Hi Titoli,all i can say is that there is a very detailed 12 page chapter on this movie(plus big chapters for 19 other top spaghetti's-this book is great!!).I would like to type out the relevant paragraphs in full but obviously i can't because of copyright ,so i've summarised very briefly the important bits.The only indication of Hughes source's is the large 2 page bibliography at the back of the book.
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Here are the details about the upcoming French special edition DVD of "My Name Is Nobody" from Studio Canal.
Disc 1: main feature
- format: 2.35:1 (16/9 compatible 4/3)
- newly restored master
- audio: Italian, English, and French - Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
- subtitles: French
- audio commentary by Tonino Valerii (hosted by Christophe Gans)
Disc 2: extras
- documentary: Nobody... is perfect (55min)
- documentary: Tonino Valerii et le western (12min)
- documentary: Autour de Sergio Leone (50min)
- alternative end (30sec)
- photo gallery
- trailers to three Tonino Valerii films (Days of Wrath, Il prezzo del potere, Reason To Live)
- 40 page booklet
- 4 postcards
As already mentioned in the other topic, the documentaries include a conversation between Leone screenwriters Luciano Vincenzoni and Sergio Donati as well as a 15 minute interview with Tonino Valerii.
How well the picture quality of this restored version fares in comparison to the recent German Paramount release remains to be seen, of course. The extras give it a significant advantage over the German dvd, in my opinion. The release is scheduled for October the 3rd.
And here's a preview of the artwork:
(http://img188.imageshack.us/img188/1948/g054dw.th.jpg) (http://img188.imageshack.us/my.php?image=g054dw.jpg)
(http://img315.imageshack.us/img315/732/g065au.th.jpg) (http://img315.imageshack.us/my.php?image=g065au.jpg)
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i sentenza !
i hope my question won t be too stupid but do you know exactly when will come this french version? ???
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;D ;Dooouuups sorry it was the emotion of such a good news!! iread it perfectly !normally 3rd of october uh?
and for the fench dvd version of"un genie , deux associes , une cloche" alias "nobody was the best"???studio canal are working on it?
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what is the real english title of "un genio , due compari, un pollo"?
the genîus?
nobody was the best?
nobody is perfect?
i m a bit lost ???
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I haven't yet heard about any plans by Studio Canal to release "Un génie, deux associés, une cloche".
As for the correct English title several have been in use as you can see:
(http://www.eurofilmsltd.com/images/catalog/geniustwopartners.jpg) (http://pre-cert.co.uk/pix/ntgmedusa.gif) (http://www.vidjunkie.com/images3/genius.gif)
If I'm not mistaken it was called "A genius, two partners and a dupe" in the UK. While in the US it was known under three different names: "Nobody's the greatest", "Trinity is Back Again" and "The Genius".
You can also go to Fatmandan's site (http://www.fatmandan.de/). Click on the letter G and scroll down to "*GENIO, DUE COMPARI, UN POLLO, Un" and you'll see a list of all the names the movie had in different countries.
Hope that helps. :)
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SERGIO LEONE DEFINATLY DID SECOND UNIT DIRECTING IN THIS FILM.
HIS SCENES INCLUDE
1. THE ENTRE CARNIVAL SEQUENCE (WITH HILL)
2.THE BAR GAME SEQUENCE (WITH HILL)
3. THE PISS SCENE( WITH HILL)
4 THE CLIMATIC WILD BUNCH SCENE(WITH FONDA AND HILL)
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10 YEARS AFTER WEST! :o
west was complete and released in 1969!
and NOBODY was released in 1973
blasphemy simply blasphemy ;)
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On IFC the other night, they did special on SWs. When it came to MNIN, it was said that Leone did it in response to all the cheap SWs coming out. He wanted it funny to signal an end of an era, much like the movies of the 40s making comedy out of Dracula, Wolfman, Mummy, etc. with the 3 Stooges and such.
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Just watched it again today. Fairy tale scene wild bunch scene and the bar scene
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hello and then say good bye
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u say goodbye, and i say hello ;D
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ladies and gentlemen the long lost brother of the Beatles.
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;)
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AWESOME THAT LOOKS GREAT!
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i have always noticed that the one thing i never liked about MY NAME IS NOBODY is that nobody kills someone halfway through the film.
i know that sounds stupid but hear me out.
NOBODY is the type of character that stays alive by pretty much putting everybody in the ass of the jokes and scaring the hell out of them when they see how fast he is.
he plays the whole movie like this.
he wins fights by slapping or scaring ppl off.
but yet one scene totally ruins this interesting gimic because he actually does kill someone(the scene where he is hired to kill FONDA but off course teams up instead). and it ruins his playfulness. they should have just stuck with the fact that NOBODY never kills.
its like something LEE VAN CLEEF said one time on set in HIGH NOON. someone asked VAN CLEEF to say "howdy" when FRANK MILLER arrives. and VAN CLEEF said that if he has been playing silent this long he should stick with it. and he was right. he was easily the most frightning character there because he was so silent and mysterious he had presence. one sound out of his mouth and he would be just another lackey.
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on XPLIOTEDCINEMA they have the german version with both MY NAME IS NOBODY and A GENIUS TWO PARTNERS AND A DUPE together in english audio and i think has the same documentaries and extras as this one.
could be wrong but check.
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For me all the slap stick shtick ruins Nobody, thats my opinion.
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u mean NOBODY the film or NOBODY the character?
i was kinda aiming towards the character myself.
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For me all the slap stick shtick ruins Nobody, thats my opinion.
Wow, try saying that five times fast. ;D
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Before I saw the film I thought ( because someone mentioned it's like American westerns vs. Spaghetti Westerns ) that Nobody would be the one killing a lot of people. When I saw it I was surprised to see Fonda killing three guys by himself because the three-way shootouts were the invention of sw's. What would've been interesting is that nobody should've been like a Clint eastwood character while Fonda was an American western hero ( Good guy, saving the day, etc. ) and it would have shown the comparison better in my opinion.
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Beaver comparisons for Nobody:
http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDCompare11/nobody.htm
(French edition not included yet, though German edition looks amazing in my opinion)
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I'm still hoping the Beaver will include the French DVD in its comparison at some point. I recently came across a couple of comparison shots between the Paramount and the Studio Canal discs. They were pretty close, though the Paramount disc seemed to have slight edge over the Studio Canal release. I'll post the link as soon as I find it again.
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I'm still hoping the Beaver will include the French DVD in its comparison at some point. I recently came across a couple of comparison shots between the Paramount and the Studio Canal discs. They were pretty close, though the Paramount disc seemed to have slight edge over the Studio Canal release. I'll post the link as soon as I find it again.
I'm going to add screenshots from both discs to my site soon, maybe tomorrow, so if screenshots are enough (I don't think I'm qualified to comment on the differences or faults in the picture :P ) then you can see them soon. ;)
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Sorry for double posting, but this way it'll be easier to know that I have posted new info. ;)
Anyways... here's http://www.sundances.net/spaghetti/mynameisnobodyscr.php some screenshot comparisons from the discs. The deinterlacing problems with the german disc certainly caused problems. :p
Oh and I have taken all the screenshots personally with the same computer and same program (powerdvd 5).
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Thanks Sentenza.
German edition looks better.
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yep. next week alex cox introduces my name is nobody.
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Cool stuff Indio! ;D
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Great-i've been wanting to see this in widescreen for ages.Like the new German dvd i wonder if we'll get to see the extended scenes?
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Watched this last night,having taped it last Sunday and version is the same as my pan & scan but a better print and in widescreen.Alex Cox intro good as usual.
Mustn't forget to email Itv4!
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I think you should now upgrade to the German DVD banjo, its an amazing release and print quality is astounding.
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I have reseen The Genius after so many years and was pleasantly surprised as I had read that Leone was unsatisfied with Damiani who wasn't a comedy director. Of course the movie isn't as good as the 2 Trinity and My Name is Nobody. But bar those three I think it is the best comedy western made in Italy.
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I saw The Genius and did not like it at all. A shame really after seeing the great Nobody.
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Alex Cox described this the other week as being the worst sw ever made-but i don't agree and i could name a few worse ones!Compared to Damiani's earlier Bullet For The General it is a bad movie but for Terence Hill/Trinity/Nobody fans, Hill is excellent as ever as is the villain Patrick McGooghan and Klaus Kinski in his cameo.The storyline's pretty good with a neat twist plus i also enjoy Morricones humourous score.
On the minus side i do find some of the other main characters-including the half-breed and the blond a bit irritating!!
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I saw Nobody and enjoyed it quite a bit but would've probably liked it more had I understood the plot better.
If Sergio directed Fonda's opening scene, the graveyard scene, the carnival and salloon scene with Hill, the Wild Bunch battle and the final duel wouldn't an hour or so of the movie pretty much be Sergio's? From the urinal scene to the final duel that's a long portion of the movie, and an important one, that's strictly Sergio.
From the various anecdotes surrounding the making of this film from those involved it seems as though no one is really sure if Sergio had much influence or not and according to quotes of both Sergio and the director they seem to be sure that the other guy had more influence.
I think the movie is very much Sergio's "Secret child". He directed half of the movie and all of what he directed are the most important key scenes to the film. It's almost as if Valerii was the second unit director ;D
EDIT: Watched it again today, enjoyed it waaay more. It kind of makes me wonder if this movie really "belongs" to any one of the creative people behind it. Leone came up with the idea, Gastaldi and Morsella wrote the story, Leone directed half and Valerii directed half. The only person whose mark is on it from beginning to end is Morricone ;D
I have some questions though - What is the story with this gold mine and the people involved? Why does Nobody wear the Wild Bunch duster jacket and saddle bags?
I've heard some negative comments about the Nobody sequel, but I'll get it just for the hell of it.
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If Sergio directed Fonda's opening scene, the graveyard scene, the carnival and salloon scene with Hill, the Wild Bunch battle and the final duel wouldn't an hour or so of the movie pretty much be Sergio's? From the urinal scene to the final duel that's a long portion of the movie, and an important one, that's strictly Sergio.
Out of the scenes you mention Leone was only responsible for the direction of the Wild Bunch battle , the urinal scene,the carnival and saloon scenes in Cheyenne City and it is my opinion that these comedy scenes involving Hill were an attempt to emulate the past glories of the Trinity films but Leone doesn't quite have the comic timing of Enzo Barboni.The quick draw and face slapping is better handled in Trinity Is Still My Name,the hall of mirrors and shooting contest scenes are overlong as is the urinal scene which is absolutely dreadful.All this footage was filmed by the second unit in Almeria.
The other scenes you mention were all directed by Valerii on the other side of the Atlantic .The opening barber shop scene was filmed in the New Mexican town of Cabezon,the Navajo Graveyayrd scene at San Esteban Del Ray Mission in New Mexico and the final duel between Nobody and Beauregard was filmed in Royal Street in New Orlean.
As much as i love My Name Is Nobody it has to be said that with the exception of the Wild Bunch battle,the most effective scenes were directed by Valerii.
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It's an okay movie. Fonda and Hill are good, but the movie does tend to get bogged down in some of Hill's more lengthy scenes. I was a bit disappointed by the Wild Bunch climax, I thought it was kind of a let down (though I did like the OUATITW-duel parody at the end). And the storyline made only a small amount of sense. But it was funny and fairly entertaining, and that's all it needed to be, IMO.
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I was a bit disappointed by the Wild Bunch climax, I thought it was kind of a let down
You astound me, sir. Morricone's music, then, counts for nothing? That scene ends with one of the greatest musical moments in the history of cinema.
Concerning the stuff that Leone didn't "direct": this is true only in a technical sense. Leone was present throughout the production, and Valerii had to answer to him. Furthermore, Valerii was in effect SL's apprentice, and learned the master's style as his assistant director. Can there be any doubt that Valerii was attempting anything other than a slavish imitation of the Leone house style? (it was SL who was doing the experimenting). Just as Hitchcock pictures were always directed by Hitchcock regardless of whether he was always on set or not, MNIN bears all the hallmarks of a film directed by Sergio Leone and should be considered an SL film.
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Leone himself, in an interview linked in some topic of this site, says the movie is Valerii's. And I don't think he would have directed it like it is. Furthermore, in an interview I read on line (in italian, sorry) Valerii says he directed the river scene in FOD. Things are quite complicated, as it is evident, but I believe Leone when he says he didn't direct the movie.
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That sounds about right Titoli and i think both directors were taking more notice of the comedy western craze of the time than anything else.
By the time Nobody had gone into production Valerii had already directed 6 movies including 4 excellent westerns
so he was hardly anyones apprentice even if his style was influenced by Leone.Was Leone present in New Mexico or New Orleans during filming?-i doubt it!By the same token why not call Leone Enzo Barboni's apprentice for trying to imitate his Trinity movies?
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One thing I learned from the interviews in Fraylings Once Upon A Time In Italy, is that the Leone felt that his films really were made in the editing room on the movieola. That's why he had so many shots from so many angles.
Find out who did the editing on MNIN and maybe we'll have a clue.
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You astound me, sir. Morricone's music, then, counts for nothing? That scene ends with one of the greatest musical moments in the history of cinema.
Surely, you exagerrate.
Morricone's score is OKAY, nothing more. I like the main "Nobody" theme; other than that, the music's pretty forgettable. Seeing as I haven't seen the movie for a year and a half, and I still remember that track, while forgetting all the others, that's a pretty good indicator.
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Find out who did the editing on MNIN and maybe we'll have a clue.
If Leone credits Valerii with the direction of this movie then that is good enough for me.
Leone certainly wasn't backward at coming forwards as regards claiming credit for stuff like the Man With No Names look which Eastwood hotly disputes.
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Please indicate the hallmarks of Valerii's style in MNIN. If you can't do that, this discussion is moot. There are plenty of things about the film, however, that indicate that SL was involved with the production. Maybe he didn't sign his name to it, but his handwriting is unmistakable. (I hope we're not just talking about who had his butt in the director's chair the most).
Groggy: I wasn't talking about the score as a whole (although I like it very much), but rather the moment that climaxes the final shootout with the Wild Bunch. For those who can appreciate it, it transports listeners like very few other musical moments in cinema.
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Please indicate the hallmarks of Valerii's style in MNIN.
I haven't made a study of Valerii's style, but the movie's is not Leone's. The rhythm is not as slow as in Leone's and you don't have that many close ups we know. Also, the music is not integrated in the visual narrative. Of course he was the producer and the subject was his, so he had a hand in it (just as Valerii had in FOD).
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Yet it would be silly to call it a Valerii picture and pretend Leone had little to do with it. The question we have to ask is, Which does MNIN remind you of more, DYS or Day of Anger? I guess we could call it a Valerii-Leone picture, but that wouldn't set well with those who want to disown the film for the sake of Leone's reputation.
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It is a Valerri-Leone picture and i don't give a monkeys if any purist bore says otherwise-there is life after Sergio Leone!
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This is the translation of this part of the interview posted by Jordan Krug:
http://www.monadas.net/andres_caicedo/leone/sleone9.htm
I: let's talk about My Name is Nobody, a movie that is being currently shot in N.O. You tell me you're just the producer.
L.: Yes, it is directed by Tonino Valerii.
I: But you're directing the actors and making the organizative work (planificacion).
L.: Only at the moment, just for a week. As the movie ends with a particular piece of extravagance (locura) I came to control the finale. The past 5 weeks they made all on their own and the week after they're gonna make it on their own.
I. Did you like the movie?
L. I haven't seen much of what was done.
I. But you feel responsible for the subject?
L. Yes, because it is a funny movie, with humor. It is not like one of my movies, come on, but it has some madness that it resemble me.
Is this enough?
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Groggy: I wasn't talking about the score as a whole (although I like it very much), but rather the moment that climaxes the final shootout with the Wild Bunch. For those who can appreciate it, it transports listeners like very few other musical moments in cinema.
Well, I'm sorry I'm an ignorant peon, Dave. ;P I dislike the Wild Bunch shootout, I thought it was silly and not in a good way.
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I. But you feel responsible for the subject?
L. Yes, because it is a funny movie, with humor. It is not like one of my movies, come on, but it has some madness that it resemble me.
Is this enough?
Enough for what? To prove that Leone had an opinion of the movie at a particular time that he may have later changed? Even if SL came back from the dead and screamed that he completely disowned the movie I would treat the remark as no more than another opinion. DH Lawrence once said something to the effect that when choosing between what an artist tells you about his art and what the art work itself communicates about itself, you have to go with the work of art: trust the art, not the artist.
And when we look (and listen) to MNIN we sense the presence of the Lion of Rafran Cinematografica behind it. That presence is constantly invoked both visually and musically, and we are often reminded of other SL films. Cumbow has observed (106): "A strong Duck, You Sucker! atmosphere pervades My Name is Nobody in its modern milieu--its low comedy and animal imagery, its awareness of the passing of mythic time, even its structure. In Duck, You Sucker!, the professional engineers the circumstances whereby an uncommitted amateur accepts a suicidal risk and becomes a hero in spite of himself; in My Name is Nobody, the anonymous but talented amateur, a kind of gunfighter groupie, manipulates the reluctant professional into fulfilling an obligation to history."
DYS is not the only Leone film MNIN reminds us of. That "awareness of the passing of mythic time" also applies to OUATITW. As we all know, OUATITW references a number of famous Westerns, and by doing so comments on the Western form. MNIN, then, by revisiting certain Leonesque moments, comments on the fact that Leone likes to comment on the Western form. This suggestion of infinite regress requires farce, hence the film's comic mode. And it can be no accident that MNIN features both Henry Fonda and the re-worked musical cue "As a Judgement."
Finally, MNIN provides another example of Leone's great theme of male bonding and betrayal. Given all this, how can anyone doubt that MNIN fits very comfortably within the Leone ouevre? I doubt very much that it can rest equally as well within Valerii's body of work.
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If Leone says he wasn't on the location while the movie was being shot, that he hasn't seen what was shot, that the movie was directed by Valerii and still that's not enough for you, well, that's allright with me.
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DH Lawrence once said something to the effect that when choosing between what an artist tells you about his art and what the art work itself communicates about itself, you have to go with the work of art: trust the art, not the artist.
C'mon get real,disowning ones own art (as you seem to be implying)is a bit different to claiming/disclaiming someone elses art as ones art and it is crystal clear in the interview that Leone is making a statement of fact about the movie rather than an opinion.
Big deal if there are big influences in Valerii's(and other creative artists) style but its still his work and MNIN sits more than comfortably in his excellent portfolio of westerns Price of Power,Day Of Anger,Massacre at Fort Holman and For The Taste Of Killing(haven't seen this one but i've read good reviews!).
I don't think anyone would argue against the 60's Bond films starring Sean Connery all being pretty much the same in style of which original director Terence Young only directed three of them-Dr No,From Russia With Love and Thunderball but he couldn't take credit for Goldfinger,You Only Live Twice and Diamonds Are Forever which he didn't direct.
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I haven't seen Nobody's the Greatest yet...didn't know it existed! I just ordered it. The prequel (My Name is Nobody) is one of my favorite. For those first viewing it...be ready. It's loaded with all sorts of little interesting things...you may need to see it 4 or 5 times.
Absolutely enjoyable movie. It's too bad they couldn't pipe in stereo sound from the original sound track in the new widescreen dvd release. Neverthless, it is great.
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C'mon get real,disowning ones own art (as you seem to be implying)is a bit different to claiming/disclaiming someone elses art as ones art and it is crystal clear in the interview that Leone is making a statement of fact about the movie rather than an opinion.
Big deal if there are big influences in Valerii's(and other creative artists) style but its still his work and MNIN sits more than comfortably in his excellent portfolio of westerns Price of Power,Day Of Anger,Massacre at Fort Holman and For The Taste Of Killing(haven't seen this one but i've read good reviews!).
I am not, of course, arguing that Leone merely influenced Valerii's style (although he certainly did) but rather that on MNIN Leone was the principal creative force behind its production. At every turn we find that Leone was involved, even micro-managing many of the decisions usually left to the director (Frayling documents this). We also know that Leone personally directed some of the material shot in Spain and was present during all the Spanish location work. Although Leone was not actually present for all of the American shoot, we know (again from Frayling) that Leone did arrive "towards the end." I take it that this was while the production was in New Orleans. If film production was no more than a function of proximity than we would have to say the Leone was responsible for more than half the footage shot. But Leone also supervised from a distance, watching rushes and dictating changes from Rome. Add to this the fact that the film was his idea, that he did the casting, made costuming decisions, that he commissioned the music, that he (probably) oversaw the editing, etc. etc. and we come up with something that gives every sign of being a Leone film.
Now it is true that Leone claimed it wasn't his film, but that can be explained in many ways. One is that he was playing safe in case the film flopped: he created the conditions for plausible deniability. Or he genuinely wanted Valerii to get a credit that would help his career. I don't say that these WERE his motives, or that if they were they were his only motives, I merely wish to show that it is possible for creators to have motives for denying their creations. But even the most neglected bastard cannot falsify his DNA and the truth will out.
Nobody today speaks of Victor Fleming's Gone With the Wind. We all know it was the creation of its producer, David Selznick. And although Christian Nyby is credited as director of The Thing From Another World, most today consider it a Howard Hawkes film. I believe the same kind of thing is operating with MNIN, but time will tell.
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That Leone was involved in the production, had influence on the final results (in a indirect way) that comes natural, as the movie was his idea. Valerii had financial resources at his hand he couldn't dream of in his other movies, thanx to Leone. But you're not taking into account the fact that Valerii was with Leone from the very start. He was watching rushes of FOD in ROme (I remembered wrongly having him direct the river sequence in FOD, it was actually shot by Franco Giraldi:
http://www.mymovies.it/dizionario/recensione.asp?Id=14002&ut=2
But what Leone is saying in the interview leaves little room to interpretation, unless he's outrightly lying. Selznick was constantly on the set (probably even more than Fleming), I presume HH too: Leone wasn't: that's a big difference. You can bet Selznick was watching rushes every day, Leone says he hasn't seen anything: If that was his movie he would have, wouldn't he? Of course, You can say he's lying for Valerii or something else's sake. Still I can't figure somebody saying he wasn't on location instead of saying: "I just do organizative work". Or saying that he didn't watch the rushes instead of saying "We're doing a great film" or "Valerii's doing a great film": why make it complicated? Further, I don't have much trust in what Frayling writes, as he's not an italian speaker (though he claims he's able to read it: he's surely not able to write it). I wouldn't bet on what was told to him.
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I am not, of course, arguing that Leone merely influenced Valerii's style (although he certainly did) but rather that on MNIN Leone was the principal creative force behind its production. At every turn we find that Leone was involved, even micro-managing many of the decisions usually left to the director (Frayling documents this). We also know that Leone personally directed some of the material shot in Spain and was present during all the Spanish location work. Although Leone was not actually present for all of the American shoot, we know (again from Frayling) that Leone did arrive "towards the end." I take it that this was while the production was in New Orleans. If film production was no more than a function of proximity than we would have to say the Leone was responsible for more than half the footage shot. But Leone also supervised from a distance, watching rushes and dictating changes from Rome. Add to this the fact that the film was his idea, that he did the casting, made costuming decisions, that he commissioned the music, that he (probably) oversaw the editing, etc. etc. and we come up with something that gives every sign of being a Leone film.
Now it is true that Leone claimed it wasn't his film, but that can be explained in many ways. One is that he was playing safe in case the film flopped: he created the conditions for plausible deniability. Or he genuinely wanted Valerii to get a credit that would help his career. I don't say that these WERE his motives, or that if they were they were his only motives, I merely wish to show that it is possible for creators to have motives for denying their creations. But even the most neglected bastard cannot falsify his DNA and the truth will out.
Nobody today speaks of Victor Fleming's Gone With the Wind. We all know it was the creation of its producer, David Selznick. And although Christian Nyby is credited as director of The Thing From Another World, most today consider it a Howard Hawkes film. I believe the same kind of thing is operating with MNIN, but time will tell.
If Leone was so intent on making My Name Is Nobody HIS movie then why didn't he take the directors chair alone.He certainly wasn't doing Valerii any favours whose Day Of Anger was the equal top grossing film in Italy in 1967 leading on to the impressive Price Of Power in 1969 and the big budget production of Massacre at Fort Holman in 1972 starring the likes of Coburn and Savalas.Conversly Leones OUATITW and DYS were relative box office flops after the Dollars trilogy so perhaps Leone was losing confidence and decided to bring someone else in for MNIN.
Also,if Leone had so overwhelmingly been in control of every aspect of MNIN including the bulk of the film directed by Valerii(the Leone shot Almerian scenes of the railway station,Wild Bunch battle and the Cheyenne City scenes account for nowhere near half of the film!!!)
how then do you account for the undisputably glaring inconsistencies in the movies tone and style?For example,one minute there is a touching lyrical scene between Nobody and Beauregard, next the revenge subplot between Beauregard and Sullivan and then there is an OTT Trinity style slapstick scene.This juxtaposition in MNIN style gives the appearance of two movies stitched together and a hallmark of two separate directors left pretty much to their own devices in the footage that they shot.
Its a shame that Leone wasn't so meticolous as to edit the Trinity-indebted scenes he directed(does this content really sit comfortably in the Leone cannon Dave Jenkins?) which come over as flabby overlong diversions at odds with the quality of the Valerii directed central dialogue scenes between Hill and Fonda.
I'm quite happy to stick to your description on MNIN as a Valerii-Leone picture but with the majority of the direction at least rightly credited to Valerii.
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Its a shame that Leone wasn't so meticolous as to edit the Trinity-indebted scenes he directed(does this content really sit comfortably in the Leone cannon Dave Jenkins?) which come over as flabby overlong diversions at odds with the quality of the Valerii directed central dialogue scenes between Hill and Fonda.
I'm quite happy to stick to your description on MNIN as a Valerii-Leone picture but with the majority of the direction at least rightly credited to Valerii.
Well, I guess I'll settle for that. I agree that the film is a mixed bag with strong sequences interspersed with weak ones. The slapstick stuff doesn't work well for the most part (although I think the rotating dummy routine is pretty funny, especially with the music). The film's great strength is its structure, and when I think of the film I remember how well the plot is developed and consumated. There is not only the Wild Bunch climax (spectacularly realized) but also the parody of a Leone gundown and a twist ending. Few films pay off so well.
I find Spaghetti Westerns a wretched genre but Leone films infinitely entertaining. The fact that I have always enjoyed MNIN predisposes me to think of it as SL's film, but in fairness I agree it should be considered a Leone-Valerii film.
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I find Spaghetti Westerns a wretched genre but Leone films infinitely entertaining.
About this "wretched" SW genre-to loosely quote what Marti DeBergi famously said about Spinal Tap-I went looking for the sights,sounds and smells(well almost!) of a Sergio Leone western,and i found that,but i got more,A LOT MORE!!!
Wretched is a term i would apply to 99% of the content nowadays coming out of that cosmetic surgeons paradise Hollywood-they can stick their Oscars where the sun don't shine!
Gimme a SW or a Hammer Horror anyday!
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I don't disagree. I'd say that current Hollywood films are WORSE than wretched.
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New member (long time SL fan) here this evening. Have been a lurker for a long time, until now.
So here's my first question / subject, even if its not under the correct category (may even have been mentioned in posts past).
I watched a letterbox presentation of 'My Name is Nobody' this evening, on Movie Plex (Los Angeles cable station).
The Nobody and the Engineer scene (where Terence Hill 'seduces' the engineer into urinating to distract him, to hijack the train), in the public urinal at the train station, reminded me so much of Jack Elam and the Fly sequence in in OUTITW.
The use of time, and the use of faces and expressions, is what stuck in my mind.
Q: Did Tonino Valerii borrow tat concept from Sergio, from the earlier 1968 classic-of-classics? We all remeber TV as the assistant director in Sergio's earlier films.
Like the Jack-and-the-fly sequence, it cracked me up. Never noticed it before today.
After all the times I've viewed these two films, this is the first time I noticed this.
So, comments anyone? I know that this board is not without members who lack details for analizing these films.
Spaghetti Bob
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I don't think its seducing, but rather staring at him so that he can't urinate, sort of on the same lines of Tuco's statement to Wallace in the box car "I can't do it with you looking", but yes it does feel like a similar type sequence.
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Q: Did Tonino Valerii borrow tat concept from Sergio
Leones 2nd unit in Almeria directed this scene.Valerii was probably filming in New Mexico at the time.
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I remember someone at SWWB mentioning that Tonino Valerii tells on the Nobody French DVD commentary track that the scene was directed by Leone and that Valerii wouldn't like it being in the movie.
And if I remember correctly he also talks about his dislike for people trying to make the movie be Leone's. :P
The track would probably be quite interesting but unfortunately I can't understand it.
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I remember someone at SWWB mentioning that Tonino Valerii tells on the Nobody French DVD commentary track that the scene was directed by Leone and that Valerii wouldn't like it being in the movie.
well if this is true, I am afraid to say I agree with old Tonino because I thought the scene was way too over long and the punch line was much too weak.
For me that scene is easily the weakest scene in the film.
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Very overlong ,flabby and uncomfortable scene!
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My Name is Nobody is really worth the watch over and over again, its interesting to see ideas incorporated into the film that never made it to West.
Fonda is a dream I often wonder to myself how brilliant he would have been as the Man with no name, he is the only actor I feel that could have done it as well as Eastwood.
Terrance Hill is cool as Nobody and plays off Fonda to produce a great Duo
The film is very funny as well as giving you a feeling of melancholy of the old west slipping away and Fonda was the perfect actor to put accross this feeling.
do not miss it
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My Name is Nobody is really worth the watch over and over again, its interesting to see ideas incorporated into the film that never made it to West.
Fonda is a dream I often wonder to myself how brilliant he would have been as the Man with no name, he is the only actor I feel that could have done it as well as Eastwood.
Terrance Hill is cool as Nobody and plays off Fonda to produce a great Duo
The film is very funny as well as giving you a feeling of melancholy of the old west slipping away and Fonda was the perfect actor to put accross this feeling.
do not miss it
I agree it's a fun film with a cool soundtrack ( I have the CD 8) ). I got the DVD, the quality is excellent. My Name is definantly one of my favorite films.
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One of the really great soundtracks, I had to buy the CD twice (the second time for extra tracks).
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My Name is Nobody is really worth the watch over and over again, its interesting to see ideas incorporated into the film that never made it to West.
Fonda is a dream I often wonder to myself how brilliant he would have been as the Man with no name, he is the only actor I feel that could have done it as well as Eastwood.
Terrance Hill is cool as Nobody and plays off Fonda to produce a great Duo
The film is very funny as well as giving you a feeling of melancholy of the old west slipping away and Fonda was the perfect actor to put accross this feeling.
do not miss it
Wat do you mean by "Never made it into (OUATIT)West"? Explain, friend!
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Great Movie And Tremendous Soundtrack 8)
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check out the start of the movie when Fonda is in the barbers this runs very close to a scene that was slated for West
Wat do you mean by "Never made it into (OUATIT)West"? Explain, friend!
Posted by: dave jenkins Posted on: June 15, 2006, 08:13:36 AM
t but cut due to time
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Btw, for information on the direction by Valerii & Leone, here's info based on the commentary track (by Valerii) on the French disc of My Name Is Nobody. I was actually going to link this kind of stuff to some other thread here several weeks ago but I couldn't find the info back then.
http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?disc=160642;article=135022;title=Spaghetti%20Western%20Web%20Board
Too bad there are no english subtitles for the commentary track. :-\
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Btw, for information on the direction by Valerii & Leone, here's info based on the commentary track (by Valerii) on the French disc of My Name Is Nobody. I was actually going to link this kind of stuff to some other thread here several weeks ago but I couldn't find the info back then.
http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?disc=160642;article=135022;title=Spaghetti%20Western%20Web%20Board
Too bad there are no english subtitles for the commentary track. :-\
Muddy English. I don't understand half of what it says.
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Silly, ridiculous, but still entertaining movie. It was alright up until the moronic (IMO) ending with the "Wild Bunch". Fonda and Hill played surprisingly well off of each other; I honestly didn't expect the two of them to be a good onscreen team, but when I'm wrong, I'm wrong. There were some excellent scenes, some hilarious ones (loved the hall of mirrors shootout and Nobody's peeing contest with the conductor), some excrutiating ones (a lot of Hill's scenes were way overlong).
BTW - where was R.G. Armstrong in this? Anyone point me to a scene he's in?
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BTW - where was R.G. Armstrong in this? Anyone point me to a scene he's in?
He's the guy who wears a green vest and has a beard. He hangs out with Mario Brega and some other guy in every scene he's in. He was in the beginning telling Nobody " you ain't gonna live long enough to get credit " and wants to duke it out with him. Hope I helped.
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Yeah, I don't perfectly understand everything either, but the parts that Leone directed should be very clear from it anyways (and those are "quoted" from the commentary track by Valerii).
I'm not sure if it was editor Nino Baragli, but I remember the first info I tried to link to earlier had something said about someone who refused to take part in this DVD because he doesn't want to hear about Leone anymore anywhere. (Based on the message I now linked to it would seem it was Baragli, I just feel the name was different but I'm probably wrong :P )
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Yeah, I don't perfectly understand everything either, but the parts that Leone directed should be very clear from it anyways (and those are "quoted" from the commentary track by Valerii).
I'm not sure if it was editor Nino Baragli, but I remember the first info I tried to link to earlier had something said about someone who refused to take part in this DVD because he doesn't want to hear about Leone anymore anywhere. (Based on the message I now linked to it would seem it was Baragli, I just feel the name was different but I'm probably wrong :P )
You understood a lot more than I did.
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He's the guy who wears a green vest and has a beard. He hangs out with Mario Brega and some other guy in every scene he's in. He was in the beginning telling Nobody " you ain't gonna live long enough to get credit " and wants to duke it out with him. Hope I helped.
Was he one of the guys with the dynamite?
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Was he one of the guys with the dynamite?
Yeh. The one who talked the most and wore the green shirt. That's all I remember. I have to watch the movie again.
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Seeing Mario Brega the way he was in this movie and Silence is weird. It's hard to picture him not being the hardass "Onslo of the west".
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Okay, thanks. Wasn't Stefanelli the third guy? I seem to recall it being him, but I could certainly be wrong.
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Okay, thanks. Wasn't Stefanelli the third guy? I seem to recall it being him, but I could certainly be wrong.
No. Stefanelli is the guy dressed in black at the saloon when Nobody gets into the drinking match. He's not the bald-headed guy, the bearded one next to Squirrel.
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When i got home i turned on the TV and changed it to TCM.What i saw and still seeing a very funny western called My Name is Nobody.
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also for you OUATITW fans the score seems VERY familiar to it.Proably for the fact that morricone did the score.
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As the film is a parody of Leone films, Morricone was, to an extent, spoofing his own compositions as well.
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didnt know it was a spoof.But it was a very funny movie.Especially when Henry Fonda took on the "Wild Bunch" the most awesome seem ever.
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Do you consider these movies as Leone movies? Or just as Tonino Valerii and Damiano Damiani movies?
I particularly consider My Name is Nobody as a Leone movie, but I'm in doubt about the other, I've heard that he was involved, but not sure how much.
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Do you consider these movies as Leone movies? Or just as Tonino Valerii and Damiano Damiani movies?
I particularly consider My Name is Nobody as a Leone movie, but I'm in doubt about the other, I've heard that he was involved, but not sure how much.
No those films were directed by "others", as such they are not Leone films. And I find it rather insultive to poor Valerii to mention MNIN as a Leone movie.
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Asked and answered: http://www.fistful-of-leone.com/forums/index.php?topic=393.45
As far a MNIN is concerned, it was a collaboration between Leone and Valerii. In historical terms, however, that effectively makes it a Leone picture, simply because of the long-term interest in Leone. After he's gone, few people will remember Valerii, but Leone will continue to attract interest until the sun goes out. Precedents abound. Two Noble Kinsmen is a play that was written by Shakespeare and Fletcher. Although Fletcher is not unknown, and many of his plays (always written with others) survive and are read/performed today, he certainly does not have the same cache as the Bard. Two Noble Kinsmen is of interest to us today because of Shakespeare's involvement, not at all because of Fletcher's. Appropriately, you will always find the play in Shakespeare's collected works (at least, since the 1980s).
Similarly, 100 years from now, MNIN will be studied because of its connection with Leone.
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Leone directed a good part of MNIN, so I think it's fair to list that as a Leone film. Only one scene from NTG was Leone-directed (the opening) so far as I know, so maybe not that one. . .
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No those films were directed by "others", as such they are not Leone films. And I find it rather insultive to poor Valerii to mention MNIN as a Leone movie.
You didnt like MNIN? Why?
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You didnt like MNIN? Why?
He does like MNIN, what he's saying is that it's insulting to Valeri to give Leone all the credit for the film.
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As far a MNIN is concerned, it was a collaboration between Leone and Valerii. In historical terms, however, that effectively makes it a Leone picture, simply because of the long-term interest in Leone.
Long term interest in Leone does not make it any less a Valerii film.
(sit up a chair and read)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auteur_theory
The xenophobia for other spag western directors should not be tolerated here.
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Long term interest in Leone does not make it any less a Valerii film.
(sit up a chair and read)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auteur_theory
The xenophobia for other spag western directors should not be tolerated here.
You can feel the hand of Leone in the direction and in the script. The story is pure Leone. He was VERY MUCH involved in MNIN at all levels. That makes MNIN a Leone and Valerii movie. Nobody here has trhe "percentage" of what each of them brought to the project, however, this is NOT a 100% Valerii movie.
I heard Leone was more "onlhy producer" on nobody's the greatest...
ANyway, nice to be back (even if very little) on this board... Within 2 or 3 weeks i'll be really back ;)
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Long term interest in Leone does not make it any less a Valerii film.
True (as I stated) and irrelevant.
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Long term interest in Leone does not make it any less a Valerii film.
(sit up a chair and read)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auteur_theory
The xenophobia for other spag western directors should not be tolerated here.
That has applied to producers I believe. Either way, My Name is Nobody doesn't even feel like a Leone film. I can only see maybe 3 scenes with Leone behind the camera.
The opening, the title sequence, and this transition between a door falling down closing, and double doors opening. Maybe a few more, but that's it!
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That has applied to producers I believe.
The auteur theory does NOT apply to producers. at least that is not what countless of professors have taught me. If I'm wrong (which I doubt) blame them.
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That has applied to producers I believe. Either way, My Name is Nobody doesn't even feel like a Leone film. I can only see maybe 3 scenes with Leone behind the camera.
The opening, the title sequence, and this transition between a door falling down closing, and double doors opening. Maybe a few more, but that's it!
The shoot out in New Orleans at the end is very Leonesque. And of course, every time Morricone's music plays you cannot help thinking of all those Leone moments being referenced. Then there is the convoluted but unconfusing plot, as well the film's familiar themes.
Leone is more than a style, he is a genre.
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The shoot out in New Orleans at the end is very Leonesque. And of course, every time Morricone's music plays you cannot help thinking of all those Leone moments being referenced. Then there is the convoluted but unconfusing plot, as well the film's familiar themes.
Has anybody stopped to think that it was made to LOOK like a Leone picture?
The only true blue scene that I know for fact Leone directed (as second unti director) was the Bottle shooting scene.
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Parts of the movie were indeed intended to send up Leone. Other parts were just reworked routines from the Trinity movies.
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In a documentary on SWs. It said that MNIN was created by Leone to parody the cheaper and ridiculous SWs that had been coming out at that time.
Even the selection of Terrance Hill was designed to mimic another of the SW actors who was making a lot of low cost and outlandish SWs.
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In a documentary on SWs. It said that MNIN was created by Leone to parody the cheaper and ridiculous SWs that had been coming out at that time.
hence "an idea by Sergio Leone".
But wait! what's this!?...
"Directed by Tonino Valreii"
OH NO! SAY IT ISN'T SO!
Even the selection of Terrance Hill was designed to mimic another of the SW actors who was making a lot of low cost and outlandish SWs.
That would be Terence Hill acting in those low cost outlandish comedies. He basically plays a less sarcastic Trinity in MNIN.
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And of course, one of SL's techniques is appropriation. So, for example, in OUATITW he takes into the picture elements from Ford, Hawks, Delmer Daves, Anthony Mann, etc.: the best of American Westerns. For MNIN, he appropriates elements from the "best" of SWs, the Trinity films, even material from the cinema of Sergio Leone! SL was not the first postmodernist filmmaker for nothing.
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And of course, one of SL's techniques is appropriation. So, for example, in OUATITW he takes into the picture elements from Ford, Hawks, Delmer Daves, Anthony Mann, etc.: the best of American Westerns. For MNIN, he appropriates elements from the "best" of SWs, the Trinity films, even material from the cinema of Sergio Leone! SL was not the first postmodernist filmmaker for nothing.
wouldn't say the trinity films are the best of sw :-\
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The only true blue scene that I know for fact Leone directed (as second unti director) was the Bottle shooting scene.
That was also my understanding -- the saloon contest, where the gunmen drink up and then shoot the empty glasses -- was the only complete sequence actually directed by Leone.
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wouldn't say the trinity films are the best of sw :-\
He wrote it with quotation marks, didn't he? I guess it was meant ironically.
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If anyone knows Italian, the French 2 disc release of MNIN has a commentary track by Valerii in which he explain the scenes Leone directed, as well as some other interesting things. ;)
Too bad my memory is full of holes regarding this, so don't take any of this as 100% certain. I'm not sure if I should even write this at all but oh well... :P
Anyways, if I remember correctly there were about 8 scenes, some fully and some partially directed by Leone.
The drinking and shooting glasses scene was one. Then the toilet scene (which I think Valerii doesn't like at all)... and part of the carnival.... maybe part of the scene where the wild bunch is approaching the train?
.... well... I can't remember. :'(
And if I remember correctly, Leone filmed things in Europe while Valerii was in USA, and Leone arrived at the New Orleans set only couple of days before the end. Maybe.
Learn Italian, buy the disc, and listen! ;D
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Your account accords with what I've heard about the production. Now as to post-production, where SL films were really made, we need to know how much time SL spent in the room with his editor.
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wouldn't say the trinity films are the best of sw :-\
I was referring to 3 categories of film: the "best" of SWs (and marmot girl is right in seeing irony in those quotes), the Trinity films, and SL's movies. It would seem that elements from all 3 categories are present, intentionally so, in MNIN.
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Didn't Leone direct the opening scene in the barbershop? At least, that's what I've heard.
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Didn't Leone direct the opening scene in the barbershop? At least, that's what I've heard.
Nope. That was Valerii.
It's funny, if we put all the Lone direction rumors together, he pretty much made the whole movie. ::)
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The auteur theory does NOT apply to producers. at least that is not what countless of professors have taught me. If I'm wrong (which I doubt) blame them.
It's generally considered for directors, but some producers such as GEORGE LUCAS contain the creative aspect on his films. The producers that apply are pretty much zilch, so it's usually not mentioned.
In the early days of Hollywood, the producers were pretty much the auteur of the picture. That changed when Hitchcock came around. Also, Cecile B DeMile had final cut.
But in regards to My Name is Nobody, I would have never even guessed it was directed by Leone, I think the title shot right after the barber shop scene was Leone. The camera movements are very simaler to Leone's. I could have also guessed the Bottle shooting game. I've only heard rumors of Leone trying to make it his film throughout production.
Anyway, it just doesn't have the Leone sticker that all of his movies do in regards to his unique and easily identifiable style.
Funny sidenote: I heard that Steven Speilberg's favorite Sergio Leone movie is My Name is Nobody, that must've hurt Valerii :P
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It's generally considered for directors, but some producers such as GEORGE LUCAS contain the creative aspect on his films. The producers that apply are pretty much zilch, so it's usually not mentioned.
In the early days of Hollywood, the producers were pretty much the auteur of the picture. That changed when Hitchcock came around. Also, Cecile B DeMile had final cut.
Val Lewton, anyone? None of the films attributed to him in the recent Warner boxset were directed by him. So, for example, Curse of the Cat People is considered a Lewton picture, not a Robert Wise film.
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. I've only heard rumors of Leone trying to make it his film throughout production.
A doubtful rumor.
He didn't want to make another western.
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Yet, could not help himself.
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Yet, could not help himself.
and yet, he didn't make "my name is nobody".
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Did the idea start with Leone or someone else? Because if it did and he was the producer then his role would definately be different than someone like Grimaldi or Milchan producing a movie that started with an idea from Leone the director. If he chose Valerii and had as extensive talks with him about the movie long beforehand like he did with members of the crew when he was directing wouldn't that make it closer to being a product of Leone's than someone like Grimaldi(in relation to Leone's films) and make Valerii's role more limited than what it would be if Leone had been directing, seeing as Leone had a hand in the other aspects of the film than Valerii.
I think this would make it easier to understand how much of a hand Leone had in the film. For example, was he involved in the location scouting? How much was his involvement in pre- and post-production?
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Funny sidenote: I heard that Steven Speilberg's favorite Sergio Leone movie is My Name is Nobody, that must've hurt Valerii :P
What happened really was (according to an interview of Leone and confirmed by other sources):
Leone told Spielberg "your best movie is Duel"
Spielberg (unhappy or just making fun, it depends on the source): "What? And your best movie is MNIN!!!"
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I've only heard rumors of Leone trying to make it his film throughout production.
Many Leone collaborators think that Leone didn't want to make a western because he was afraid of doing sthg not as good as he did in the past (and i think i remember this is the theory of Frayling). That is why, according to them, he would produce westerns instead of doing it: it would allow him to work on westerns (and he used to love that), and also to say "I did another good western" if the movie is good and "i produced a bad western, what the hell did that director do on that movie???" if the movie is bad...
That would explain why HE implemented so many rumours about he making MNIN and no one about Nobody is the greatest (i have not seen that one)....
Knowing a bit who Sergio was, I tend to believe this theory....
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Leone told Spielberg "your best movie is Duel"
Agreed.
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My Name is Nobody is undoubtably a Leone film, all his elements and influence are there for all to see. If anyone doubts this then watch the European release DVD which includes an interview with Terence Hill, nobody himself and he answers the question himself with a moving anecdote about the scoring and editing process with Leone.... I wont spoil it, watch it for yourself..... It`s a Leone film, end of, next topic please!
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My Name is Nobody is undoubtably a Leone film, all his elements and influence are there for all to see.
Really? Never knew Leone was into sped up slapstick comedy and fists fights.
Seriously, this is a Tonino Valerii film dressed up with SOME Leone elements.
And you can't go by Hill's stories since he probably wasn't in the editing room for more then one day.
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Well if you cant accept it from the horses mouth! (sorry for pun) read Frayling, there is extensive evidence that this was more Leone`s work than Valeri, (no disrespect) What would we give for just one day in the editing suite!!!!!!! Not enough for you eh????????????
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Well if you cant accept it from the horses mouth! (sorry for pun) read Frayling, there is extensive evidence that this was more Leone`s work than Valeri, (no disrespect) What would we give for just one day in the editing suite!!!!!!! Not enough for you eh????????????
Frayling isn't too well informed about many things either.
No disrespect to the man, but he's wrong a lot of the time and gives out false information claiming it's legit (not saying he does it on purpose though).
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I'm also willing to bet that Frayling may have a bit of a bias favoring Leone. ;)
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Okay, okay i am not going to change your view but have you read Frayling? He describes Leone time and time again in an honest and erudite way and more often than not is candidly critical of Leone, particularly Leones seeming lack of honesty and excess of ego, my point being Frayling would hardly show bias towards the man. Whatever your point of view the film is excellent and would get hardly a mention if Leone was only some anonymous producer.
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Whatever your point of view the film is excellent and would get hardly a mention if Leone was only some anonymous producer.
Hence the bias. The movie is a spaghetti western masterpiece regardless if Leone was involved or not.
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And how many masterpieces did Valerii make? And how many did Leone? This itself is evidence that Leone had more than a titular association with the project.
When I watch the film I always have the sense of watching a Leone film. Not every individual scene, mind, but the overall sweep of the picture. Doubtless, Morricone's music has a lot to do with it, but also the mise-en-scene, montage, casting, and themes.
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And how many masterpieces did Valerii make? And how many did Leone? This itself is evidence that Leone had more than a titular association with the project.
LOL! Your funny. You should do stand-up.
When I watch the film I always have the sense of watching a Leone film. Not every individual scene, mind, but the overall sweep of the picture. Doubtless, Morricone's music has a lot to do with it, but also the mise-en-scene, montage, casting, and themes.
Mise-en-scene? casting? themes?
This is your proof?
wow...
The only thing your xenophobia for non-Leone proves is that you'll say/write anything just to win a debate (a pointless one at that).
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On the german 4 disc set there is a 90 minute doc on the making of MNIN. It states that a few scenes were in fact directed by Sergio Leone but this was all about ego since the TRINITY movies had dethroned his movies at the italian BO. Leone though quite a lot of himself and was in hopes of getting back on top so he could claim that the success of NOBODY was his doing. Pompous acts such as this led to a falling out between the two directors that was never reconciled. Leone only directed one scene in the "sequel". Valerii is a very good director in his own right BTW.
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It states that a few scenes were in fact directed by Sergio Leone
Yes the Carnival scene and the Bottle contest.
There are some rumors circulating about Leone directing the "Wild Bunch" gunfight due to some production stills of Leone, Hill and Fonda on location (in that area) together.
This isn't official however.
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I bought it on DVD 2 days ago, I saw it and liked it.
Who else here saw it and liked it?
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I bought it on DVD 2 days ago, I saw it and liked it.
Who else here saw it and liked it?
I have the DVD. I love the movie.
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Its ok but way to slapstick for me
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Its ok but way to slapstick for me
I agree. Those 40 minutes in the funhouse and town and such, don't really do it for me. But I love the rest of it. The music is awesome!
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Well, if you enjoyed the TRINITY films, you know going in what to expect. The german 4 disc set is gorgeous and contains a 90 minute documentary for this and the loose sequel.
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Well, if you enjoyed the TRINITY films, you know going in what to expect. The german 4 disc set is gorgeous and contains a 90 minute documentary for this and the loose sequel.
yes, I prefer this to the Trinity films. And I think it's a darn good movie, the comedy is just a bit too slapstick in some parts and it detracts from my enjoyment of the movie. I still thought it was a great spaghetti though. 8 out of ten, and the music, once again, is awesome!
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Great film.
The only comical scenes I disliked was the train conductor urinating scene and the hall of mirrors.
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I liked the scene in the bar, when he pretended to be drunk to win money :D
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Love the movie,and (like Firecracker) dislike the mirror room scene.
The music is great,I have it on my mobile phone.
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Fun movie to watch with interesting character interactions. Quirky but enjoyable
soundtrack. Two thumbs up.
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I had never heard the 'little bird' joke until this movie. After that, I heard it used or paraphrased in many movies.
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I liked the scene in the bar, when he pretended to be drunk to win money :D
Excellent scene indeed but I think it's a tad too overlong.
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Excellent scene indeed but I think it's a tad too overlong.
a good part of the movie is there just to fulfill the time,but it's still very enjoyable.
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I enjoyed it. The humor is funny but maybe out of place. Music is good I agree. And Henry Fonda has a good character.
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a good part of the movie is there just to fulfill the time,but it's still very enjoyable.
Hence, a perfect film for DVD. Keep hitting that Skip button.
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you guys notice that after he tells the bird story theres a guy walking around in the background for a quick second?
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you guys notice that after he tells the bird story theres a guy walking around in the background for a quick second?
Is it a crew member? Is he dressed in modern clothing?
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Is it a crew member? Is he dressed in modern clothing?
Wait nevermind it was a horse moving around ;D ;D ;D
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Right. Remember that next time you're tempted to visit Circuit City and take your business elsewhere.
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So I finally saw it too... I agree with most things said here, I think. The opening scene was a perfect Leone, so I was a bit disappointed by what followed, but the ending made it good again. Fonda was great.
I liked how they kept saying sentences with "nobody" throughout the film. ;D
Actually, it reminded me of what we were said in school about the only Czech style of avantgarde literature, poetism... it had it all. ;) Fun, playing with words (nobody/Nobody), artists and circuses, exotic countries (definitely exotic for Italians) and travelling... But it's just my association, of course.
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I think the movie improves after you've seen it once and you're able to let go of your preconceptions. Then you can enjoy the set pieces that really feel like those of the Master: opening, Navajo graveyard, pool table, Wild Bunch showdown, final showdown, epilog. And the music is some of Morricone's best. Get the stellar German DVD and watch it over and over again.
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The only known scene "the master" directed is the drinking game scene. Until more info is available I will assume Valerii (you know? The REAL director of this film) directed everything else. Which is most likely the case.
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I didn't mean that the opening sequence was directed by Leone. If it was, OK. If not, the better for Valerii. ;)
Actually, I didn't have preconceptions before the film started. I had them because of the begining of the film itself. But I definitely need to see it at least once more...
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The only known scene "the master" directed is the drinking game scene. Until more info is available I will assume Valerii (you know? The REAL director of this film) directed everything else. Which is most likely the case.
Again, this is just irrelevant. It doesn't matter if Leone was on the moon when the film was made, it is still a Leone film (or if you prefer, "School of Leone"). I defy your bean-counting mentality, your accountant's truth. Ecstatic truth is what matters here.
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Again, this is just irrelevant. It doesn't matter if Leone was on the moon when the film was made, it is still a Leone film
Destroyed your arguement right there
Not a leone film. Moving on.
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I defy your bean-counting mentality, your accountant's truth. Ecstatic truth is what matters here.
I don't know what this means.... but i feel like disagreeing.
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I don't know what this means.... but i feel like disagreeing.
Same here... you two, Dave and Firecracker, speak about different things, but if it concerns the film being or not being Leone, I guess the facts are what decides. Would you say FOD is Kurosawa? Maybe yes, but the director was someone else.
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Destroyed your arguement right there
Not a leone film. Moving on.
Why waste your time on this board when a future in chartered accountancy awaits you?
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And a School of Rembrandt painting is not a Rembrandt painting, but the difference only matters to accountants and philistines. http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/picture-of-month/displaypicture.asp?venue=2&id=20
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I always thought we were those who cared about details, maybe too much...
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Why waste your time on this board when a future in chartered accountancy awaits you?
Why do you waste your time on this board if your near future is within the confines of a wooden box?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HERAKRtZcyo
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Why do you waste your time on this board if your near future is within the confines of a wooden box?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HERAKRtZcyo
This was a good one...
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Firecracker is right.Leone's 2nd unit footage are the main failings(the lame stabs at Trinity-esque comedy) of this movie.
Valerii should be given the overall credit he deserves for this movie including the opening scene . O0
EDIT:here's what i previously gleaned and posted on this thread.
"According to Howard Hughes excellent new book "Once Upon A Time in the Italian West" parts of My Name Is Nobody were filmed in New Mexico and were directed by Tonino Valerii which includes the opening barbershop scene,the Navajo Graveyard with the Wlid Bunch riding past,Red's shack, and the saloon where Nobody meets Beauregard
Valerii also directed scenes in New Orleans where Nobody and Beauregard fake the final duel and Beauregard catches the boat to take him to Europe.
However a second filming unit was based in Almeria,Spain and the scenes filmed here were directed by Sergio Leone -including the battlescene between Beauregard and the Wild Bunch,the Cheyenne City scenes involving the drinking/shooting/face slapping,the fairground shootout and the public urinal scene. "
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However a second filming unit was based in Almeria,Spain and the scenes filmed here were directed by Sergio Leone -including the battlescene between Beauregard and the Wild Bunch,the Cheyenne City scenes involving the drinking/shooting/face slapping,the fairground shootout and the public urinal scene. "
I just wanted to say that,and I never read the book. ^-^
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I just wanted to say that,and I never read the book. ^-^
IMO the only Leone directed scene of any worth was the Beauregard and Wild Bunch showdown.
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IMO the only Leone directed scene of any worth was the Beauregard and Wild Bunch showdown.
In agreement. Except I think the Drinking game scene should be included (even though it's a little overlong).
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In agreement. Except I think the Drinking game scene should be included (even though it's a little overlong).
Yeah but i think Nobody would've been better had Valerii instead colaborated with the master of sw slapstick himself Enzo Barboni. ;)
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IMO the only Leone directed scene of any worth was the Beauregard and Wild Bunch showdown.
It's easy to spot his touch there,specially in pack with the music editing.
Although,the scenes are a little unbelievable.
I mean,if someone is staring at you while you're pissing wouldn't you just say Piss off!!! to the man rather than suffer? ;D
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I mean,if someone is staring at you while you're pissing wouldn't you just say Piss off!!! to the man rather than suffer? ;D
the piss scene is unfunny and tedious.
Varelli was against it but Leone insisted.
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It's easy to spot his touch there,specially in pack with the music editing.
Although,the scenes are a little unbelievable.
I mean,if someone is staring at you while you're pissing wouldn't you just say Piss off!!! to the man rather than suffer? ;D
Morricone's music can do wonders for any movie but the editing is excellent throughout.
The only factor that makes the urinal scene bearable is Terence Hill and i believe only he could've carried it of.
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the piss scene is unfunny and tedious.
Varelli was against it but Leone insisted.
The scene would be much better if the man was taking a dump rather than just piss.
If there were flies,and sweat,and the heat it would be much much better,the man would be nervous so the scene would be believable.
Like this is a little strange...
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Morricone's music can do wonders for any movie but the editing is excellent throughout.
The only factor that makes the urinal scene bearable is Terence Hill and i believe only he could've carried it of.
I must admit Terence did a excellent job,throughout the whole movie. O0
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The scene would be much better if the man was taking a ****** rather than just piss.
If there were flies,and sweat,and the heat it would be much much better,the man would be nervous so the scene would be believable.
Like this is a little strange...
****** = taking a dump? :o
I don't think believability was the main problem as FC says its overlong and boring.
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****** = taking a dump? :o
I don't think believability was the main problem as FC says its overlong and boring.
Ah yes,I couldn't remember,sorry. :-[
It sure is overlong and so boring but I still thing it isn't believable.
Like I said,wouldn't you just say Get lost!! or something like that?You can even go piss out in the desert,it wouldn't be a problem. ;D
You just have to imagine that man sitting on a toilet like the one in "Trainspotting" with no door,while he's sweating and the flies are making him crazy - Nobody looking right at him...
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It should also be pointed out that the ONLY REASON Leone directed anything in that picture was because he was incredibly jealous and upset that Barboni's upstart comedy western destroyed his previous box office takings. It was his way of one upping the TRINITY pictures.
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Just saw this on the newly ordered 4-disc German set (I'll be bumping the "Nobody's the Greatest" thread tomorrow).
Perhaps it's unwise to start my posting with this, but I didn't think too much of this film. The cinematography is beautiful, and so is the music, at least half of the time. But the tone shifts don't really work at all, the melancholany seems a little forced and pretentious to me, and the the less said about the comedy sequences (other than that face-slapping jokes tend to work a little better when they don't last five minutes long) the better, although they are more lively than the rest of the movie. Also, the pacing is really off - all of Leone's films are slow, but this is the first one that bores me because of it.
Still, the fight against the Wild Bunch and the final letter scene is indeed very beautiful. It has all the ingredients, but they just don't add up right.
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Also, the pacing is really off - all of Leone's films are slow, but this is the first one that bores me because of it.
Well you don't have to blame Leone for the pacing because it isn't his movie. ;)
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You have to credit Leone (who is indeed the author of the movie) for trying something different. If the whole doesn't hang together, then that is indeed a flaw. Still, some of the individual set pieces are wonderful, and can be enjoyed by themselves. Over the years, I find I like to get my disc out to play excerpts rather than the whole thing through. I for one am glad the film exists (and that the excellent German DVD is out) so that I can enjoy the highlights: barbershop, Navajo graveyard, the pool table (has me pumping my fist every time), Wild Bunch showdown, the final duel (the stuff with the camera is a gas), and the letter-writing ending. And Morricone's score is one of his best. SL made so few films, why would we want to be without any one of them?
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How can you say that SL is the "author" of this movie when he only directed a handful of scenes? And the only reason he did those was to satisfy his egomaniacal high horse that he had been thrown from after the release of the first TRINITY and even more bruise to said ego after the release of the sequel.
This is so much like the controversy surrounding the first POLTERGEIST in which there was (and still is) debate over who directed the movie. That was a Tobe Hooper movie regardless of the fact that Senor Spielberg was the (omnipresent) producer.
NOBODY is a Tonino Valerii movie....period.
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Are these rumours that Leone did NOBODY as kind of 'Kick Ass Trinity' still around?
Incredible. Even in the very bad German Documentary on the DVD-Box there's loads
of horse shit regarding the circumstances of the making of this film. If someone
shows me a printed Interview or better on-camera of somebody involved confirming this
gossip I'll be the first to apologize.
But I don't think so. NOBODY was my first film in a theatre back in 1974 and since then
(altough for other reasons by now) it's one of my favorite westerns ever. So I kind of researched
whatever information I could for decades now.
In the German Doc they even claim that Leone hurt the film on purpose so it would fail.
May it be to hurt Valerii, or the Trinity figure or whatever. As a film maker I can assure you one thing:
Film making is one of the hardest business and no-one would want to hurt his own film (except
misguided souls like Marty Ransohoff on DANCE OF THE VAMPIRES. But then again he was a Producer,
jealous of gifted film makers like Peckinpah & Polanski).
Some also point out (like in that unbearable German Doc) that Leone gave Peckinpah a grave
as kind of revenge since Peckinpah turned him down on GIU LA TESTA. Horseshit. It's an hommage,
nothing more nothing less. If he had a grudge against Peckinpah why would the film be full of
Peckinpah-Hommages: Slow-Motion (to my knowledge a 1st time in a 'Leone'-Film), The Wild Bunch
of xourse, Fonda's/Character Eyesight reminds 0f Steve Judd in RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY. Even the uncapable
Army chasing their own train is WILD BUNCH. Leone & Peckinpah regarded themsevelves as kind of
Twin brothers who renewed the Western genre. Which is right, isn't it?
NOBODY started as an Italian Western version of Homer's ODYSSEE. Not much left but the Title (which actually
is from Homer and doesn't mean that Trintity is 'Nobody' as I read somewhere too).
It came into pre-production rather to be a 'LIBERTY VALANCE' or 'RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY' of the 70's.
And that's what it is. It's splendid, perfectly cast and very well written too.
The old American western goes (Fonda) and the aficionados from Rome carry on.
By now I would have preferred less Slapstick like the fast motion which dates the film and
is unneccessary. But back in the 70's it just had to be that way.
The rest is pretty flawless I think. Altough Leone's and Valerii's style aren't too close to each other.
And Leone didn't direct to kick Trinity's ass but because they had major problems with the schedule
and he offered to do 2nd Unit. Whether it was intended by him to happen like that in the
first place is not proven. Even if it was the case I would find it not as big a thing as it reads from
some writers nowadays: After all Leone was a Director and this was his first Producers job. So of course it
was difficult for him not to direct.
That Leone wasn't in love with the success of Barbonis films is a fact since GIU LA TESTA wasn't
a big success and Trinity became the most successful Italian western ever.
In the beginning Leone wanted to design the Hill-character less sympathetic but he was out-voted
and quickly adapted to the character as 'Hero'.
But to claim that Nobody was done on the base of hate, jealousy, envy and what have you is an exaggeration
to say the least. I have a German Interview were Hill stated that Leone wanted to be very sure the
film would be a success. And that he added little piexces here and there which is what directors, even
good 2nd Unit directors do. Like the PISS-scene. Leone liked PISS-scenes, watch GIU LA TESTA again :)
Maybe someone here has worked with Italian crews too and can confirm that they work a bit differently
than the ones in the US or here in Germany. Italians shout, are macho, have problems with ego and
organisation etc. etc. So these sets are very much alive. In Hollywood it might have been good for 5 shows of
RONA BARRETT IN HOLLYWOOD, in Italy it was everyday's movie making.
(And the films are so much alive too! Forza Italia !)
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I agree heavily with alot of your points Mike, especially about 'Leone wanting to hurt the film' The only time I have seen that happen is by mistakes (in which the director etc did not know he was hurting the film) or fired crew who wanted to have their revenge (quite rare) so I don't believe that unless we have strong evidence to show that.
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Are these rumours that Leone did NOBODY as kind of 'Kick Ass Trinity' still around?
Incredible. Even in the very bad German Documentary on the DVD-Box there's loads
of horse ****** regarding the circumstances of the making of this film. If someone
shows me a printed Interview or better on-camera of somebody involved confirming this
gossip I'll be the first to apologize.
But I don't think so. NOBODY was my first film in a theatre back in 1974 and since then
(altough for other reasons by now) it's one of my favorite westerns ever. So I kind of researched
whatever information I could for decades now.
In the German Doc they even claim that Leone hurt the film on purpose so it would fail.
May it be to hurt Valerii, or the Trinity figure or whatever. As a film maker I can assure you one thing:
Film making is one of the hardest business and no-one would want to hurt his own film (except
misguided souls like Marty Ransohoff on DANCE OF THE VAMPIRES. But then again he was a Producer,
jealous of gifted film makers like Peckinpah & Polanski).
Some also point out (like in that unbearable German Doc) that Leone gave Peckinpah a grave
as kind of revenge since Peckinpah turned him down on GIU LA TESTA. Horseshit. It's an hommage,
nothing more nothing less. If he had a grudge against Peckinpah why would the film be full of
Peckinpah-Hommages: Slow-Motion (to my knowledge a 1st time in a 'Leone'-Film), The Wild Bunch
of xourse, Fonda's/Character Eyesight reminds 0f Steve Judd in RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY. Even the uncapable
Army chasing their own train is WILD BUNCH. Leone & Peckinpah regarded themsevelves as kind of
Twin brothers who renewed the Western genre. Which is right, isn't it?
NOBODY started as an Italian Western version of Homer's ODYSSEE. Not much left but the Title (which actually
is from Homer and doesn't mean that Trintity is 'Nobody' as I read somewhere too).
It came into pre-production rather to be a 'LIBERTY VALANCE' or 'RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY' of the 70's.
And that's what it is. It's splendid, perfectly cast and very well written too.
The old American western goes (Fonda) and the aficionados from Rome carry on.
By now I would have preferred less Slapstick like the fast motion which dates the film and
is unneccessary. But back in the 70's it just had to be that way.
The rest is pretty flawless I think. Altough Leone's and Valerii's style aren't too close to each other.
And Leone didn't direct to kick Trinity's ass but because they had major problems with the schedule
and he offered to do 2nd Unit. Whether it was intended by him to happen like that in the
first place is not proven. Even if it was the case I would find it not as big a thing as it reads from
some writers nowadays: After all Leone was a Director and this was his first Producers job. So of course it
was difficult for him not to direct.
That Leone wasn't in love with the success of Barbonis films is a fact since GIU LA TESTA wasn't
a big success and Trinity became the most successful Italian western ever.
In the beginning Leone wanted to design the Hill-character less sympathetic but he was out-voted
and quickly adapted to the character as 'Hero'.
But to claim that Nobody was done on the base of hate, jealousy, envy and what have you is an exaggeration
to say the least. I have a German Interview were Hill stated that Leone wanted to be very sure the
film would be a success. And that he added little piexces here and there which is what directors, even
good 2nd Unit directors do. Like the PISS-scene. Leone liked PISS-scenes, watch GIU LA TESTA again :)
Maybe someone here has worked with Italian crews too and can confirm that they work a bit differently
than the ones in the US or here in Germany. Italians shout, are macho, have problems with ego and
organisation etc. etc. So these sets are very much alive. In Hollywood it might have been good for 5 shows of
RONA BARRETT IN HOLLYWOOD, in Italy it was everyday's movie making.
(And the films are so much alive too! Forza Italia !)
Cool. Maybe then YOU should produce a documentary since you ARE a filmmaker. Set the record straight. Until then, whatever I read or see from those that ACTUALLY WORKED ON THE MOVIES THEMSELVES, for me, that's going to be taken as truth whether it is or whether it isn't. I'm reading an Antonio MArgheriti interview right now during his shooting of DUCK YOU SUCKER where he talks admirably of Leone but does speak of his ego in detailing the action scenes shot by Alberto deMartino who, against Leone's strong personality, shot what he wanted anyway and also that nearly all the train scenes were miniatures created by Margheriti who had to convince Mr. Leone that the only way to do the scene convincingly was to use the miniature instead of a cutaway to increase the impact.
Furthermore, I never stated anything about hatred on SL's part. Jealousy and hatred are two different things.
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Oh, I'm completely on your side. I don't know where the misunderstanding is here. That's just what I was raving against: Those gossips and misquotations of misquotations.
Facts from the people involved we need. And even those are to be treated with care, after all it's the movie business.
By the way, who are you quoting here:
'' It should also be pointed out that the ONLY REASON Leone directed anything in that picture was because he was incredibly jealous and upset that Barboni's upstart comedy western destroyed his previous box office takings. It was his way of one upping the TRINITY pictures. ''
What's got his general dislike for Fun-Western and the attached success to do with him directing some scenes?
In retrospect I really would have loved to make those docs for the German Edition. Technically I think they're great.
Content-wise I almost ate backwards: In the first place both docs are completely negative about both films. Well, the second we don't care too much about. But why do a doc about NOBODY when you loath the film? And THEN misquoting all around (or did you see any footnotes where all those informations came from? So why believe them? Just because it's released? Just say 'Leone did seek revenge regarding Peckinpah' and get away with it?).
I was really looking forward for that release for many many years. I think they blew it. The docs I mentioned. The 1st Print looks great but they got a very early print and you actually see almost every cut because of the editing tape or what have you. Awful & distracting. The 2nd print (UN GENIO) is even missing the final scene!
So it's a very nice box with major flaws all over the place.
I just finished a documentary about Sam Peckinpah's STRAW DOGS. This is the 8th after two others on Peckinpah, six on Sergio Sollima and Ferdinando Baldi and I hope it will be the last for the next two years, hence giving me the time to make a new feature.
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Just saw this on the newly ordered 4-disc German set (I'll be bumping the "Nobody's the Greatest" thread tomorrow).
Perhaps it's unwise to start my posting with this, but I didn't think too much of this film. The cinematography is beautiful, and so is the music, at least half of the time. But the tone shifts don't really work at all, the melancholany seems a little forced and pretentious to me, and the the less said about the comedy sequences (other than that face-slapping jokes tend to work a little better when they don't last five minutes long) the better, although they are more lively than the rest of the movie. Also, the pacing is really off - all of Leone's films are slow, but this is the first one that bores me because of it.
Still, the fight against the Wild Bunch and the final letter scene is indeed very beautiful. It has all the ingredients, but they just don't add up right.
Yes out of the two Nobody movies,Damiani's Nobodys The Greatest is more even in style and content and is the most watched of the two in my household.Its a shame that schedule problems hampered MNIN to an extent that Valerii couldn't direct 100% of the movie himself as i'm sure it would'nt have had the same unfunny self-indulgence that plagued Leones 2nd unit attempts at carbon copying Barboni.
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How can you say that SL is the "author" of this movie when he only directed a handful of scenes?
NOBODY is a Tonino Valerii movie....period.
The director of a film isn't always that film's author. Insofar as the auteur theory has any validity at all, single author credit has to go to the man (or woman) whose vision most consistently emerges from a work. In the case of MNIN, there are many passages that just scream "Leone" to me. Paradoxically, the stuff filmed while Leone was actually sitting in the director's chair seem the least Leone-like. But that is not a problem. We don't talk much on this board about Colossus of Rhodes; I take it that, in spite of having been directed by Leone, Colossus of Rhodes is not a Leone movie.
But when I feel the need to see a Leone movie on DVD, I immediately think of FAFDM, GBU, OUATITW, DYS . . . and MNIN. And whichever one I choose to watch always satisfies my jones.
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Insofar as the auteur theory has any validity at all, single author credit has to go to the man (or woman) whose vision most consistently emerges from a work.
OK using that line of thinking the true creator of the 2nd unit Leone filmed footage is Enzo Barboni because it screams out "Trinity" to me no matter how badly done.
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We don't talk much on this board about Colossus of Rhodes; I take it that, in spite of having been directed by Leone, Colossus of Rhodes is not a Leone movie.
That doesn't make sense to me. Maybe it doesn't have what we call his style, but still it's his film. The reason why I don't discuss it is simpler - I haven't seen it yet.
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We don't talk about "Colosuss of Rhodes" because many of us have yet to see it. And I recall mentioning adding a section for it.
However MNIN doesn't deserve it's own section because it is clearly not a Leone film.
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I agree with Firecraker, Colossus should have a place here especially since its being released on DVD.
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We could always put a sticky on a Colossus thread ,keeping it up the top of the Other Films section, once members start picking up the dvd. :)
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I always found it rather strange that there's no COLOSSO thread. It it was only for westerns, o.k... But there's AMERICA as well, so what's the point?
After all it is his feature debut!
And a great one! I worked on the new German DVD and just watched it recently uncut and restored. Lots of things to discuss here. It already shows his skills and I haven't seen a better Italian film of that genre incl. the first two Hercules movies.
Most people underestimate it. Actually professionally FOD was a kind of step back for Leone. COLOSSO was a big budget successful film. Business-wise he should have look out for another 'Big' film. But he had a vision and went for a low low budget personal pet project. Thank god he did ^-^
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We could always put a sticky on a Colossus thread ,keeping it up the top of the Other Films section, once members start picking up the dvd. :)
I'd rather have a complete section onto itself being that we probably will have many things to discuss. If it's just one thread and many discussions going on at once it could cause confusion.
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Colossus really only has curiosity value for me .Would you bother with any "sword and sandel" epics from the other Italian guys FC?Though saying that it was on British tv about 5 years ago and i'm still kicking myself for not at least watching it. :-[
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Would you bother with any "sword and sandel" epics from the other Italian guys FC?
Sure i'll give it a shot. The Italo crime genre has already managed to impress me.
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Like Robin Hood or pirate swashbucklers this sort of movie would've appealed to me as a kid but anything like this,especially if there are any religious connotations which would make me think of Life Of Brian and cause me to fall about laughing,i'm not so sure about nowadays.
I've got a pile of Italian crime dvd's on the way too and i'm also looking forward to getting into Italian horror. O0
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There's some nifty italian peplums that are cool. Here's some I've seen or have at the moment...
HERCULES IN THE HAUNTED WORLD-Reg Park, Christopher Lee; directed by MArio Bava
TRIUMPH OF HERCULES aka HERCULES VS THE GIANT WARRIORS-Dan Vadis
TRIUMPH OF THE TEN GLADIATORS-Dan Vadis, Brad Harris. Third in the 10 GLADIATORS trilogy. I haven't seen the other two.
HERCULES VS THE SEA MONSTER-Gordon Scott. Originally a pilot movie for a US HERCULES tv show. Very good effects.
HERCULES, SAMSON & ULYSSES-Kirk Morris, Richard Lloyd
MEDUSA AGAINST THE SON OF HERCULES-Richard Harrison (A rare decent performance)
HERCULES AGAINST THE MOON MEN-Alan Steel
GOLIATH AGAINST THE DRAGON-Mark Forrest
GOLIATH AGAINST THE VAMPIRES-Mark Forrest; directed by Sergio Corbucci
HERCULES VS THE HYDRA aka THE LOVES OF HERCULES-Mickey Hargitay, Jayne Mansfield
HERCULES VS THE BARBARIANS-Mark Forrest
HERCULES VS THE MONGOLS-Mark Forrest (sequel to above film)
I saw Gemma in one entitled HERCULES AGAINST THE SONS OF THE SUN but it isn't that good. Many of these had their names altered as in some may have featured Herc in the Italian version but may have been changed to Goliath or Samson for the US release. Many of the Italian peplums had a character called Maciste which was more times than not changed to Hercules for the US versions. Everybody that did peplums made the transition to spaghetti westerns, well, mostly the italian actors anyways.
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Like Robin Hood or pirate swashbucklers this sort of movie would've appealed to me as a kid but anything like this,especially if there are any religious connotations which would make me think of Life Of Brian and cause me to fall about laughing,i'm not so sure about nowadays.
I've got a pile of Italian crime dvd's on the way too and i'm also looking forward to getting into Italian horror. O0
Giorgio Ferroni's MILL OF THE STONE WOMEN is a very Hammeresque horror and a good place to start as is CASTLE OF BLOOD or BLACK SUNDAY is without doubt the highwater mark of Italian horror. Some others are THE FACELESS MONSTER, VIRGIN OF NUREMBERG, WEB OF THE SPIDER, THREE FACES OF FEAR and BARON BLOOD.
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I'd rather have a complete section onto itself being that we probably will have many things to discuss. If it's just one thread and many discussions going on at once it could cause confusion.
Definitely agree with you FC. Could be all kinds of discussions on it....about the film itself and how it relates to his subsequent
films. Would be easier to access and recall the info.
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Definitely agree with you FC. Could be all kinds of discussions on it....about the film itself and how it relates to his subsequent
films. Would be easier to access and recall the info.
Agreed
So Moderators how would you go about adding a Topic to the board are you guys able to do it ?
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Definitely agree with you FC. Could be all kinds of discussions on it....about the film itself and how it relates to his subsequent
films. Would be easier to access and recall the info.
It might be a bit premature now but once the dvd comes out we could maybe rally Cal to tweak the forum to include Colossus Of Rhodes if enough of us wanted it?
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It might be a bit premature now but once the dvd comes out we could maybe rally Cal to tweak the forum to include Colossus Of Rhodes if enough of us wanted it?
I would want it even when I haven't seen it yet and the DVD release doesn't affect my country (yet). O0 If only for the principle of it.
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OK we'll see what LA thinks eh?
Maybe even hold a poll?
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It might be a bit premature now but once the dvd comes out we could maybe rally Cal to tweak the forum to include Colossus Of Rhodes if enough of us wanted it?
OK we'll see what LA thinks eh?
Maybe even hold a poll?
Thanks Banjo. Although in long run posts may be less from a percentage standpoint, if the page were modified it would reflect his filmography more accurately. It provides a place to discuss the film, discuss how it fits in his overall body of work. Reference any technical or thematic similarities between the more known and popular films. Not sure what it would entail from programming standpoint, but it would be great if possible.
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But of course, SL's career didn't begin with CoR. Might it not be more appropriate to have a more general category, one that covers everything pertaining to SL before FOD?
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But of course, SL's career didn't begin with CoR. Might it not be more appropriate to have a more general category, one that covers everything pertaining to SL before FOD?
Very true. Guess my take was that COR was the first film he was credited as director. From beginning to end he was the director of the project. From start to finish it was his creation and vision. I thought the "Other Films" category on the board still functioned well to discuss the films in which he was an assistant, assistant director, replacement director or produced and partially directed. Definitely not slighting My Name is Nobody or the amount of influence he had on the vision of that work. Not to overlook his work prior to COR. It was just about half his career's work. We got quality over quantity. The few films he left resonate greatly because of that lengthy period in which he worked with the Neorealist and Hollywood directors. A COR category probably will have a lesser percentage of posts in the long run. Maybe long time members that have seen cycles of similar discussions on the other films will enjoy breaking new ground. If COR were listed, it would give a complete list of all the films he is credited as director. Just my thoughts....
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Leone Admirer's review from his SW Virgins Guide:-
My Name Is Nobody
My experience with 'comedy spaghettis' hasn't been a successful one as I'm sure you'll know. Buying My Name is Nobody and its sequel Nobody Is The Greatest wasn't a hard decision for me. They both had had major participation by Il Maestro and therefore should at least have some redeeming qualities. I knew that My Name Is Nobody was a light hearted western but I thought I'll give it a go. When I finished watching the film I had had an extremely enjoyable cinematic experience, completely opposite to Greatest but I'll discuss that in the next review.
A young mysterious gunfighter named Nobody (Terence Hill) begins to follow and then tries to persuade old gunfighter Jack Beauregard (Henry Fonda) into facing the final challenge that would make him a legend, to fight the Wild Bunch a gang of 150 men. Beauregard is reluctant at first but due to a series of experiences and adventures he gradually gains understanding for Nobody's plan and they form a strange partnership.
The film deftly mixes the comedy side with Hill's character with the serious, more grand side of Fonda's. Whilst at times there is perhaps a slight jarring between the two elements but director Tonino Valerii and producer/director Leone manage to usually strike a healthy balance between the two.
The films opening is certianly very Leone esque, echoing the opening of Leone's opus Once Upon A Time In The West. We have a group of strangers waiting the arrival of the protagonist, in this case Fonda, and we have a whole series of shots identifying the men and the quirks they have whilst waiting for Beauregard. When Fonda finally arrives, he has a shave, a nod perhaps to My Darling Clementine, a referance Leone had made in Once Upon A Time In The West but had been deleted from the final cut. Suddenly violence irrupts and before you know it all the men except Fonda are dead and the spectators are left wondering what happened. We are then launched into the opening credits which shows Hill's character Nobody playing in the water, watched by the amused Beauregard.
As we learn in the documentary accompanying the DVD, the production of My Name Is Nobody was full of problems. The fact that such an enjoyable product, for me anyway, came out of it has to be credited to the director, producer and all the other cast and crew working on it.
It seems that the film tends to be slated because of its slapstick elements and though they are over the top and the use of speeding up certain elements, which is thankfully infrequent but yet still annoying, most of the time it isn't done so over the top so as to spoil the film. The humor usually makes fun of the bad guys or is created by heavily exagerated sound effects such as the scene when Nobody begins to slap around a lacky, and the exagerated and almost impossible actions of Nobody, including a very entertaining sequence involving shooting a glass whilst heavily drunk and a scene involving a revolving dummy that Nobody uses to have fights with some men who want him dead.
The characters in the film and the actors who play them are very good. Seeing the trailer of the film before I started to watch the main film, I feared that Hill's character to me would be very annoying. Thankfully I was wrong and his comic personality makes him quite endering and the quest that he has put himself and Beauregard on wins the audience over.
Fonda however is the real star. I am a huge fan of Henry Fonda and I know how high in regard Leone held him. The film almost worships him with his slow calculated actions, the sweeping morricone score and the elegic and grand cinematography. Even the screenplay seems to serve him and the delivery of the line "Let's bring my personal history up to date" is excellent and for me is the best line in the film. The speech given by Beauregard at the end of the film is rather touching and sums up all the characters and Leone's feelings towards the passing of the west. It is by no accident that the film is set in 1899.
The cinematography and direction of the film is of a high standard. Valerii's direction is exceedingly similar to that of Leone, most likely helped by the fact that he was Leone's assistant director thoughout his earlier films and the parts directed by Leone are not all that different. There is an interesting editing element near the end of the film when Beauregard takes on the Wild Bunch. The film breaks into a montage of pictures, as if someone was there with a camera recording it for history, an idea quite important to the story and acually physically shown using a book.
The score in the film by Morricone is fantastic. Whilst it may not rank with the finest of his work with Leone, his referances to his scores from his previous collaborations, especially Once Upon A Time In The West and these all mix to create an excellent, duel theme. The main theme of Nobody is the best theme of the movie and is very cartchy, with a great tune helped by the use of lady's voices to show the characters good humeored and light hearted personality. The themes associated with Beauregard, referancing the excellent Sinatra song 'My Way' is also very enjoyable and pleasing to listen too. The only piece of music I wasn't too keen on was the theme attached to The Wild Bunch. It's OK until it begins to play Wagner's Ride Of The Valykeries using car horns. Overall though this music, like all of the other Leone collaborations, even though it is not as good as say Once Upon A Time In The West or Once Upon A Time In America, has stayed with me long after i have watched the film.
This DVD was bought as part of a boxset released the the German division of Paramount home entertainment and features the two films My Name Is Nobody (Mein Name Ist Nobody) and Nobody Is The Greatest (Nobody Ist Der Grosse) which are made up of brand new restored transfers and extras created by TLE Films and which more infomation about the DVD and their other releases and functions can be found at www.TLE-Films.com .
Wow, TLE Films have done a magnificent job with this transfer. It even exceeds that of the excellent Once Upon A Time In The West DVD. The transfer is strong, will brilliant colors and excellent blacks and fine shadow detail. There is very little or no print damage and the prints looks remarkably new. The titles for the film are in German as this DVD was taken from Germany. The audio is presented in both English and German mono 2.0. The English soundtrack is excellent, clear and concise with no hiss and it brings across dialogue, sound effects and Morricone's brilliant score very well.
This DVD is a two discer and on the second disc we find the documentary Nobody Is Perfect which runs at 75 minutes long. Now I am in two minds about this documentary, it was fascinating to hear the stories of how the film was made, especially with the interview with Terence Hill and the ending of the documentary was genuinely moving but what I didn't like, an element that has been picked up before by people, is the almost villivication of Leone. Now everyone who has read any of Sir Christopher Frayling's books knows of the two sides of Leone. This doco only seemed to explore the one side, the dark side. It makes him seem almost like he was arrogant bastard throughout the whole making of the film. Whilst I do think that the truth should be told and I would rather have the truth then a glossed over version portaying Leone as the nicest guy ever to work for, and the documentary does try to balance it out with a brief comment by Terence Hill almost refuting the doco's claims but it would have been much better and more aggreable to portray Leone for even just 5 minutes in a much better light. If he was horrible through out the shoot then I retract this previous statement but surely he must have brought some good elements to this film?
Also included in the much better documentary Nobody: Dusted which is 35 minutes long and ties in the resotoration of My Name Is Nobody along with the evolution of home entertainment. There is also a text based feature describing the excellent restoration undertaken by TLE films. Also included is Wanted: Nobody an extensive Gallery with collectables such as Posters, Lobbycards & more from around the world which has Morricone's fabulous score played over it,
Nobody In The News another extensive stills gallery with the entire press books from Germany and the United States, Nobody On 8mm, a rare 8mm Promo reel and excerpt from an 8mm German version
as well as the Theatrical Trailer a DVD promotional trailer for TLE Films release of their restored DVD's of A Fistful Of Dollars and For A Few Dollars More.
A film that was much more enjoyable then I thought it would be, My Name Is Nobody has a just about right balance of humor and drama. I would definatly recomend this film to Leone fans and spaghetti fans new and old.
Ollie
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Silenzio's review:-
My Name is Nobody
I obtained a copy of this today (in a completely... legal.... fashion). I'd seen it twice before, and had both times had some mixed reactions about it. I thought that, though there were some classic moments, that the commonplace slapistick humor really brought the movie down a lot. However, after tonight's viewing, I've decided that this is a classic that deserves to be in the top ten. Maybe it's because I'm more into spaghetti westerns now than i was before that i can appreciate the humor more. Many parts in the film made me think of other spaghettis i had seen (particularly the works of Leone himself) and I think were done in an intentionally exaggerated manner. For instance, the whole "three bullets, one hole" gag reminded me of the Manco/Mortimer shootout in which, afterwards, Clint only appears to have one noticeable hole in his hat for the rest of the movie afterwards (see the pic below this paragraph for reference). Also, when Nobody shoots the shade roof outside of the building so that the three men will have to hold it up reminded me of A Fistful of Dollars, when Joe shoots down the shade roof so that it will fall on the head of one of Ramon's henchmen, thus disposing him. Also, the "looney old man" character in this movie was a play on all the similar characters in Leone's works. I also really like the dubbing. I think they intentionally chose goofy dubbers for some characters, and sometimes intentionally had characters make strange noises when they perform simple actions (something i've seen to a much lesser extent in some other spaghettis). Even though my appreciation for the Spaghetti Western Genre made me appreciate this film particularly a lot more, there were still two scenes that really brought the film down: the hall of mirrors scene and the scene where he beats all the men up with a clown in the street! Those parts were so lame.
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the 2 disc sets for 'my name is nobody' and 'nobody is the greatest' are going for about 8-10 euros, and the 4 disc set for 15 euros at amazon.de.
i can definately handle paying C$22 (15 euros) for the best versions of these, but shipping is another C$22, dies anyone know of any better deals, shipping wise?
I love my name is nobody and have yet to see nobody is the greatest (a genius 2 partners and a dupe) - but my expectatios aren't too high and want the best versions available.
Did i hear somewhere that paramount messed up on the version of nobody is the greatest, missing the ending did this get fixed?
thanks
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less than 24 hrs later and i'm demoted to page 4.... :-[
i guess i got in the way of banjo's juggernaut review postings.
anyway, any help with the german releases of nobody would be appreciated.
i also noticed nouveaux picutres has released the trinity movies with the nobody's in a 4 movie 3 disc set, which is probably the versions they have already released, but 15 quid is a good deal (shame i'm a sucker for 'extra's and want the german paramounts).
ta
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Been waiting for the price to drop on that one for ages. Thanks Mezcal O0
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the 2 disc sets for 'my name is nobody' and 'nobody is the greatest' are going for about 8-10 euros, and the 4 disc set for 15 euros at amazon.de.
i can definately handle paying C$22 (15 euros) for the best versions of these, but shipping is another C$22, dies anyone know of any better deals, shipping wise?
I love my name is nobody and have yet to see nobody is the greatest (a genius 2 partners and a dupe) - but my expectatios aren't too high and want the best versions available.
Did i hear somewhere that paramount messed up on the version of nobody is the greatest, missing the ending did this get fixed?
thanks
Not sure what is missing unless you mean the film having to be put together using alternate takes because the original reels were stolen. But that was before the film was released back in the 70s. There is definitely an ending on there. Paramount did mess up ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST during the closing credits by not fixing the finale music that is supposed to play over the end credits.
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I'm very tempted by this.Is it true that this is a longer version than the USA disc ?
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Paramount's German disc of Genius is missing the entire ending scene after the gang rides away at the end. The disc is also missing a very short piece during the opening scene. As far as I know these are also missing from all other discs (UK disc has few seconds of the ending left) except Spanish (which of course is missing something else O0 ). BUT the German disc has one short scene which is missing from all other discs (as far as I know)... :P
If you're wanting to get the Trinitys, they will be released widescreen in a double pack in Region 1 later this year.
http://www.amazon.com/Trinity-Twin-Pack-They-Still/dp/B000QCU9JO/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3/102-7655165-3360136?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1180646268&sr=8-3
Unfortunately if the length reported at Amazon is correct, these will be cut (as are the UK discs).
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thanks gents,
Banjo, the thread under sergio leone news has all the technical details, postage to the uk with amazon.de is only 6 euro's aswell (14 to north america). i got a bit better deal with a company called jpc.de.
Sundance, i have the nouveaux uk trinity's which i'm very happy with. I looked at the 'news' thread and there were some very harsh comments directed at tle. From what i gather 'a genius' is pretty poor so i don't know why the person was getting so worked up about it.
For me, having a pristeen copy of 'nobody' plus all the extras is why i'm getting this, 'a genius' is a bonus.
i still don't get why paramount north america lost the rigts to one of the best sw's and a henry fonda pic!!
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Image released this here about a year ago. I presume it's the same print although I don't think there were any extras on the disc.
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No, the difference between the transfers of the German and U.S. releases is enormous, The German transfer is immaculate and has a slight bit of extra footage, the U.S. transfer is a PoS (moire effect all over the place). I found the Image disc unwatchable.
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I've been slow in replying but i just wanted to let everyone know what i great buying experience it was with jpc.de O0
I bought the nobody 4 dvd set, the german 2 disc few dollars more and the 2 disc nobody for the father in law and.
They have english speaking customer service (email), they deduct taxes for overseas orders, flat rate shipping of 10 euros to canada AND the package arrived in 3 business days!!
The nobody 2 disc set is brilliant quality with great extras / interviews and i think the few dollars more north american sets are copies of the german releases.
Very happy!
ps no i don't work for / own jpc.....
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No, the difference between the transfers of the German and U.S. releases is enormous
I was tempted but upon again inspecting my USA dvd the quality is already excellent,and the main reason i was tempted to buy the German dvds is for the documentary's but the reports i've read are that they aren't very good.
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The documentaries are excellent Banjo. Although two individuals here claim that everything said on both are false. How that can be true is beyond me.
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The documentaries are excellent Banjo. Although two individuals here claim that everything said on both are false. How that can be true is beyond me.
Was there much about the age-old argument about which scenes Leone directed?
The only source i've seen for this info is Hughes book still.
And is the extra footage new or extended scenes?
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Was there much about the age-old argument about which scenes Leone directed?
Not as such. At the 17:40 mark in Nobody Is Perfect: Leones Grabgesang auf den Western der alten Generation, Terrence Hill says this:
There have been rumors that Sergio Leone directed parts of My Name is Nobody. The answer is gthat this was a film where the concept, the development was all Sergio Leone's. After the two Trinitys he came to me and said, "I want to make a movie with you because I like your character. I want to put your character in an environment, in a story that's . . . deeper. Let's call it . . . in a bigger story. I think that Trinity should have this option to be in the West in a more serious way." And so he put all this passion in this. He even wanted me to direct it. "You gotta do it." And he went to America to ask Fonda to make it. So I would rather say "no comment" on the fact of directing the film. But I can assure you his passion was in it.
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Was there much about the age-old argument about which scenes Leone directed?
The only source i've seen for this info is Hughes book still.
And is the extra footage new or extended scenes?
Yes, the doc discusses this and more. It reveals much about Leone the man and goes into detail about the controversy surrounding his involvement.
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What about the docu's on NOBODYS THE GREATEST?
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It's more interesting about what went on behind the scenes than in front of it.
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The NOBODYS THE GREATEST German dvd was missing the last scene or something which put me off. :(
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Yes, the doc discusses this and more. It reveals much about Leone the man and goes into detail about the controversy surrounding his involvement.
The only thing it offers beside the quotes from the new Terrence Hill interview is rehashed info from Frayling.
The extra footage is just stuff from the hall of mirrors sequence, extending those scenes.
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the extras are in german (with english subtitles) and the terrence hill segments are in english, so are easily watchable. The nobody doco is 75 mins and i think the genius segment is 30 mins full details on this page http://www.fistful-of-leone.com/forums/index.php?topic=1810.15
I think the set is defintely value for money. I'd also read about the 3 missing clips (not scenes), but to be honest thay would not have made the film any less bad. The scenery in monumnet valley is excellent, the story, macgoohan is given nothing to do but most of all is the use of b-grade stock which jars compared to the good footage.
As far as leone direction, it says he did the opening scene of genius which i can believe, the bizarre thing with 'nobody' is that it says he did the worst scenes in the movie, hall of mirrors, washroom scene, and that he did these to make Valeri's excellent movie less good...
Lots of interesting stuff although it may be a few years before i watch the genius again, but still the same price as if you bought the uk genius by itself, i'm very happy with the set
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As far as leone direction . . . the bizarre thing with 'nobody' is that it says he did the worst scenes in the movie, hall of mirrors, washroom scene, and that he did these to make Valeri's excellent movie less good...
In Frayling. The filmmaker cites his source, shows the cover of the book, opens it, and seemingly reads from it. If you already have Something to Do With Death, you don't learn anything you don't already know.
There is a second doc I found more interesting, Nobody 'Dusted'--Der Film vor und nach der Restauration, which uses the film to show the evolution of the home theater market. They start out with 8mm reels that were commercially available and progress through videotape, laserdisc, and finally DVD. Image quality keeps improving, of course, and its amazing to see the change.
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Look who is the guardian angel for Henry Fonda.
Look close and you can see the wings.
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My Name Is Nobody was recently released on a new DVD edition in Italy. Unfortunately only Italian audio and subtitles. It's available in two different editions, regular one and a special edition which includes a "book" (about 70 pages of text and photos) as part of the case. I think the disc contents are exactly the same on both editions. There's the film and a 54minute documentary:
http://www.sundances.net/spaghetti/screenshots/docu1.jpg (http://www.sundances.net/spaghetti/screenshots/docu1.jpg)
http://www.sundances.net/spaghetti/screenshots/docu2.jpg (http://www.sundances.net/spaghetti/screenshots/docu2.jpg)
http://www.sundances.net/spaghetti/screenshots/docu5.jpg (http://www.sundances.net/spaghetti/screenshots/docu5.jpg)
http://www.sundances.net/spaghetti/screenshots/docu6.jpg (http://www.sundances.net/spaghetti/screenshots/docu6.jpg)
http://www.sundances.net/spaghetti/screenshots/docu7.jpg (http://www.sundances.net/spaghetti/screenshots/docu7.jpg)
The documentary is in Italian without subtitles but some of the persons interviewed (at least Eli Wallach and Frayling) speak English with Italian subtitles. I can't say if the interviews have been done specifically for this documentary or not, and if this has been shown or included somewhere before this.
Here's couple of (BAD) pictures of the case/book (the photo of the cover wasn't taken by me... which explain why it looks better...):
(http://www.sundances.net/spaghetti/screenshots/nessunokansi.jpg)
(http://www.sundances.net/spaghetti/screenshots/kirja1.jpg)
(http://www.sundances.net/spaghetti/screenshots/kirja2.jpg)
As for the movie, the colors differ from the German and French editions (the type of monitor and calibration will have big impact on how each of the images look):
(http://www.sundances.net/spaghetti/screenshots/tekstit.jpg)
(http://www.sundances.net/spaghetti/screenshots/mynameisnobody-france-credit.jpg)
(http://www.sundances.net/spaghetti/screenshots/mynameisnobody-germany-credit.jpg)
There's HD versions available as well. The contents are the same but the book is missing?
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Nice thanks for posting O0
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Wow, this is great! I'll probably buy it when I go to Italy in a couple of months. Thanks Sundance!
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Thanks, Sundance. Evidently they're releasing a bunch of these in special editions with "libro" ( FAFDM and OUATITW have, I believe, also been so issued).
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I've just seen Nobody's the Greatest. And I'm even more confused than after watching MNIN. ???
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Why? You expected Nobody to show up? ;D
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Nooo! I just absolutely didn't get what actually was the plan, and why did Lucy go with Bill, and everything. It was just a flow of happenings to me.
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Nooo! I just absolutely didn't get what actually was the plan, and why did Lucy go with Bill, and everything. It was just a flow of happenings to me.
What is there to understand? ;)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1NNzo8ehZg
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That was great, sure. :D But the rest somehow... :-\
But I have to admit that if only for that duel, it was worth the 42 CZK I gave for it. ;D
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Original? WOW, that's cheap! That's about 1.5 € If I'm not wrong.
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Yeah, it is. There's a boom of cheap DVD's here in CR, in newspapers and so. It seems the perfect solution: it keeps people from pirating the films, because why make copies when you get the original for the price of renting it? And you get these little treasures like SW's, because the DVD's come out every week and the companies are looking for new and new films to issue. ;)
Sometimes you get no bonus material. But sometimes you get even that.
EDIT: It's usually only in paper covers. That's one way to keep the prize down. And it seems it's still worth it for the companies, because people really buy them and it's already been maybe two years of this practice.
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I've just seen Nobody's the Greatest. And I'm even more confused than after watching MNIN. ???
You shudda put this on a new thread Marmota naughty,naughty! ;D
Yep it is confusing and requires further viewing but this movie has really grown on me.Terence Hill's goofy antics are always enjoyable as is Morricones infectious compositions.The underlying ecological and plight of the Native American themes predate some of the 1990's westerns and i love the feelgood factor of this film.
I'd give it at least 7 out of 10. ;)
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You shudda put this on a new thread Marmota naughty,naughty! ;D
It didn't seem like worthy of a new thread...
I suppose both of them require more viewings. I just don't feel like it right now. :-\
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It didn't seem like worthy of a new thread...
I suppose both of them require more viewings. I just don't feel like it right now. :-\
I doubt that would be the case. My second viewing of MNIN was far less enjoyable than the first on the whole.
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I should give them a second chance anyway, to see what actually is the case with me. But really not now...
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It didn't seem like worthy of a new thread...
I suppose both of them require more viewings. I just don't feel like it right now. :-\
Even the crappiest of sw's have their own threads here and it would be another one to add to the sw index.Maybe i should give my dvd another spin. :)
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No, I meant my input to it hadn't seemed worth a new thread. :D
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Isn't there a scene in MNIN where Nobody slams somebody in the head repeatedly with some big and spinning thing? Well, I just watched Billy Wilder's Irma la Douce (1963) and there's a scene where Jack Lemmon fights with a pimp in a bar and slams his opponent just in the same fashion as Nobody, only this time with a spinning lamp that hangs from the ceiling. If it wasn't MNIN, then what movie was it? I'm sure it's a SW (most probably staring Terence Hill).
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It is MNIN. It's somewhere around the mirror hall scene, if I remember correctly.
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Just before the mirror hall scene, I think. It's the one bit of slapstick in the film that I find funny.
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I posted this over at the SWDB but sadly most people didn't seem to care :(. Thought I'd see if anyone here was interested...
The question of how much input Leone had on this movie has been discussed many times and will probably never be resolved. So, if to many this is tantamount to flogging a dead horse, my apologies. In any case, here’s my take on things…
I submit that just by watching the movie there are several sequences that are unmistakably dominated by Leone’s artistic hallmark and were definitely not directed by Valerii:
1. The fairground sequence up to Hill’s entry into the Saloon.
2. The train station sequence centered around the urinal scene but also including the gold being loaded on to the train and Hill riding up on his horse before hand, and the train leaving with Hill as the driver at the end of the sequence.
3. The shots concerning Hill and the train during and preceding Valerii’s direction of Fonda’s stand against the Wild Bunch.
Two other sequences bear flickers of Leone style which is confirmed by external evidence:
1. The Saloon sequence with the shattering glasses (as confirmed by Neil Summers in “Westerns all’italiana” #26).
2. The final duel (as confirmed by photographic evidence of Leone helping Valerii in Frayling’s book “Sergio Leone”).
The rest of the movie, I submit was Valerii’s work. In particular, aside from being a send-up of the introduction to “Once Upon a Time in the West”, the introduction at the barber’s shop, which Leone in Simsolo’s “Conversations avec Sergio Leone” claims to have directed himself, bears none of the Leone hallmarks at all. Nevertheless, even when Leone was in Italy while Valerii was shooting in America, Leone was clearly breathing down Valerii’s neck throughout; the situation seems very reminiscent of the role that several people assume Albert Band to have played over Corbucci in “The Hellbenders”.
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I am sympathetic to your position. Is there anything else you can offer in support? For example, which Leone hallmarks specifically do you observe in the scenes you mention? And is there other external corroboration that you haven't already noted?
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Try watching the Leone directed scene in "Cemetery without Crosses" to see if you can discern a difference between this and the rest done by Hossein. It's a similar kind of thing here, kinda like noticing an artist's distinctive traits in his paintings.
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Well, I don't have Cemetery without Crosses. Could you just describe what you're talking about? I don't need an exhaustive list, just a fer instance.
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Is it the scene around the dinner table with the jar?
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Is it the scene around the dinner table with the jar?
Yup, that's the one. Now was that a guess after watching the movie or did you know already?
Well, I don't have Cemetery without Crosses. Could you just describe what you're talking about? I don't need an exhaustive list, just a fer instance.
I'll get back to you on that when I have time to properly sit down and go through it. It's a bit difficult to pin-point though but I guess it comes down to a question of gracefulness if that makes any sense. In the Simsolo book, Leone says that it was really only in his final trilogy that he properly felt at home with his own style. Although GBU is generally considered the epitome of Leone's output, I would certainly agree with this distinction.
How about the Leone scene in "Genius". Could you tell that one apart?
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I've never seen Genius.
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Me neither.
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Yup, that's the one. Now was that a guess after watching the movie or did you know already?
They should know it as it has been talked about at the CWC thread.
The scene is a good one but it sticks out like sore thumb and slows the movie down.
Hossein was already apeing Leone's style throughout the film so there was no need to have the man himself at the helm of one scene.
How about the Leone scene in "Genius". Could you tell that one apart?
It's the scene that opens the picture, right?
A wonderful scene even if it isn't Leone's.
It used to be up on youtube but I just searched and it was taken down.
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Nevermind. Here is the opening to "Genius" but it's in German.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHdBZEVXS-Y&feature=related
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Now I know who invented the Arrow shirt !!!
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They should know it as it has been talked about at the CWC thread.
The scene is a good one but it sticks out like sore thumb and slows the movie down.
Hossein was already apeing Leone's style throughout the film so there was no need to have the man himself at the helm of one scene.
Well Hossein did dedicate the movie to Leone. However, Hossein seems to have his own distinctive style too. The only other Hossein movie I have seen is the Euro-western "The Taste of Violence" (1961) which is very similar, especially in the second half, to CWC. Notably this was made before the SW boom; "Fistful of Dollars" appeared in 1964.
It's the scene that opens the picture, right?
A wonderful scene even if it isn't Leone's.
Why do you question whether it is Leone's?
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Just found some more evidence...
In Frayling's book "Sergio Leone: Once Upon a Time in Italy", as opposed to "Sergio Leone: Something to do with Death", there are the following two photos: Leone with Hill during the Saloon scene which supports what Neil Summers says; Leone with Fonda and Hill during the stand against the Wild Bunch.
Regarding the Barber's Shop scene, note the following remark by Valerii in his interview at http://www.terencehill.it/int_tonval_en.html:
Finally, the first day of shooting the film arrived. Sergio Leone sent me a beautiful telegram, "I'm sure you'll make a beautiful film" And we were off. In the morning, after 5 hours in the car, we got there. Henry Fonda was already made up, and we had made a barber shop with a net: that was thanks to our wonderful set designer. It was really just a ruin, and he didn't do anything very complicated, but took an old fishing net that he found, extended it and it was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen done by a set designer. Otherwise there was nothing, and we added a chair and the other things.
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The picture of Leone and Fonda is in Something to Do With Death too.
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This may have been debated before (I've read the arguments for "Colossus") but how about giving "My Name is Nobody" its own main header on the front page of the web board?
I think a good case could be made.
Or alternatively how about a separate section for films Leone was known to have directed scenes in: "Nobody", "Genius" and "Cemetery Without Crosses"?
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Yeah, I think it has been suggested before. It's kinda funny since this sub-board was originally meant for those films, I think. "If it's not list above, this is the spot. Discuss all other Leone related films here." Maybe this could be renamed "Other Western Movies" and a new board called "Other Leone Related Movies" (or something) could be created. But I have no huge problem with the current arrangement.
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Yes, that's exactly what I was thinking. Your casual Sergio Leone fan will have no idea about Leone's involvement in such things and the web board does little to help inform them.
Perhaps also included could be films which Leone had a cameo in like "The Bicycle Thief".
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I have copied the following posts from the Western Books thread to this thread, where they belong to:
Have had a bit of free time recently (as exemplified by my numerous postings which will decline again in number soon) and have been reconsidering this topic. This is particularly due to Simsolo's comments in his interview regarding other authors putting Leone in a bad light.
Leone's words in Simsolo's book are "J'ai mis en scène le début, la bataille et le duel final." Notably he uses the verb "mettre (en scène)" here rather than "tourner" which he uses regarding the introductory scene of "Genius": "j'ai tourné le prégénérique où l'on voit l'attaque des faux Indiens".
Now I need Noodles_Leone's help here regarding my interpretation of the French but I am thinking that the photographic evidence of Leone helping Valerii with the battle and the final duel is solid support of this "mise en scène" but this does not necessarily imply to whom the verb "tourner", regarding the camera, can be applied and when. Consequently, I think that Leone must have been breathing very heavily down Valerii's neck during the introductory sequence (particularly due to it being a send up of OUATIW) which would allow him to classify himself as having done most of the "mise en scène". This does not, however, necessarily mean he was ever behind the camera.
So no, I do not think Leone was lying but I think his statement is easily open to misinterpretation.
I am watching the barber's shop scene right now. I know Jenkins wants me to elaborate here too, but I'm not sure how to express it. I may well be fooling myself into believing I can see something which I cannot, but I really do not find it to look like a Leone directed scene. The camera just doesn't seem to me to move in the way it does when Leone is at the helm. I am, of course, quite possibly wrong in all of this but like to think I'm not :).
I don't think so.
At least Valerii never did a scene in his 4 previous westerns which was half as good as the Nobody opening scene. Compare his lousy 1972 SW A Reason to Live, a Reason to Die (also written by Gastaldi) with Nobody, and you know who was responsible for MNIN's qualities.
Valerii was only an average director, and his 2 better westerns are as good as their screenplays.
Dubbing James Coburn into English in the full length version of "A Reason to Live, a Reason to Die" is absolutely ridiculous. I didn't finish the movie cos I just couldn't take it! I'd need to watch it again to give it a fair shot but I certainly wasn't enjoying it enough to ignore the dubbing.
What about "The Price of Power"? I've always quite enjoyed that one. Plus it has an excellent score which isn't Morricone's for once! I think the man who directed that could easily have directed the barber's shop scene. Valerri also has some nice touches elsewhere: How about the horseback duel in "Day of Anger"?
Both are good SW, but also are far from being great or original. Both would have needed a better director to become really interesting. Valerii was at best only a routine copyist of Leone's style, a copyist who lacks a deeper inspiration.
The barber shop scene, and many, many more scenes in MNIN, have an atmospheric and visual beauty I couldn't find in any of Valerii's previous westerns, which all look rather flat.
MNIN has some conceptual problems, mainly in the integration of the comedy elements to the melancholic twilight western themes, but the directing is mostly superb. There are only a few less inspired looking shots.
How did Valerii come to this superior style after an astonishingly unstylish western he made just before? And how did he manage to loose this class again shortly thereafter by making such a lousy film like Sahara Cross?
My only explanation: Valerii was in the directing chair for most of the film, but Leone was the creative force behind him. Just like he originally planned it to do for Giu la testa. Ask Peter Bogdanovich.
But I will rewatch the barber shop scene one of the next days.
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Ok i have rewatched it, and several scenes more, as they are all a pleasure to watch.
The first scene is shot from a low angle with a tele lens and the sharpness wanders from the foreground (the lying dog) to the background where the 3 riders are approaching until they are finally stopping big in the foreground.
Well, that's a way of beginning a film which is clearly Leone for me. Anything in the following scene is pure Leone from the framings, the acting, the soundtrack, the amplified noises, the interiors, the costumes, the general atmosphere to the character of the cranky oldtimer who delivers the telegram. If this wasn't made by or in the responsibility of Leone, than it was the best copy of a Leone scene I have seen in any SW.
There is another shot of Fonda leaving a ferry and riding up a small hill from which he first spots Nobody. A rather unspectacular scene, but it's done with a feeling for the western I even find not too often in American westerns. Leone was absolutely capable to deliver such shots, as was Corbucci in his best films.
But I have never seen anything similar beautiful in any of Valerii's films I have watched.
And MNIN is full of such high quality scenes, absolutely spectacular material. We haven't talked yet about all the other highlights of this film.
(Even most of the pure comedy scenes are done in this style. These comedy scenes are better directed than their equivalents in the Trinity films. And Clucher was a good, but not a great director, more interested in the comedy aspects than in the framing of his images.)
I would even say that in MNIN is more Leone than in Giu la testa.
I would like to make me a private copy, to cut out some of the pure comedy moments which are a bit in odds with the rest of the film. A few moments which are not part of the story, in which there is only slapstick for slapstick reasons. Only about 1 or 2 min, but I think it would improve the film a lot.
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If this wasn't made by or in the responsibility of Leone, than it was the best copy of a Leone scene I have seen in any SW.
Agreed that Leone was definitely extremely influential.
(Even most of the pure comedy scenes are done in this style. These comedy scenes are better directed than their equivalents in the Trinity films. And Clucher was a good, but not a great director, more interested in the comedy aspects than in the framing of his images.)
Yes, even if you don't like the slapstick stuff, several of the scenes are extremely well shot.
I would even say that in MNIN is more Leone than in Giu la testa.
Can't say I'd agree with that.
I would like to make me a private copy, to cut out some of the pure comedy moments which are a bit in odds with the rest of the film. A few moments which are not part of the story, in which there is only slapstick for slapstick reasons. Only about 1 or 2 min, but I think it would improve the film a lot.
I like the shooting of the scenes with Hill in the fairground and the saloon sequence. The content/story is less good, in particular I don't really like the following: the face slapping in the saloon; the hall of mirrors; the spinning dummy.
I do however love the pissing scene which many, Valerii included, appear to dislike. I think it is brilliantly done!
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The following scenes/pieces could be cut out for my pleasure:
1. Nobody drawing in fast motion with the saddle on his shoulder
2. The cake throwing scene at the fair
3. From the saloon shooting contest only the fast motion slapping
4. Most parts of the spinning dummy scene
Some of this parts could be easily cut out (#2 and #3), but the others had to match with the continuity. But it would be possible to do.
I also like the urinal scene, as it is a nice parody on a typical Leone shoot out, but I also like the mirror hall scene.
An interesting aspect of the German version is that the letter at the end is much, much shorter than in the English version. In the English version it's a rather pretentious interpretation/summary of all we have seen before, while in the German version the letter has a more lyrical aspect. Also Fonda's off screen dialogue memories when he faces the wild bunch are much more shorter and therefore more subtle in the German version. E.G. when you see the "direct to the history book" stills there is no repeating of the "you'll end in history" lines, which is in the English version an all to clear doubling of what we already see.
Don't know how the Italian version is.
Is there an Italian version with English dubtitles?
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An interesting aspect of the German version is that the letter at the end is much, much shorter than in the English version. In the English version it's a rather pretentious interpretation/summary of all we have seen before, while in the German version the letter has a more lyrical aspect.
Well? Give us a transcription/translation. It's mean to dangle this over our heads and then put it away.
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It's only much shorter, maybe half as long, maybe only a third.
It also has some of these "explaining" parts, but not so damn much of them, it's not so obtrusive. Not all of this "the country ain't the same" garbage. As a result it's quite beautiful, whereas the English version is a bit pesky, kills the atmosphere partly.
Same goes for the Fonda versus the bunch scene.
It sounds like they had the usual (not unfounded) reservations about the audience having problems to understand what it all is about. But it's simply too much.
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Entrevista a Sergio Leone (http://www.monadas.net/andres_caicedo/leone/sleone9.htm): Originally posted here (http://www.fistful-of-leone.com/forums/index.php?topic=2505.0) by Jordan Krug. In addition to the section translated by Titoli previously in this topic (included here slightly modified), here's the following:
Caicedo: Good, let's talk about My Name is Nobody, the film that is being made now in New Orleans. You say that you are only producing...
Leone: Yes, Tonino Valerii is directing it.
Caicedo: But you are directing the actors and maybe doing the (set-)planning. How is that?
Leone: Only for now, only for a week. Given that the film finishes with a particular extravagance, I have come to control the final. They have done it alone the five weeks before and they will do it alone in the week remaining.
Caicedo: Do you like the film?
Leone: I still haven't seen much of what has been done
Caicedo: But you feel responsibility towards the script?
Leone: Yes because it is a funny film, with humor. It it not a film like mine, we proceed, but it has something of extravagance inside that seems like me.
Caicedo: Does it have anything to do with the "Trinity" films?
Leone: No, never... nothing. "They Call Me Trinity" is the most ugly film in the world for me. What I have liked about this film that we are doing is to take a character like Trinity and confront him with a character from reality, like Fonda. It is a very particular film. It could be a catastrophe, like a great exit.
Caicedo: Yes, it surprised me that Henry Fonda would work next to Terence Hill. Is it a costly production?
Leone: Yes, very. Three million dollars.
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Out of the scenes you mention Leone was only responsible for the direction of the Wild Bunch battle , the urinal scene,the carnival and saloon scenes in Cheyenne City...
The other scenes you mention were all directed by Valerii on the other side of the Atlantic .The opening barber shop scene was filmed in the New Mexican town of Cabezon,the Navajo Graveyayrd scene at San Esteban Del Ray Mission in New Mexico and the final duel between Nobody and Beauregard was filmed in Royal Street in New Orlean.
Yes, Leone turned up in America well into the shooting schedule as suggested by the Spanish interview above and the interview with Valerii that I posted earlier.
However, I would note that Leone and Valerii seem to have worked jointly on the Wild Bunch scene and the Final Duel.
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Yeah, I think it has been suggested before. It's kinda funny since this sub-board was originally meant for those films, I think. "If it's not list above, this is the spot. Discuss all other Leone related films here." Maybe this could be renamed "Other Western Movies" and a new board called "Other Leone Related Movies" (or something) could be created. But I have no huge problem with the current arrangement.
Ok just found the old thread for this: http://www.fistful-of-leone.com/forums/index.php?topic=6431.0
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A very rough translation of some Leone-pertinent French subtitles to Valerii's Italian commentary track on the French MNIN DVD (based purely on the translated French text and not the original Italian audio which I have not heard):
Sergio Leone produced it and me, I directed it.
Once in Spain, Leone fired Nannuzzi - it was not me who fired him but Leone - and hired Ruzzolini. He had already been his cameraman… One can say that Ruzzolini did the village and the interiors filmed in Italy and in Spain.
Here is the scene with dwarf [on stilts].. It is a sequence filmed by Ruzzolini… We were already in Spain… After this shot, there is a sequence directed by Leone… While Leone directed the scene with the [shattering] glasses, me, I directed this [hall of mirrors] one. We were right across from each other.
Baragli has never been my editor. He was Leone’s editor. Mine was Franco Fraticelli. They were like brothers but they edited very differently.
The man descends the train and heads towards the public toilets. Terence Hill arrives. He sees him enter the toilets. He should get off the horse, board the train and leave… However it is a long scene about which one doesn’t understand the point. [Leone had the idea of adding this scene] when we were in Almeria, in Guadix…. No we were in Calahorra. It was towards the end of the filming. One day he arrived and [said]: “You have already filmed the WC scene? I would like to do it.” I found it really banal. I said: “Do it, I’ll do something else.” And here is the result, it’s incredible! I cannot understand it. Once it had been filmed, at the editing I said: “We’ll cut it Sergio. Moreover, we will know that it is you who has filmed it. I will be the first to say. I don’t want to have anything to do with this scene.”
While Sergio filmed the saloon sequence, I filmed this. It is superb when he gives a drink to the horse… The charge of the Wild bunch, this one, it is me who filmed it. One day I was absent to have an ear exam and Leone filmed some shots but not the entire scene. But it is what one says. One also hears that Leone filmed the entire film! He pretended to have done the whole part of the Indian Cemetery. He wasn’t even in America! He only came for the last 5 days. If you listen to all that’s said, one finds the same scene in my first film. When the bridge explodes and the guy jumps. There is the same scene. Leone even managed to extend this scene which a priori could not be. The train advances, he backs away… we see the horse once, twice… It is a to-and-fro of horses and trains! So the scene is so simple from the beginning. The train arrives, Beauregard puts on his glasses, the bunch appears and he opens fire. It was simply that. It is exactly what I had begun to do. He did all the rest in one and a half days. I had catarrhal otitis. It made me dizzy. Things like this happen. I ask myself why one makes such a big deal about the three scenes that Leone filmed in my film when no one cares that Franco Giraldi filmed half of ‘A Fistful of Dollars.’ Half of the film, it is Giraldi. The massacre of Rio Bravo, it is Giraldi. The night at the Baxters’ and the killing of all the family, it is Giraldi. The cemetery scenes, the comings and goings, the burying of the bodies, it’s Giraldi. Leone did not spend a single day in Almeria. When I did the location scouting for ‘For a Few Dollars More’ he had never seen Almeria. Giraldi filmed half of his film. No-one remembers it.
[Edit - reduced to only most pertinent comments]
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There is a commentary by Valerii on the DVD?? How come i never noticed that? My parents have this DVD!
Very interesting stuff. Thanks a lot for the work!! It confirms a lot of things I think about Leone... However, the guy is of course to harsh with Leone: yes, Leone worked with very talented guys, and that's part of his genius. Yes, Leone may have said something stupid about editing once, but everybody experiences this kind of moments, we all say something very stupid about something we fully understand usually, that doesn't mean that we don't understand editing and will never understand editing. I'm sure Leone didn't shoot to many scenes of My Name Is Nobody, and that he was a bastard with his co-workers, but you cannot deny the fact he is a genius.
By the way, the scene in the WC is great :P
Do you think he's talking about Noel Simsolo? (the guy he wants to slap)
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There is a commentary by Valerii on the DVD?? How come i never noticed that? My parents have this DVD!
Well I don't actually own the French disc but was given a copy of the subtitle track to translate.
Very interesting stuff. Thanks a lot for the work!!
My pleasure. Was a bit rushed actually as you can tell by the rather literal turns-of-phrase, but I think it should be accurate.
It confirms a lot of things I think about Leone... However, the guy is of course to harsh with Leone: yes, Leone worked with very talented guys, and that's part of his genius. Yes, Leone may have said something stupid about editing once, but everybody experiences this kind of moments, we all say something very stupid about something we fully understand usually, that doesn't mean that we don't understand editing and will never understand editing. I'm sure Leone didn't shoot to many scenes of My Name Is Nobody, and that he was a bastard with his co-workers, but you cannot deny the fact he is a genius.
Yes, Valerii is clearly very bitter.
By the way, the scene in the WC is great :P
Yes, it is extremely well filmed.
Do you think he's talking about Noel Simsolo? (the guy he wants to slap)
Yes, quite possibly!
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Thanks. Had already mentioned this briefly here but without the full context:
Have had a bit of free time recently (as exemplified by my numerous postings which will decline again in number soon) and have been reconsidering this topic. This is particularly due to Simsolo's comments in his interview regarding other authors putting Leone in a bad light.
Leone's words in Simsolo's book are "J'ai mis en scène le début, la bataille et le duel final." Notably he uses the verb "mettre (en scène)" here rather than "tourner" which he uses regarding the introductory scene of "Genius": "j'ai tourné le prégénérique où l'on voit l'attaque des faux Indiens".
Now I need Noodles_Leone's help here regarding my interpretation of the French but I am thinking that the photographic evidence of Leone helping Valerii with the battle and the final duel is solid support of this "mise en scène" but this does not necessarily imply to whom the verb "tourner", regarding the camera, can be applied and when. Consequently, I think that Leone must have been breathing very heavily down Valerii's neck during the introductory sequence (particularly due to it being a send up of OUATIW) which would allow him to classify himself as having done most of the "mise en scène". This does not, however, necessarily mean he was ever behind the camera.
So no, I do not think Leone was lying but I think his statement is easily open to misinterpretation.
I am watching the barber's shop scene right now. I know Jenkins wants me to elaborate here too, but I'm not sure how to express it. I may well be fooling myself into believing I can see something which I cannot, but I really do not find it to look like a Leone directed scene. The camera just doesn't seem to me to move in the way it does when Leone is at the helm. I am, of course, quite possibly wrong in all of this but like to think I'm not :).
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There is a quote from a German book in which Leone says about the Peckinpah grave:
"If we bury someone here (in Italy), we lengthen his life"
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I think the main reason why Valerii reacts that way is because at sometime those awful
rumours started that he didn't direct the film at all. I guess if the say was that it was 'a collaboration'
or words to that effect, he would agree. After all one can't expect to make a 'Sergio Leone' production
without interference by Leone.
Circumstances forced Valerii to let Leone direct some scenes and other smart film makers stated
years before 'don't let a famous director on your set give one single direction - later everybody
will say the he and not you directed the whole film'.
I think Valerii did a great job, being smart and inspired by the great project - his other films
can't touch NOBODY I think. Although the two Gemma's are quite good... The one with Coburn
is a lame duck.
Leone was present during more scenes than certain people state, I have photos with him and
Fonda during the train sequence, Leone in New Orleans (duel scene) and maybe more. Have to check.
All directors are control freaks, with such a big and important production, Leone wouldn't stay home,
would he?
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Yeah, I've arguments with dopes on IMDB that Leone directed MNIN and that it's a "Leone film", which seems blatantly false. It doesn't really look or feel like a Leone film so much as a parody of/homage to one; clear enough that Valerii directed it. Don't mean any insult to him, mind.
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Yeah, I've arguments with dopes on IMDB that Leone directed MNIN and that it's a "Leone film", which seems blatantly false. It doesn't really look or feel like a Leone film so much as a parody of/homage to one; clear enough that Valerii directed it.
Huh? Is it really like Valerii's other pictures? Seems to me the proper conclusion is that this film is a collaboration between Leone and Vallerii, which is why it seems unlike their other pictures but also contains stylistic elements that we recognize. Again, this is a controversy based on semantics, with people hung up on the notion that director=auteur. Not by a long shot, folks.
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Huh? Is it really like Valerii's other pictures?
It's much more in line with Valerii's work than Leone's stylistically. The incorporation of parodic elements and the fact that Leone may have co-directed some sequences shed some doubt, but it doesn't look, seem or feel like a Leone film for most of the duration.
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Valerii's positive comments on Jean Martin (RIP) are pretty interesting to me, since Gillo Pontecorvo called him a very arrogant and "difficult" actor to work with. Perhaps Martin just worked better with Valerii (or the "lighter" subject matter)?
Leone's comments on the Trinity films seem like sour grapes if you ask me. Not that what he says is wholly invalid, mind you.
Anyway, keep up the great work. O0
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I assume the "video clips" is referring to music videos?
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I assume the "video clips" is referring to music videos?
You got it.
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Do you think he's talking about Noel Simsolo? (the guy he wants to slap)
It might be Oreste De Fornari
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Photos apparently from the documentary included with the CVC 2001 rerelease of "Giu la Testa":
http://forum.westernmovies.fr/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=5786
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Photos from Roberto Curti's 2008 biography of Valerii:
http://www.clipscorner.net/cinema/tonino-valerii-il-mio-nome-nessuno-di-roberto-curti.html
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Italian interview (http://www.clipscorner.net/cinema/intervista-a-tonino-valerii-e-roberto-curti.html) with Roberto Curti and Tonino Valerii
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Huh? Is it really like Valerii's other pictures?
After seeing Day of Anger recently (my third Valerii), I will say that Nobody seems VERY much in tune with his other SWs, aside from the broadly comic elements which were supposedly Leone's primary contribution). I don't think MNIN is even his best film of the three I've seen (that would be Price of Power).
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Can't agree here.
Especially after rewatching all 4 westerns Valerii made before Nobody there is nothing to find of the stylish brilliance of MNIN.
In fact despite being inconsistent MNIN is mostly one of the best directed western I have ever seen. Even the comedy scenes are mostly stylishly done. Hard to believe that Valerii, who made just in the year before Nobody a surprisingly bad western (A Reason to Live, a Reason to Die) and after Nobody another turkey with Sahara Cross, should be responsible for all this great scenes. Possible of course, but not very likely.
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I don't disagree that Leone had some direct influence on Valerii here (it would be hard to believe he didn't) but neither does it follow that the film is particularly good.
But then, we're having this basic discussion on two different threads. :D
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After seeing Day of Anger recently (my third Valerii), I will say that Nobody seems VERY much in tune with his other SWs, aside from the broadly comic elements which were supposedly Leone's primary contribution). I don't think MNIN is even his best film of the three I've seen (that would be Price of Power).
Well I think MNIN does have some great scenes. However, I'm certainly with you when it comes to Price of Power over Day of Anger.
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Saw this vaguely interesting article in the Washington Post yesterday which made me think of this discussion:
Are Directors Overrated? (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/11/AR2009121100027.html?sub=AR)
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There's a guy over at the SWDB forum asking about a 130 minute version of this. Everyone there has said it must be a mistake (117 is the generally stated length), but has anyone ever heard anything about this?
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Full review. I renege on a few points but stand firm on others.
My Name is Nobody (1971) is a bizarre, uneven little comedy Western. Produced by Sergio Leone but directed by Tonino Valerii (Day of Anger), it's a not-entirely successful spoof of Leone's own films, with some interesting material crowded out by excess goofiness.
Aging gunfighter Jack Beauregard (Henry Fonda) wants to retire and move to Europe, hoping to escape his reputation. Unfortunately, Beauregard runs into trouble when his brother (Leo Gordon) is gunned down by henchmen of crooked businessman Sullivan (Jean Martin), who is operating a phony mine for the Wild Bunch, a huge outlaw gang. Things are complicated further when a stranger calling himself Nobody (Terence Hill) shows up, goading Beauregard into an epic showdown with the Wild Bunch.
My Name is Nobody has plenty of material on offer for dissection and analysis. Leone and Valerii cheekily send-up their own Spaghetti Westerns and their American counterparts. It's hard not to consider Nobody, the cocksure youngster who worships Jack's legend, as an avatar for Leone and his peers' adoration and emulation of classic American Westerns, and casting Henry Fonda as Jack certainly helps this interpretation. Innumerable Western homages litter the film, from Nobody's Magnificent Seven-inspired fishing trick to Sam Peckinpah's name turning up on a tombstone, while the film re-stages entire scenes from earlier Leone films - a lengthy opening spoof of Once Upon a Time in the West, the hat-shooting from For a Few Dollars More. The movie's funniest gag has a photographer "directing" the climactic duel while peering through a camera lens.
Unfortunately, on its own merits My Name is Nobody is problematic. The film schizophrenically shifts between off-the-wall, Three Stooges slapstick and reflective melancholy. Besides the usual end of the West stuff, we get a story that lurches from scene to scene with little flow or drive. The Wild Bunch subplot and Beauregard's vendetta are badly handled, while Nobody's clowning takes up far too much of the film. It seems like a serious Spaghetti Western mixed with a goofy spoof, and the two halves don't properly mesh. Perhaps this is intentional - the American Jack and the Italian Nobody inhabit two different worlds, after all - but it's not very satisfying. Moment to moment Nobody is amusing, but it doesn't amount to much of a whole.
Exactly who was in charge of the film - Leone, the domineering, first-time producer, or Valerii, a veteran director in his own right - is in dispute, with sources claiming Leone directed a few scenes or virtually all of it. Regardless, Nobody is a well-shot film, with lots of expensive-looking sets and locations, and creative set-pieces - especially the self-parodic opening and a creative carnival gunfight. Ennio Morricone's quirky score is arguably the film's highpoint, sending up his own work: the bouncy, laid-back Main Title, the duel music aping Once Upon a Time in the West's Harmonica theme, and of course, the Wild Bunch's theme with Ride of the Valkyries blaring on car horns and ocarina.
Terence Hill (March or Die) plays a variation on his lovable scamp from They Call Me Trinity. His gags are hit-and-miss but Hill's laid-back, effortless charm easily wins over the audience. Henry Fonda coasts through his part, and one figures he's paying Leone back for his great villain in Once Upon a Time in the West. Jean Martin (The Battle of Algiers) is oddly cast as a colorless villain. Supporting roles are an interesting mix of Spaghetti Western favorites like Mario Brega (Death Rides a Horse) and Antoine Saint-John (Duck, You Sucker!), and American actors Geoffrey Lewis (Dillinger), Neil Summers (The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean), R.G. Armstrong (Ride the High Country) and Steve Kanaly (The Wind and the Lion).
Ultimately, how much you like My Name is Nobody is dependent on how much you like cartoon slapstick and wackiness. There's enough action and grace notes - and a kick-ass musical score - to keep others interested, but overall it's rather underwhelming. 6/10
http://nothingiswrittenfilm.blogspot.com/2010/11/my-name-is-nobody.html (http://nothingiswrittenfilm.blogspot.com/2010/11/my-name-is-nobody.html)
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Moment to moment Nobody is amusing, but it doesn't amount to much of a whole.
You make that sound as if it's a BAD thing! :o
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6cSiJAhSBo&feature=fvst
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eSPKOACUqo
Great stuff!
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Two quotes from Chris Casey (who knows a lot of SW actors personally) about MNIN. One he made in the SWDB, the other one from a PM to me:
All I can contribute is what actor/stuntman, Neil Summers (who portrayed Squirrel) told me about his experiences working on the film. Neil swears that Leone directed absolutely all of the sequences he was in and that Valerii seemed to be "just hanging around", for the most part, when these scenes were shot.
Granted Neil was only in a few segments of the film; but, he said he stayed on while they were shooting in Spain--and he never saw anyone truly directing anything apart from Sergio Leone and the credited assistant director, Stefano Rolla.
And from the PM:
When I spoke to Neil Summers a few years ago, he told me that Sergio Leone directed all of his scenes for MY NAME IS NOBODY. He said he met Valerii, but that he had thought Valerii was Leone's Assistant Director on the film, at that time.
All else I can tell you would be of an indirect nature, such as the fact that the late Donald S. Bruce always used to tell us that when he spoke to Leo Gordon, RG Armstrong, Steve Kanaly, and Neil Summers they all told him that Leone directed all of the scenes of MY NAME IS NOBODY in which they appeared.
And I have never seen any behind-the-scenes footage for this film where Leone was not present. In most of those photos, he appears to be directing the cast, which in my mind pretty much makes him the director of the film.
However, no matter what we try to do..all of this remains supposition on our parts!
Try as we might, we may never know what really happened in the making of NOBODY!
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It's just as well. People tend to get very agitated when you challenge their religious beliefs.
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Well the Neil Summers stuff is nothing new of course, but the Leo Gordon, R. G. Armstong and Steve Kanaly comments are potentially huge! It's a real shame that the quotes aren't from them personally so can't be completely trusted.
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The photographers might know more.
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True although I don't put much weight to Chris Casey's comments regarding the behind the scenes photos. All the photos with Leone in are for scenes where Leone's participation is not in doubt (regardless of the photographic evidence) because Valerii has stated as such. It is only the extent of his participation that is questioned in these cases.
However, the scenes with Leo Gordon, R. G. Armstong and Steve Kanaly occur in the US early on in the shoot when Leone was not supposed to have been present. Or was he....
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True although I don't put much weight to Chris Casey's comments regarding the behind the scenes photos. All the photos with Leone in are for scenes where Leone's participation is not in doubt (regardless of the photographic evidence) because Valerii has stated as such. It is only the extent of his participation that is questioned in these cases.
However, the scenes with Leo Gordon, R. G. Armstong and Steve Kanaly occur in the US early on in the shoot when Leone was not supposed to have been present. Or was he....
Well, if that would be true, than Leone must have indeed shot a lot more than I thought. The scenes with Gordon and Armstrong do not belong to the ones which have the big "Leone print" on them, the opening scene with Kanaly breathes Leone in every moment.
In the end the scenes Leone mentioned are indeed the ones which look the most like Leone. But all in all nearly every shot in MNIN has more or less the Leone stamp on it.
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... which is why I doubt Leone was there for these scenes shot in the US for the first half of the movie. Otherwise he would literally have been present throughout the whole process as there is photographic evidence of him being there for the rest.
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The scenes with Gordon and Armstrong do not belong to the ones which have the big "Leone print" on them, the opening scene with Kanaly breathes Leone in every moment.
That's because it's a homage to, or possibly rather a spoof of, the beginning of OUATITW. Nothing more.
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For me it is much more than a homage, it is a scene which can easily be compared with the best Leone did in his previous films.
A brilliant scene for me. I can enjoy it in such a direct way that I can "feel" it, like hearing an overwhelming piece of music. A scene for body and mind.
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That's because it's a homage to, or possibly rather a spoof of, the beginning of OUATITW. Nothing more.
I agree with Frayling's sentiment that the opening feels like another director "doing" Leone. Which was probably the case. If Leone directed it himself, then Valerii's mediocrity must have rubbed off on him in the process.
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I agree with Frayling's sentiment that the opening feels like another director "doing" Leone. Which was probably the case. If Leone directed it himself, then Valerii's mediocrity must have rubbed off on him in the process.
Can't find this quote at the moment. In STDWD Frayling comes to the conclusion:
"The most likely scenario is that Leone helped out on the duel, then took charge on second-unit work on 'the battle' (in Almeria), as well as directing the opening scene and the carnival section of the film."
In Phil Hardy's western encyclopedia (1995) he names MNIN as one of the 10 best SWs apart from OuTW. And he does not name Fod and FaFDM. So he must have revised somehow his more negative attitude towards MNIN since he wrote his SW book in the early 80s.
Please, just check the opening scene again. This is really inspired filmmaking.
I have watched the Valerii SWs very closely. You don't find this way of shooting there, you don't find this "feeling" for composing a picture, you don't find any of the atmosphere there.
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I think the relationship between a director and a cinematographer needs to be clarified for this discussion to proceed.
Basically, some directors seem to be very visual and employ the cinematographer to make their very specific visions come true, others seem to have a general idea and then let the cinematographer decide on the specifics. That is why some films are obviously films by certain directors, some are obviously films shot by certain cinematographers, and some have the hallmarks of both the director and the cinematographer.
Leone seems to have been very visual. He seemed to know exactly what he wanted to see: how the camera should move; where the camera should be positioned; where he wanted the focus; what distance he wanted for a long shot and when he wanted to zoom; exactly the length of time each shot should take; how much light he wanted and where. He then had his cinematographers execute the complicated technical requirements to make this happen (and of course chime in when they had an opinion for a better approach). Consequently, when you watch a Leone film, you know you are watching a Leone film simply by what the camera is doing (editing of course adds another dimension).
An excellent way to exemplify this is by watching the fairground scene in MNIN from the point after when Hill shoots the stilts from under the dwarf to the saloon sequence with the shattering glasses. The way the scene is shot has Leone all over it. The same goes for the toilet scene starting from when Hill approaches the train with the gold being loaded on until when the train leaves. Another good example is in the film "Cemetery Without Crosses" where the dinner scene, shot by Leone, stands out very clearly from the rest of Hossein's film.
The above comments are not intended to make any value judgements regarding Leone's and Valerii's (or indeed Hossein's) respective abilities as directors, but rather just to say that Leone's specific vision when he was filming can be clearly discerned in his work.
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A funny detail.
It seems there are at least 2 more films for which the MNIN DOPs Ruzzolini and Nannunzi shared the credits. One is Pasoloini's Porcile (1969), which is also crdited to a 3rd DOP, and that is Tonino Delli Colli.
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Leone seems to have been very visual. He seemed to know exactly what he wanted to see: how the camera should move; where the camera should be positioned; where he wanted the focus; what distance he wanted for a long shot and when he wanted to zoom; exactly the length of time each shot should take; how much light he wanted and where. He then had his cinematographers execute the complicated technical requirements to make this happen (and of course chime in when they had an opinion for a better approach). Consequently, when you watch a Leone film, you know you are watching a Leone film simply by what the camera is doing (editing of course adds another dimension).
An excellent way to exemplify this is by watching the fairground scene in MNIN from the point after when Hill shoots the stilts from under the dwarf to the saloon sequence with the shattering glasses. The way the scene is shot has Leone all over it. The same goes for the toilet scene starting from when Hill approaches the train with the gold being loaded on until when the train leaves. Another good example is in the film "Cemetery Without Crosses" where the dinner scene, shot by Leone, stands out very clearly from the rest of Hossein's film.
As I remember you don't see this for the opening scene.
Well, I see it. And I see the Leone style of directing in most of MNIN.
I'm still interested which parts of the opening scene don't look like Leone in your opinion.
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A funny detail.
It seems there are at least 2 more films for which the MNIN DOPs Ruzzolini and Nannunzi shared the credits. One is Pasoloini's Porcile (1969), which is also crdited to a 3rd DOP, and that is Tonino Delli Colli.
Oooh, interesting.
As I remember you don't see this for the opening scene.
Well, I see it. And I see the Leone style of directing in most of MNIN.
I'm still interested which parts of the opening scene don't look like Leone in your opinion.
I guess we're never going to agree on this until we get some solid evidence either way ;D . It all becomes extremely subjective otherwise.
How about this: Valerii under very strict word-for-word instructions follows Leone's copiously written directions to the word for the opening scene?
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I have a solution...
Valerii says the following in De Fornari on page 158: "The 9 weeks of shooting in the US went as smooth as silk if you ignore some friction between me and the cameraman, Nannuzzi, who tried to influence the directing without having the ability".
It seems to me that Leone gave Nannuzzi explicit instructions on how he wanted the beginning scene (which was the first to be done) shot. This then explains why Leone was then able to later claim, albeit tenuously, that he had a hand in the directing of this scene in spite of not actually being there.
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Of course, that's possible. Maybe very likely.
But as Leone claimed the first scene for himself and also the other 2 of the most Leonish scenes of the film, and as we have no other evidence than contradictory statements, we cannot easily neglect what Leone has said. Nor was Valerii has said.
It is of course possible (likely) that Leone laid down the whole film the same way like Alan Moore writes his comic scripts in which every detail, every site, every perspective etc is preassigned. which makes it again clearly a Leone film, regardless of whoever shot the actual scenes.
There must be also something on the French disc that Leone and Gastaldi worked on the screenplay for several months. That they read the dialogues to other people and checked their reactions so long until Leone was pleased. And that only after the screenplay was ready Leone searched for a director and tested 32 people amongst them Corbucci and uhh Pasolini (hard to believe).
And Gastaldi has said that MNIN was his only screenplay which was exactly filmed as it was written.
My main point is still that I cannot believe that Valerii is responsible for the high quality directing of MNIN.
Believe me, I wouldn't have any problems if Valerii was the creative force behind Nobody (in the end is the film itself what counts not who made it), but it is not very likely after all I have read, and especially after what I actually see on the screen.
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I suppose Leone's claims can't be dismissed out of hand, but given his record of embellishing the truth (self-promotion if one is uncharitable), I wouldn't take his word as definitive either.
Novecento's comments are very interesting in this regard. I'd argue this was similar to the Leone-Bogdanovich situation on DYS - Leone forcing himself on a hand-picked director. On the other hand, I have to assume Valerii (a seasoned director in his own right, if not in Leone's league artistically) was given enough control over the film for him not to raise a stink about it. Sergio wasn't exactly subtle.
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Some relevant sections from a Terence Hill interview here: http://www.terencehill.it/news_intervistaperugia_en.html
Well, I should first answer the question concerning "Nobody". My Name is Nobody came after the two Trinity films and was conceived of and created by Sergio Leone because when the second Trinity came out, he admired this film very much but he did not expect it to have much box office success. He was surprised however, when the film came out at the same time as A Fistful of Dynamite / Duck, You Sucker with Charles Bronson and James Coburn and we did better than they did. At that point in time, Leone had decided to stop making westerns, but he was still in love with the genre, so he conceived of a film that was like his own story and how he wanted the western to end. I came to understand this during many visits with him, and that he identified with the Henry Fonda character, who was confronted with a new character who was portrayed by me. The character was a bit like the hippy of that era, don't you think? He slept, lazed around, reacted only when provoked, had no worries and lived day to day with great joy. So Leone wanted to make one last western and it was a very premeditated western, done with great care and professionalism. Three scripts were written but Sergio liked none of them, the last one having been inspired by Homer's The Odyssey, but even that one did not work. But Sergio wanted to keep the name Nobody which is why it was called My Name is Nobody. Everyone asks me if the film is by Sergio or by Tonino. I don't want to answer this question out of tactfulness, however I can say that it was Sergio Leone's baby because he had wanted it so badly. I didn't know him at the time but he came to me and said: "I want to make a film with you, on a large set, with more financial backing, more serious, with more meaning, epochal". He really liked epics. Tonino Valerii was his assistant director so there was, you could say, a lot control coming from him. Sergio Leone, whom we all love, saw his moment in that film, and said he wanted to leave the western but wanted to leave a story like Nobody to remain in film history, "Jack Beauregard" pitted against the Wild Bunch.
es, I'm very attached to "Trinity" and to "Nobody". "Trinity" because his was a portrayal that came totally spontaneously, unconsciously. "Nobody" was instead a performance that was very studied. For the journalists here who are interested in cinema, I'd like to provide an example of what I mean. Sergio Leone wanted his films to be epic films. I had become something of a favourite of his, so he would take me to see his films when they were showing, and he told me that Charles Bronson's character in Once Upon a Time in the West / There Was Once the West, was made to always enter the scene from right to left. He wanted to visually develop this hero in that way, to have him arrive at the climactic moment to confront the bad guy, in this case, Henry Fonda. In the final duel, you can see that as Henry Fonda is walking in a circle, the background is turning too. Leone said to me: "Do you know how I did that?" And I said: "No, I don't know. How did you do that?" "I put him on a platform and made the platform turn together with the camera". Then when Charles Bronson enters the scene to confront the bad guy, he has him enter from right to left, which he explained later to me the reason why, and I remember I jumped up in my seat because the music composed by Ennio Morricone had been developing throughout the whole movie, and when the crescendo came, he (ed. Bronson) entered the scene, and the emotions aroused were incredibly strong. Sergio Leone worked on the unconscious of the audience to achieve this effect. And for My Name is Nobody, he told me: "You know what I'm going to do with you? I'm going to have Nobody enter the scene from bottom to top." That's why the first time you see him he's coming out of the water, which is actually a mythological reference. He created the emotional reactions in the audience, unconsciously, directing those emotions all the way to the climax of the story, in which by then the audience is clearly involved, continually playing with the strings of the archetypal characters. It's also for those reasons that I'm attached to My Name is Nobody, As a character, "Nobody" is very spontaneous and very direct, but supporting him is much that is well thought out and studied.
Here we are, this answer may satisfy the journalist who asked about My Name is Nobody. Tonino Valerii was a student of Sergio Leone. Damiano Damiani, however, was an independent auteur, so the films that he made, were not made following in the footsteps of Sergio, in that style, which I think was a mistake. Westerns have a certain style; they have to have a certain rhythm; they have to have certain shots and set-ups which can't be improvised. But okay, I'm not going to say any more!
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Some relevant sections from a Terence Hill interview here: http://www.terencehill.it/news_intervistaperugia_en.html
Well, I should first answer the question concerning "Nobody". My Name is Nobody came after the two Trinity films and was conceived of and created by Sergio Leone because when the second Trinity came out, he admired this film very much but he did not expect it to have much box office success. He was surprised however, when the film came out at the same time as A Fistful of Dynamite / Duck, You Sucker with Charles Bronson and James Coburn and we did better than they did. At that point in time, Leone had decided to stop making westerns, but he was still in love with the genre, so he conceived of a film that was like his own story and how he wanted the western to end. I came to understand this during many visits with him, and that he identified with the Henry Fonda character, who was confronted with a new character who was portrayed by me. The character was a bit like the hippy of that era, don't you think? He slept, lazed around, reacted only when provoked, had no worries and lived day to day with great joy. So Leone wanted to make one last western and it was a very premeditated western, done with great care and professionalism. Three scripts were written but Sergio liked none of them, the last one having been inspired by Homer's The Odyssey, but even that one did not work. But Sergio wanted to keep the name Nobody which is why it was called My Name is Nobody. Everyone asks me if the film is by Sergio or by Tonino. I don't want to answer this question out of tactfulness, however I can say that it was Sergio Leone's baby because he had wanted it so badly. I didn't know him at the time but he came to me and said: "I want to make a film with you, on a large set, with more financial backing, more serious, with more meaning, epochal". He really liked epics. Tonino Valerii was his assistant director so there was, you could say, a lot control coming from him. Sergio Leone, whom we all love, saw his moment in that film, and said he wanted to leave the western but wanted to leave a story like Nobody to remain in film history, "Jack Beauregard" pitted against the Wild Bunch.
es, I'm very attached to "Trinity" and to "Nobody". "Trinity" because his was a portrayal that came totally spontaneously, unconsciously. "Nobody" was instead a performance that was very studied. For the journalists here who are interested in cinema, I'd like to provide an example of what I mean. Sergio Leone wanted his films to be epic films. I had become something of a favourite of his, so he would take me to see his films when they were showing, and he told me that Charles Bronson's character in Once Upon a Time in the West / There Was Once the West, was made to always enter the scene from right to left. He wanted to visually develop this hero in that way, to have him arrive at the climactic moment to confront the bad guy, in this case, Henry Fonda. In the final duel, you can see that as Henry Fonda is walking in a circle, the background is turning too. Leone said to me: "Do you know how I did that?" And I said: "No, I don't know. How did you do that?" "I put him on a platform and made the platform turn together with the camera". Then when Charles Bronson enters the scene to confront the bad guy, he has him enter from right to left, which he explained later to me the reason why, and I remember I jumped up in my seat because the music composed by Ennio Morricone had been developing throughout the whole movie, and when the crescendo came, he (ed. Bronson) entered the scene, and the emotions aroused were incredibly strong. Sergio Leone worked on the unconscious of the audience to achieve this effect. And for My Name is Nobody, he told me: "You know what I'm going to do with you? I'm going to have Nobody enter the scene from bottom to top." That's why the first time you see him he's coming out of the water, which is actually a mythological reference. He created the emotional reactions in the audience, unconsciously, directing those emotions all the way to the climax of the story, in which by then the audience is clearly involved, continually playing with the strings of the archetypal characters. It's also for those reasons that I'm attached to My Name is Nobody, As a character, "Nobody" is very spontaneous and very direct, but supporting him is much that is well thought out and studied.
Here we are, this answer may satisfy the journalist who asked about My Name is Nobody. Tonino Valerii was a student of Sergio Leone. Damiano Damiani, however, was an independent auteur, so the films that he made, were not made following in the footsteps of Sergio, in that style, which I think was a mistake. Westerns have a certain style; they have to have a certain rhythm; they have to have certain shots and set-ups which can't be improvised. But okay, I'm not going to say any more!
Outstanding. Thanks for posting this, Novecento.
Regarding Terence's last sentence, am I the only one who sees Leone's hand in the opening scene of Damiani's A Genius, Two Partners and a Dupe? If we accept as true the theory that Morricone's scores were far more elaborated in Leone's westerns than in most others, I find that the score in Damiani's film does pass that test.
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I thought Leone's participating in the opening of Genius was confirmed.
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I thought Leone's participating in the opening of Genius was confirmed.
So did I. Maybe I am misreading Terence Hill's statements?
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That Leone shot the first scene of A Genius was never questioned so far.
But it is not a very special scene. I think everybody else could have shot it who tries to imitate the Leone style. And it is not half as good as the first scene of MNIN. The rest of A Genius owes not much to the Leone style, except maybe for a few parodying elements. But it also far different from the typical Damianii film.
A Genius is closer to the Trinity films, and Leone should have hired Clucher instead of Damiani to make the film work.
I think what Hill wanted to say with the last sentence, and again by avoiding to make an unmistakable statement, is that Damaini was the director of A genius, while Valerii was only a subworker.
The soundtrack of A Genius is of course good, but maybe also a lesser one compared to MNIN.
I have just started re-watching A Genius (which is more a task than fun). I will check the film for style and soundtrack questions.
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Pics of Leone with Fonda during the OUATITW deleted barber's shop scene, and Valerii with Fonda during the MNIN barber's shop scene
(http://spaghettiwesterns.1g.fi/pics/nobody01.jpg)(http://spaghettiwesterns.1g.fi/pics/nobody02.jpg)
Both are from here http://spaghettiwesterns.1g.fi/pics.htm where they are both assumed to be from MNIN. There was a a debate about this issue here http://www.spaghetti-western.net/forum/index.php/topic,50.220.html
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Awesome. O0
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Interesting to see how the original idea for a barber's scene with Fonda in OUATITW seems to have found its way in to MNIN.
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French Blu-ray:
http://www.hdnumerique.com/actualite/articles/11155-mon-nom-est-personne-en-blu-ray-steelbook-le-18-septembre.html
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Yowza! Bring on the Region A disc!
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Wouldn't hold my breath judging by the quality of the previous R1 DVDs: http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/dvdcompare/nobody.htm
I hope this French BD has the Valerii commentary like the old French DVD.
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I still don't own this title on dvd. Looking at Beaver's options for the two R1 releases, looks like the picture quality on the Image version is far superior to the Wham version. So do I buy the Image one, or wait for the Blu Ray?
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I guess the BD will be region B locked?
I wouldn't touch anything but the German (reviewed by DVD Beaver) or French (http://www.ecranlarge.com/dvd_review-list-1265.php) R2 releases. I guess you're not multi-region even just on DVD then?
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I guess the BD will be region B locked?
I wouldn't touch anything but the German (reviewed by DVD Beaver) or French (http://www.ecranlarge.com/dvd_review-list-1265.php) R2 releases. I guess you're not multi-region even just on DVD then?
correct, I only have a R1 dvd player.
I meant I could wait for the Region A Blu Ray to be released. If the Region B is being released now, will the A be that far behind? (Or are the rights owned by totally different studios that have nothing to do with each other?)
I'm not in the biggest rush anyway. I have a Netflix account so I can rent virtually any dvd I want to. I rarely purchase dvd's; the few exceptions being Leone movies, plus a few other favorites that I like to have on hand for easy access. I figure that with my Netflix account and easy access to rentals, no point in buying many dvd's; I can rent anything I want. (Anyway, a great movie only remains great if you don't watch it more than once or twice a year ;)) So I guess I'll eventually get this title just for the sake of owning every Leone movie, but I'm not in the biggest rush. So I can wait for the BRd
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As I already said above regarding a region A release:
Wouldn't hold my breath judging by the quality of the previous R1 DVDs: http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/dvdcompare/nobody.htm
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So I guess I'll eventually get this title just for the sake of owning every Leone movie,
SW FANS WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmCL0gIhkLM&feature=related
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correct, I only have a R1 dvd player.
Have you tried searching for the unlocking codes online for your DVD player? You might be pleasantly surprised.
I unlocked my mother-in-law's R1 DVD player that way.
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There's also the issue of PAL to NTSC conversion.
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Good point. She has a Vizio TV that supports a PAL input in any case.
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I have an LG TV, a Samsung blu ray player. That wouldn't support PAL, would it?
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I have an LG TV, a Samsung blu ray player. That wouldn't support PAL, would it?
It depends on the models. Virtually all of today's TVs can reproduce a PAL signal, but most DVD Players in North America are set for Region 1 only. Many of those DVD players, however, can be "hacked" to make them "Region Free" by introducing a code with the remote control. I have a Philips BDP3406 Blu Ray player, cheap but and it plays anything you can imagine in any format: PAL, NTSC, MKV, AVI, you name it.
Check in Google if there is a hack for your particular DVD player. Just type the brand and model plus the word "hack" and see what you get. ;)
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It depends on the models. Virtually all of today's TVs can reproduce a PAL signal, but most DVD Players in North America are set for Region 1 only. Many of those DVD players, however, can be "hacked" to make them "Region Free" by introducing a code with the remote control. I have a Philips BDP3406 Blu Ray player, cheap but and it plays anything you can imagine in any format: PAL, NTSC, MKV, AVI, you name it.
Check in Google if there is a hack for your particular DVD player. Just type the brand and model plus the word "hack" and see what you get. ;)
can I do a one-time hack to get it to play everything? or would I have to keep switching back and forth between R1 and R2 every time I wanted to play one or the other? I'm not very technologically knowledgeable so I am hesitant to do anything that I couldn't easily reverse or that may screw me up. I never had a computer or other electronic shit as a kid, and seriously, to this day I get this Freudian anxiety at anything to do with electronics, even simplest things, like taking a new device out of the box and doing the basic set-up. I'm no spartan; I have a 32" LG HDTV, Samsung Blu Ray Player, and MacBook, and iPod with a touch screen.... But I still have this fear about goofing around with anything cuz I am worried I may not be able to get it back to how it was ;)
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Virtually all of today's TVs can reproduce a PAL signal...
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I was under the impression that TVs sold in PAL countries tend to support NTSC, but TVs sold in NTSC countries (or perhaps just North America?) do not tend to support PAL.
... but most DVD Players in North America are set for Region 1 only.
The region encoding is not the same as the PAL/NTSC encoding. For example Europe is (mostly?) R2 PAL while Japan is R2 NTSC.
Many of those DVD players, however, can be "hacked" to make them "Region Free" by introducing a code with the remote control. I have a Philips BDP3406 Blu Ray player, cheap but and it plays anything you can imagine in any format: PAL, NTSC, MKV, AVI, you name it.
Yes, but bear in mind the hacks only work for the numerical (1,2...) DVD region encoding. The alphabetic (A,B,C) BD encoding cannot be modified like this and requires a new chip set to be introduced. This is why multi-region BD players tend to be twice the price of their single region counterparts and sellers are much harder to find.
can I do a one-time hack to get it to play everything? or would I have to keep switching back and forth between R1 and R2 every time I wanted to play one or the other? I'm not very technologically knowledgeable so I am hesitant to do anything that I couldn't easily reverse or that may screw me up.
Multi-region DVD players can play any disc at any time. It is only multi-region BD players that require you to turn off and back on again for BD playback from different regions. This is related to my comment above regarding the different encoding used for DVD regions and BD regions.
Consequently don't worry about the DVD "hack" as it is not like hacking a BD player. The DVD hacks are just manufacturer codes that allow them to use the same piece of software globally and then lock them to a region. When I unlocked my mother-in-law's player, it just produced a screen asking what region I would like or would I like all regions (i.e. region "0")?
As for the PAL/NTSC issue, you will need to check if your DVD player can handle both (via a built-in PAL-NTSC converter) or if your TV can handle both in its basic set-up. If one can, then you should be fine. Search on the internet or contact your manufacturers to find this out. Sometimes it can vary from product to product even from the same manufacturers
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well if I can obtain 95% of all movies in R1/A (or region-free) reasonably well and with decent enough quality, it ain't worth it for me to go through all this hassle, for the handful of movies that maybe are better in Region 2/B. Is there really a significant number of dvd's/blu ray's that are better in Regions 2/B, with English audio? (I won't sacrifice English audio just to get better picture or sound quality). I'm only gonna think about making this switch if I can be sure that there are a significant number of Region 2/B discs that have Englis audio, and are significantly better than their R1/A counterparts
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Correct me if I'm wrong, but I was under the impression that TVs sold in PAL countries tend to support NTSC, but TVs sold in NTSC countries (or perhaps just North America?) do not tend to support PAL.
My mistake, you are correct. This, however, is not a problem, since DVD players usually have a PAL/NTSC converter. Mine does.
http://download.p4c.philips.com/files/b/bdp3406_f7/bdp3406_f7_dfu_aen.pdf
My collection of movies does not include Blu Ray for now, so since my Philips BDP3406 can play Region A it will be quite awhile before I need to upgrade. It also plays all sort of video files, including Matroska. And again, it can be hacked to make it DVD Region Free. >:D
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can I do a one-time hack to get it to play everything? or would I have to keep switching back and forth between R1 and R2 every time I wanted to play one or the other? I'm not very technologically knowledgeable so I am hesitant to do anything that I couldn't easily reverse or that may screw me up. I never had a computer or other electronic shit as a kid, and seriously, to this day I get this Freudian anxiety at anything to do with electronics, even simplest things, like taking a new device out of the box and doing the basic set-up. I'm no spartan; I have a 32" LG HDTV, Samsung Blu Ray Player, and MacBook, and iPod with a touch screen.... But I still have this fear about goofing around with anything cuz I am worried I may not be able to get it back to how it was ;)
On my Philips it is a one-time hack, and when you set it to Region 0 (Region Free) it will play any DVD regardless of the region it was encoded for. However, not all DVD players are hackable; or, if they are, their hack codes may not be known. You can do a search for your particular make and model, as there are many Samsungs. Try this page for starters:
http://www.videohelp.com/dvdhacks/samsung-bd-p1600/10179
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Could an Italian speaker kindly translate the following for me (principally the section in quotes):
Secondo Rik Battaglia, amico storico di Leone, Tonino Valerii aveva fatto scrivere sul contratto che Leone non fosse presente quando lui girava. Lo avrebbe imbarazzato. «Ma quando vide il girato, e lo vide molto presto, disse: “Questo gira come pensa che girerei io, ma io non girerei così”. E allora il film lo prese in mano lui. Si era allarmato molto. Magari lo ha lasciato girare un altro po', ma poi gli ha detto basta.»
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Could an Italian speaker kindly translate the following for me (principally the section in quotes):
Secondo Rik Battaglia, amico storico di Leone, Tonino Valerii aveva fatto scrivere sul contratto che Leone non fosse presente quando lui girava. Lo avrebbe imbarazzato. «Ma quando vide il girato, e lo vide molto presto, disse: “Questo gira come pensa che girerei io, ma io non girerei così”. E allora il film lo prese in mano lui. Si era allarmato molto. Magari lo ha lasciato girare un altro po', ma poi gli ha detto basta.»
Here you go:
"According to Rick Battaglia, an old time Leone friend, Tonino Valerii asked for a clause in his contract stating that Leone should not be present while he was directing. He would have been embarassed by his presence. But once (Leone) saw what had been shot sofar, and he saw it quite soon, he said "This guy shoots like he thinks I would shoot the movie, but in fact this is not how I would shoot it." So he (Leone) took over the movie. He was very alarmed. He may have left a few more sequences for Valerii to shoot, but then he said enough"
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Great ...
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Thanks so much Leonardo O0.
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French Blu-ray:
http://www.hdnumerique.com/actualite/articles/11155-mon-nom-est-personne-en-blu-ray-steelbook-le-18-septembre.html
Unfortunately it seems the French subtitles are forced when you select english audio >:( :'(
http://www.spaghettiwesterndvds.com/2012/09/19/my-name-is-nobody-french-blu-ray-steelbook/
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Received this in the mail recently:
(http://www.spaghetti-western.net/images/thumb/e/e4/Curti.jpg/250px-Curti.jpg)
There's a great chapter on who claims who directed what in My Name is Nobody. Unfortunately I don't speak Italian so can only piece together what it says from my knowledge of some other Romance languages :-\
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Unfortunately it seems the French subtitles are forced when you select english audio >:( :'(
http://www.spaghettiwesterndvds.com/2012/09/19/my-name-is-nobody-french-blu-ray-steelbook/
Hmmm, that's the way it is when you select English audio on the German Tobis DVD too. Hopefully the day is coming when R1/RA consumers get to upgrade to a truly English-friendly edition.
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Received this in the mail recently:
(http://www.spaghetti-western.net/images/thumb/e/e4/Curti.jpg/250px-Curti.jpg)
There's a great chapter on who claims who directed what in My Name is Nobody. Unfortunately I don't speak Italian so can only piece together what it says from my knowledge of some other Romance languages :-\
Dude, if you can deliver any kind of translation whatsoever you'll surely get inducted into the Fistful-Of-Leone Hall of Fame!
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Hmmm, that's the way it is when you select English audio on the German Tobis DVD too. Hopefully the day is coming when R1/RA consumers get to upgrade to a truly English-friendly edition.
i don't remember it doing that when I watched it.
Dude, if you can deliver any kind of translation whatsoever you'll surely get inducted into the Fistful-Of-Leone Hall of Fame!
hmm... will see
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i don't remember it doing that when I watched it.
It didn't
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Dude, if you can deliver any kind of translation whatsoever you'll surely get inducted into the Fistful-Of-Leone Hall of Fame!
But you don't expect to get a doubtless truth about this.
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I'm in middle of watching the movie now, on the Image disc (my only previous viewing of the movie was a few years ago, off iTunes).
The Image image is simply awful.
Although I should point out, it looks nothing like Beaver's screencap. (I got pissed off at some of the BS Beaver wrote and a while ago decided I'd use Beaver only for basic disc information, eg. a list of the bonus features; and for screencaps. But as I am watching the credit sequence, I am looking at beaver;s screencap, the one of Nobody with the stick about to strike the fish, and the picture looks NOTHING like Beaver's screencap; Beaver has it looking sandy/yellow, when in fact it is a darker color, much closer to the screncap of the Paramount R2 that beaver provides, than the one he provides that is supposedly taken from the Image disc! I've long suspected that these screencaps are far from perfect, depends on each person's system, etc. and now I will no longer be using that shitty Beaver site for screencaps either. To the extent that i ever go on that crappy site again, it will only be to get the basic info like a list of the bonus features on a disc; [I hope they are still reliable for that shit, more reliable than Amazon]. THAT's ALL.
Anyway, the Image disc is indeed awful. Everything looks way to dark. I know there is a Paranount region 2 disc out there; I am hoping we get a good R1 disc soon. (Does Paramount even own the movie's rights in America?) I'm not all that hot about the movie anyway -- I don't watch comedies, this is the first comedy I have seen in probably a year, just cuz I have to see the dvd once just for the sake of seeing it cuz it's a Leone movie -- but still, I like to see Leone movies treated well on dvd, and I think there is a enough interest in this title that would warrant a decent release.
The Image release is as bare-bones as bare-bones can get: it offers not a single thing other than the movie. Forget about any bonus feature, it doesn't even offer any other languages, or any subtitles at all. It's plain and simple: you stick the disc in and the only option you have other than just playing the movie, is to look at the chapter headings. That's all.
I am sure there is much more interest in this title than there is in The Colossus of Rhodes, and I seem to recall COR looking pretty good, and it had a Frayling commentary. I don't know what the deal is with who owns the American rights to this movie, but I certainly hope that something decent is done with it soon.
As of now, I haven't had much of a reason to invest in a region-free blu ray/dvd player, but eventually I may look into it. Can anyone suggest a good one that ain't too expensive?
Also, (thus far), this is the only movie I have seen Terence Hill in, I am just wondering, does he dub his own English dialogue, or is that someone else dubbing his English dialogue?
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There will be a German Blu too. Soon:
http://www.amazon.de/Mein-Name-ist-Nobody-Blu-ray/dp/B009X47QZ6/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1356866114&sr=8-2
But Paramount is no longer the company to hold the rights. And did not had them for the theatrical release back in the 60s. Same for Fod and FAFDM.
But as the master for the DVD was already a HD one, I assume it will be the same used for the Blu. Unless Paramount owns the rights on the transfer.
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D&D, sure Nobody is in parts a comedy, but the other half of it is a "serious" film built around the Peckinpah themes of the decline of the west. At least these parts you should be able to enjoy.
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D&D, sure Nobody is in parts a comedy, but the other half of it is a "serious" film built around the Peckinpah themes of the decline of the west. At least these parts you should be able to enjoy.
well it uses the decline of the west as a metaphor for the decline of the spag.
(somewhat similar to how OUATITW uses the decline of the west as a metaphor for the decline of the Western).
yes, the whole part about Fonda representing the AW and Hill representing the spag, which sort of picked up as the AW was declining... Yeah, I understood and appreciated it all. As well as the many references to earlier Leone movies. I would never call it a "serious" film, even though it does address certain themes.
Anyway, I guess it's alright for what it is: a comedy about the spag sub-genre, which had by 1973 become a parody of itself (I forgot where I first read that very appropriate term somewhere). No complaints about the movie. Just about the atrocious quality of the dvd.
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There will be a German Blu too. Soon:
http://www.amazon.de/Mein-Name-ist-Nobody-Blu-ray/dp/B009X47QZ6/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1356866114&sr=8-2
But Paramount is no longer the company to hold the rights. And did not had them for the theatrical release back in the 60s. Same for Fod and FAFDM.
But as the master for the DVD was already a HD one, I assume it will be the same used for the Blu. Unless Paramount owns the rights on the transfer.
well it was Paramount that released the Region 2 dvd
I don't really care which studio releases it, I just hope it's a decent studio that knows what it's doing.
Cuz Image Entertainment, whoever they are, obviously are unable and/or uninterested in putting out a half-respectable product. Im not expecting perfection or anything close to it; all I am asking for is the treatment that any middle of-the road 50's Western gets: a basic restoration, that's all. This movie looks like someone just took whatever the source was, transferred it straight to a disc and voila, released the dvd. Not even the slightest bit of restoration was done. I don't know who Image Entertainment is, and whether they have the resources to do any sort of restoration; and what the deal is with the rights. I just hope that it isn't a case where exclusive rights are held by a company that doesn't have the resources to put out a decent product. In that case, we are fucked.
I mean, this is really a title with what I imagine is a solid enough demand, that something decent should be done with it. (I'm not sure if this is the best way to guage interest, but) I just compared it on imdb to some of the most popular non-Leone spags: The Great Silence, A Bullet for the General, Django, The Big Gundown, The Mercenary (aka A Professional Gun), and Death Rides a Horse. Well, My Name is Nobody has a higher rating than all but one of these titles (7.4/10, while The Great Silence has a 7.7/10), and far more votes than any of the others.
True, spags in general haven't gotten the kindest dvd treatment, but the fact is that considering that it's associated with Leone and has a reasonable demand, there should be a decent dvd/blu ray treatment here
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well it was Paramount that released the Region 2 dvd
Yes, that's what I said. Paramount had the rights for this one and for the first 2 Dollar films. They remastered them in HD quality, which wasn't necessary for the DVD. But now the Blus are released by Universum film. I'm sure they will try to top the Paramount releases. And maybe they use the same master anyway.
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Yes, that's what I said. Paramount had the rights for this one and for the first 2 Dollar films. They remastered them in HD quality, which wasn't necessary for the DVD. But now the Blus are released by Universum film. I'm sure they will try to top the Paramount releases. And maybe they use the same master anyway.
that's all wonderful, but I'd love to know what that means for us here in the good old US of A
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There will be a German Blu too. Soon:
http://www.amazon.de/Mein-Name-ist-Nobody-Blu-ray/dp/B009X47QZ6/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1356866114&sr=8-2
But Paramount is no longer the company to hold the rights. And did not had them for the theatrical release back in the 60s. Same for Fod and FAFDM.
But as the master for the DVD was already a HD one, I assume it will be the same used for the Blu. Unless Paramount owns the rights on the transfer.
... which, unlike the French release, will almost certainly not have locked in subtitles either :)
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Yes, that's what I said. Paramount had the rights for this one and for the first 2 Dollar films. They remastered them in HD quality, which wasn't necessary for the DVD. But now the Blus are released by Universum film. I'm sure they will try to top the Paramount releases. And maybe they use the same master anyway.
Thanks for the info. I've been asking for info on Germany's BD releases of FOD and FAFDM for months with no response.
What it means for fans in North America is you're going to have import the discs and have a region free player if they're region locked.
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But both aren't released yet.
http://www.amazon.de/F%C3%BCr-eine-Handvoll-Dollar-Blu-ray/dp/B00A990CT6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1356895388&sr=8-1
According to Amazon they will have German and English audio and subs. Amazon.de (unlike Amazon.co.uk) normally lists all audio and subtitle options and the aspect ratio for every disc. Mostly their informations are reliable.
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What it means for fans in North America is you're going to have import the discs and have a region free player if they're region locked.
of course.
What I meant is, when (if ever) will we be getting an official Region 1/A dvd/br release?
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Just finished watching the movie (again, this was my 2nd viewing; the first was about 4 years ago, on a little laptop screen).
For what it is -- a comedy about the spag, the end of the spag, the spag as the new kid on the block, the Ternece Hill little brother to the Henry Fonda older brother AW -- it was enjoyable.
And btw, some of you may find Fonda's final, long speech to be corny -- and wished that the theme was left not spoken literally -- but I really loved it. It was the Western "signing off," (although the truth is, you can argue that this theme would perhaps have been more appropriate at the beginning of the spag era, rather than at the end; cuz the movie is sort of a "goodbye AW, hello spag," but who cares). I did find it nice to have the familiar, comforting voice of Henry Fonda signing off for the Western.
The Image image is awful. We really need a serious restoration.
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The problem with the speech it that it is a detailed interpretation of the film. It just tells you everything which you have already seen. and it is painfully long. In the German version Fonda's thoughts are abridged, the interpretation parts are much, much shorter and it has a lyrical feeling which is in accordance with the film's end.
Also in the Wild Bunch battle the "history books" part is slammed in the face of the viewer, in the German version you only see the images. Unfortunately the Italian version is the same as the English version.
And it is not exactly "hello Spag" as Hill's Trinity character represents also the ending of the SW.
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And it is not exactly "hello Spag" as Hill's Trinity character represents also the ending of the SW.
what i meant was that Beauregard (representing the AW) the previous great gunfighter, is saying goodbye; now, Nobody, the "new kid on the block" is taking his place -- he beat Beauregard, now the Wild Bunch is after him -- so the AW (the serious, the legendary) is saying goodbye, and the spag (the outrageous, silly) is taking its place.
However, at this time in film history, the spag had already come and was now on it's way out as well; the spag had now become a parody of itself, it was played out, and the successful spags now (eg. the Trinity movies) are the comedies which are making fun (or "commenting" or whatever) on the recent fad.
So, if you want to get all nuanced and technical about it, you can say that the theme of "goodbye AW, hello spag" would have been more appropriate a decade earlier; by this time, "Nobody" (ie. the spag) is already on his way out himself; so the theme of the AW exiting and the spag arriving, is not actualy commenting on a current phenomenon; rather, it's really commenting on a phenomenon that took place almost a decade earlier. A movie that is commenting on the current state of things should show Nobody on his way out the door himself.
Anyway, I wouldn't worry to much about this, cuz A) maybe the movie is indeed trying to portray the change that happened a decade earlier, rather than show a current change; and more importantly, B) it's a comedy and the themes are more broad and we shouldn't get too nuanced about it.
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But it is not a pure comedy.
In fact it is a pretty "serious" film which includes comedy parts in its storytelling (which Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid does also to give one example). And there is a lot more in it than in most serious films.
The fact that a film is a comedy (or partly a comedy) does not make a film a lesser one (in case you think that). What about Lubitsch's To Be or Not to Be? A comedy which handles an extremely serious thematic.
How comes you don't watch comedies?
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But it is not a pure comedy.
In fact it is a pretty "serious" film which includes comedy parts in its storytelling (which Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid does also to give one example). And there is a lot more in it than in most serious films.
The fact that a film is a comedy (or partly a comedy) does not make a film a lesser one (in case you think that). What about Lubitsch's To Be or Not to Be? A comedy which handles an extremely serious thematic.
How comes you don't watch comedies?
I never said a movie is a "lesser" one if it's a comedy!
It's just my own personal preference: I don't enjoy watching -- and therefore I virtually never watch -- comedies, horror, sci-fi/fantasy, animated, or musicals. I basically only watch Dramas, Thrillers, Westerns, and Action (but not comedy Westerns or comedy Action). It's very rare that i'll watch a movie from one of those genres (eg. I saw MNIN, even though it's a comedy, cuz I wanna see every Leone movie; just as I saw Colossus of Rhodes despire having zero interest in sword-and-sandal movies).
I'd never criticize a movie for being a comedy. All i am saying is that I do not want to watch those movies. So, in those rare cases when I do watch a movie that's from one of those genres, it's not fair for me to rate it cuz I know going in that it's not a genre that i enjoy. So I may state, something like "for what it is, I enjoyed it." Yes, considering what MNIN is, I think Leone, Valeri et al they did a good job with it. I enjoyed seeing the comedic take on the spag sub-genre vis-a-vis the "big brother" AW.
As for WHY I don't watch those genres, I can't tell you. I just don't like them. It's completely subjective I can't explain. Although I guess the one thing that really distinguishes the ones I like vs. the ones I don't is that the ones I like are, in a certain sense, "serious" movie -- ie. theoretically, they could have happened -- while the others could not. Maybe I am just a serious guy with no sense of humor and no sense of fantasy, just a stuffy dude who wants to be all serious all the time. I don't know. All I can say is I know what I am interested in and what I am not.
So, in general, while I may say eg. "I don't want to watch comedies," I'd never criticize them as if they are bad movies. It's just a matter of preference.
But again, RE: MNIN, because it's Leone and this topic of commenting on the spag, etc., I enjoyed it for that.
yes, there are some serious points in MNIN as well, but they ae brought about in a comedic way. You can say that in a certain sense, maybe OUATITW and MNIN have very similar themes: but one uses drama to bring out that theme, while the other uses comedy.
I think you can say that both use the end-of-the-Wild West theme, as a metaphor for the real point of the movie, which is about the end-of-the-Western film genre. In OUATITW, it's about the AW, and uses drama; while in MNIN, it's about the spag, and uses comedy.
One more point, whicn I realize now, as I type: RE: OUATITW, I am not certain if it's accurate to say that it uses the end of the Wild west theme as a metaphor for the true theme of the end of the Western. Rather, maybe it's the opposite: maybe the point is indeed all about the end of the West, and just uses the homage to the AW as a means of bringing out the end-of the West; after all, what better way to honor the end of the West than to through the prism of an homage to the Western film genre?
However, with MNIN, it seems to me that the theme is clearly all about the spag; and any stuff about end-of-the-West is more of a metaphor, a vehicle used to bring out the theme, which is to make fun of/comment on the spag
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But the Fonda half of MNIN is mostly done in a very "serious" way. Very melancholic, very well directed.
I don't think that MNIN is about the SW. It uses some of its style, its a parody on some of its aspects, but the main theme is the one of the US twilight westerns in which the west comes to an end. Only that here starts something new, but this won't be the western any more.
The problem of MNIN is that the different parts (SW, twilight western, comedy) not always fuse together. In some scenes there is pure slapstick for slapstick reasons. Stuff which would be absolutely ok in any Trinity film, but is wrong here. But this "wrong" stuff sums up to only 3 or 4 min of its runtime. Most of it could be easily cut out for the benefit of the film.
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The Image image is awful. We really need a serious restoration.
The German Paramount DVD restoration is absolutely gorgeous which bodes well for the BD.
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The German Paramount DVD restoration is absolutely gorgeous which bodes well for the BD.
that only bodes well for me if Paramount releases it in USA
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But the Fonda half of MNIN is mostly done in a very "serious" way. Very melancholic, very well directed.
I don't think that MNIN is about the SW. It uses some of its style, its a parody on some of its aspects, but the main theme is the one of the US twilight westerns in which the west comes to an end. Only that here starts something new, but this won't be the western any more.
The problem of MNIN is that the different parts (SW, twilight western, comedy) not always fuse together. In some scenes there is pure slapstick for slapstick reasons. Stuff which would be absolutely ok in any Trinity film, but is wrong here. But this "wrong" stuff sums up to only 3 or 4 min of its runtime. Most of it could be easily cut out for the benefit of the film.
seems to me like you want MNIN to be something it's not; you want it to be a movie about the end of the West and Western, like OUATITW. But it's not. I mean, that's part of it, but it's much more than that too. It's basically a comedic version of OUATITW, and focusing not simply on the end of the Western, but on the Western giving way to the spag, with Hill representing the spag, the younger brother, burping and funny and messy and dirty, to the more regal, respectable AW.
As for your belief that the the various parts of the movie don't mix well: I don't think it's ever really a serious movie; I think it's comedy all the way. Sure, some comedic scenes are slapstick while others aren't, but I think it's all done in a very lighthearted manner.
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I completely disagree.
MNIN is basically a serious film with some comedy elements, or more precisely which is told partly as a comedy. The seriousness dominates despite some slapstick excesses.
Well, you thought that Goldfinger is a comedy ... ;)
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I completely disagree.
MNIN is basically a serious film with some comedy elements, or more precisely which is told partly as a comedy. The seriousness dominates despite some slapstick excesses.
Well, you thought that Goldfinger is a comedy ... ;)
yes, Goldfinger was essentially a comedy. Of course, there's also action. But as far as comedy vs. drama, it is absolutely a comedy. It's all tongue in cheek. There's never any real fear or suspense. like the scene where the chick is flying over all those soldiers, in the plane, ostensibly to poison them. You know it's all a joke. Yeah, they use the spy shit, but the movie all for the action and laughs. It is very lighthearted. (As opposed to, say, the Die Hard movies, which are also action movies with a major action hero, but where everything is serious. Goldfinger does not have a serious tone).
As for MNIN, even the stuff about the end of the West is all done in a funny way. eg. the "shootout" between Fonda and Hill, with the photographer missing the shot and asking them to do it again; even the final letter read by Fonda -- the supposed "theme" -- is real aloud in the background as we watch Hill doing funny shit; I mean, the whole idea of the aging gunfighter being forced into a faceoff with 150 men; the "storyline" with the gold mine and his brother is as flimsy and useless as can be. Ultimately, the movie indeed is about a theme, but it is presented in a comedic way. What can I say -- if you think MNIN is really a serious film other than just a few scenes, then I completely disagree with you
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Then we agree that we disagree.
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Would you care to list the scenes/moments that, if removed, would change this movie from a comedy to a completely serious one? I think they are more numerous and lengthy than you may think.
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Light-hearted does not mean comedy.
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Would you care to list the scenes/moments that, if removed, would change this movie from a comedy to a completely serious one? I think they are more numerous and lengthy than you may think.
Not a completely serious one. I would only like to eliminate a few (but really only a few) scenes or shots which are pure slapstick and bear no relation to the film's themes (like the pie throwing on the fair, or the slapping in the saloon). The few which are too much for the film, which are Trinity and not Nobody, but which were back then a major selling argument, which are there only because of Terence Hill. Yes, the film was mainly sold as a comedy, and when I watched it as a child I was disappointed that there was less comedy then expected from a Hill movie. But I liked it though. MNIN was btw a big success in Europe.
The film is a mixture of styles (Leone, Peckinpah, Barboni), and for most parts the mixture works very well. And you can't deny that the Fonda scenes are not comedy but played out straight.
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It's not comedy like Austin Powers, but comedy nonetheless. Or if you want to get more nuanced, let's say light-hearted at the least.
IMO the Fonda scenes are not played straight either. Almost all of Fonda's scenes have Hill in them, and everything Hill says and does is light-hearted and (intended to be) funny.
Btw, according to wikipedia, "Hill has said it remains his favorite film among those in which he starred, largely because of Sergio Leone's involvement," but no source is provided for the quote http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Name_is_Nobody#Release_and_influence
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Btw, according to wikipedia, "Hill has said it remains his favorite film among those in which he starred, largely because of Sergio Leone's involvement," but no source is provided for the quote http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Name_is_Nobody#Release_and_influence
Hill cites MNIN as his favorite here:
ttp://www.terencehill.com/interview_com.html (http://ttp://www.terencehill.com/interview_com.html)
Says Leone is one of his favorite directors to work with here:
http://www.terencehill.com/interview_qa.html (http://www.terencehill.com/interview_qa.html)
No explicit quote but an inference can be drawn.
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The German blu-ray has shipped! O0
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Post screencaps please. :o
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Post screencaps please. :o
Yes please. Seeing as the DVD was incredible, I'm expecting this BD to be mind-blowing.
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Sorry, boys, no can do (I don't have a computer with a blu-ray drive). Blu-ray.com, though, imports a fair amount of discs; if we get lucky they'll decide to review this (maybe the new FAFDM, too).
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Sorry, boys, no can do (I don't have a computer with a blu-ray drive).
Neither do I...
Blu-rays differ quite a lot from DVDs and taking screencaps isn't as easy.
I hadn't realized that as have never tried. Copyright issues with software I suppose?
I guess the usual caveats of things looking different in motion and different TVs with different calibrations will apply anyway. It's always good to have a basic reference point though.
Some of the members of other forums take photos of paused images on their TV...
Well, that seems nigh on useless.
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Kraut Blu-ray in da haus! O0
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Thoughts?
I'm going to place my order for this BD and The Big Gundown once the Dollars films are released in a few days.
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Thoughts?
I'm going to place my order for this BD and The Big Gundown once the Dollars films are released in a few days.
I will patiently wait for your feedback. Meanwhile I'll stick to those old pesky DVDs. :D
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Hmmm, well, there's good news and there's bad news. The good news is that, for the lame, the halt, and the region-bound, the disc is playable in Regions A,B,C. Also, this transfer is apparently taken from the same master used for the old Tobis DVD. The bad news is that this transfer is apparently taken from the same master used for the old Tobis DVD. In its day, that master was state-of-the-art. But that day is long gone. The technology has evolved and a new scan could have produced spectacular results. As it stands, the blu-ray improves on the DVD slightly in the areas of details and clarity. Ironically, that added clarity shows up the problems with that old transfer. First, speckles, which abound early in the film, can be more easily detected. Second, the flesh tones are still off: not in every scene, but in many the faces of Hill and Fonda are too red. Finally, for at least the first half of the film, there is some kind of image fluctuation in the lower half of the frame that seems to show up every 10 seconds or so. At about the point where Stefanelli gets killed it ceases, but then reappears for the scenes in New Orleans.
Language options are German or English audio, German or English subtitles, or no titles. There is nothing Italian offered.
I've always liked the DVD, and I'm not unhappy that I have the Blu-ray that gives me a slight upgrade over that. People who like the film who have never had the Tobis DVD should be pleased with this release. If you have the Tobis DVD, you may not find the Blu-ray upgrade necessary.
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Thanks for your review.
Does this mean the Dollars films will use the Tobis DVD master as well? Time will tell.
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Thanks for letting us know. I guess I'll just hang on to my DVD then.
Does anyone know anything about the French BD? I'd love it for the extra features, but I'm worried about locked-in subtitles.
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I just downloaded this and am looking forward to watching it. The only Terence Hill movie I've seen is "Watch Out We're Mad" with Bud Spencer, and I loved it!
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I had a lot of fun with this one O0
*sighs* It just makes me even more sad that SL never made any more westerns like this.
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U.S. blu: http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/My-Name-Is-Nobody-Blu-ray/48179/#Review
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U.S. blu: http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/My-Name-Is-Nobody-Blu-ray/48179/#Review
I love how they put this big "40th Anniversary Edition" above the box like this is some special release, but don't include a single bonus feature.
Nevertheless, if the image quality is much better than the dvd versions, I'm happy about this release
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Some nice BIG photographs from the time they were filming the duel scene (JO at the SWWB gave the link):
https://xpatscot.wordpress.com/tag/french-quarter/ (The person behind the blog makes a few mistakes, the guy credited as Valerii is apparently Stefano Rolla)
Additionally here are some photos of Valerii from the set of Nobody (I posted these at SWDB last year):
(http://www.spaghettiwesterndvds.com/images/tonino-valerii-my-name-is-nobody1.jpg)
(http://www.spaghettiwesterndvds.com/images/tonino-valerii-my-name-is-nobody2.jpg)
(http://www.spaghettiwesterndvds.com/images/tonino-valerii-my-name-is-nobody3.jpg)
(http://www.spaghettiwesterndvds.com/images/tonino-valerii-my-name-is-nobody4.jpg)
(http://www.spaghettiwesterndvds.com/images/tonino-valerii-my-name-is-nobody5.jpg)
(http://www.spaghettiwesterndvds.com/images/tonino-valerii-my-name-is-nobody6.jpg)
(http://www.spaghettiwesterndvds.com/images/tonino-valerii-my-name-is-nobody7.jpg)
(http://www.spaghettiwesterndvds.com/images/tonino-valerii-my-name-is-nobody8.jpg)
Is this last one from the set of My Name Is Nobody? (the book has several more photos from sets of other movies)
(http://www.spaghettiwesterndvds.com/images/tonino-valerii-my-name-is-nobody9.jpg)
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thanks
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Yes - thanks for sharing O0
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Did Terence Hill do his own dubbing?
I believe he spoke English fairly well
bruce
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Did Terence Hill do his own dubbing?
I believe he spoke English fairly well
bruce
He definitely dubbed his voice in English. If I remember right, he had a female vocal coach for the film, whom he married. I think Hill mentions all this in the supplements on the Tobis discs.
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He definitely dubbed his voice in English.
Are you sure about that? I'll have to do some digging, but I thought he was dubbed and only Fonda used his own voice.
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I just bought the Image Entertainment BRD. skipped through it just to check out the image quality. There are lots of speckles/damage marks. and no bonus features.
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I thought he was dubbed and only Fonda used his own voice.
You may well be right. I went back to the Tobis discs to check the info that I thought was there and didn't find it. But as I listened to Hill speak in his interview, I realized that his voice is not the same voice that was used in the English dub--they are very different. (Also, per Frayling, Mario Girotti met and married Lori Hill on the set of God Forgives, Me, Not So Much--so I had that bit wrong as well).
So, sorry to disappoint you, uncknown, I now believe that Hill did not dub himself in Nobody. Novecento, thanks for spotting my error.
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This scene could be done by SL....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fxqc4lae7bI&t=28m38s (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fxqc4lae7bI&t=28m38s)
Very Leoneisk when it pans out on to the location before Jack meets the indians, with Ennio humming in your ears. Reminds me a bit when AE vists the fort in GBU
Another pan out scene in the style of OUTITW not too dissimilar to Claudia leaving a train, is when Nobody goes to the circus town....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fxqc4lae7bI&t=39m49s (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fxqc4lae7bI&t=39m49s)
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This scene could be done by SL....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fxqc4lae7bI&t=28m38s (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fxqc4lae7bI&t=28m38s)
Very Leoneisk when it pans out on to the location before Jack meets the indians, with Ennio humming in your ears. Reminds me a bit when AE vists the fort in GBU
Another pan out scene in the style of OUTITW not too dissimilar to Claudia leaving a train, is when Nobody goes to the circus town....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fxqc4lae7bI&t=39m49s (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fxqc4lae7bI&t=39m49s)
The name... on the grave... what was it?
(Do you know how many graves are there?! There must be hundreds, thousands!)
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This scene could be done by SL....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fxqc4lae7bI&t=28m38s (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fxqc4lae7bI&t=28m38s)
Very Leoneisk when it pans out on to the location before Jack meets the indians, with Ennio humming in your ears. Reminds me a bit when AE vists the fort in GBU
Another pan out scene in the style of OUTITW not too dissimilar to Claudia leaving a train, is when Nobody goes to the circus town....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fxqc4lae7bI&t=39m49s (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fxqc4lae7bI&t=39m49s)
The first is Valerii (with Leone breathing down his neck via his cinematographer); the second is Leone.
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But the point is both are Leone style, and not copied Leone style. And I doubt that the first DoP, who never worked with Leone before (or did he in a minor function?), could have been the one to influence the film's style.
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But the point is both are Leone style, and not copied Leone style. And I doubt that the first DoP, who never worked with Leone before (or did he in a minor function?), could have been the one to influence the film's style.
I have always felt this film should rightly be listed on thediscussion board as a Sergio Leone film.
bruce
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Has anybody here seen the Italian cut that is supposedly 15 minutes longer?
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I have always felt this film should rightly be listed on thediscussion board as a Sergio Leone film.
bruce
An enlightened view. O0
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Has anybody here seen the Italian cut that is supposedly 15 minutes longer?
Not me. First I've heard of it.
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Has anybody here seen the Italian cut that is supposedly 15 minutes longer?
I heard a rumor about that once before. I think it's a myth - probably due to a misprint in a book somewhere. If it really exists then surely Valerii would have mentioned it in his commentary track.
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The Italian version is often given with 118 min, but then it seems nobody really knows exactly how long Italian films are. The 116 min version we al know is supposed to be uncut. Maybe there was once a version with exit or intermission music.
Instead of a longer version I would prefer a slightly shorter version which cuts 2 - 3 min of senseless slapstick. But it would only work if I could define what senseless means in that context.
And of course MNIN should have it's own section just like the other Leones. Last Days of Pompeji too. The MNIN thread has already become too large and too unclear to find information if one searches for such.
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It is not a Leone movie, hence it doesn not have or need its own section.
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On the other hand, if it had its own section, we would enjoy that "it is (not) a Leone movie" debate once a day instead of once a week.
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No debate needed, the facts speak alone.
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Here are some FACTS, talking alone: it is well known that Leone directed the opening, the final battle and all the TH scenes while he was simultaneously crafting the race sequence of Ben Hur. Also Leone plays Jack Beauregard and most of the wild bunch in 80% of the wide shots. Valerii may have directed a couple scenes at some point but no evidence has been found.
Source: http://tinyurl.com/whodirectedMyNameIsNobody
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Then WHY isn't he credited as the director?
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The real question is WHY isn't he credited as Jack Beauregard?
Also, I wouldn't ask for a director's credit when the climax of the movie is a powerpoint about history books.
Last, are you really trying to troll the troll here?
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Also, I wouldn't ask for a director's credit when the climax of the movie is a powerpoint about history books.
Ouch, ouch, ouch!
But you know, once I commit to a powerpoint presentation, I always see the job through. (It's probably my favorite moment of the movie--along with the Morricone follow-up music).
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Then WHY isn't he credited as the director?
He directed that Pompeji thingy complete, except probably for the second unit stuff for which he actually was credited extra big, instead of being credited as director.
It is not a Leone movie, hence it doesn not have or need its own section.
Some/ many/ most think that it is Leone movie, that's reason enough for me.
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The real question is WHY isn't he credited as Jack Beauregard?
Cause it was in fact Jane Fonda. How one can confuse Jane Fonda with fat Sergio is beyond me ...
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Cause it was in fact Jane Fonda. How one can confuse Jane Fonda with fat Sergio is beyond me ...
I could swear it was Bridget in the cemetery scene.
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He directed that Pompeji thingy complete, except probably for the second unit stuff for which he actually was credited extra big, instead of being credited as director.
That's a completely missed parallel. Like comparing apples and oranges.
TLDOP was filmed half a decade before he made his mark as a director: if he was un-rightfully un-credited after he left his mark on that movie it is understandable why that never was corrected - he did not have the authority/background to turn the whole thing around in his favor, or perhaps, it was said to him right away. By the time he did have the needed renome it was probably not important anymore or a lost case.
Some/ many/ most think that it is Leone movie, that's reason enough for me.
It is not reason enough for me. If some/many/most think that it is OK to lynch someone without a trial - it might be okay and reason enough for them - but it is not reason enough for me. I like to follow reason.
You're on the wrong road here all along: it was done when Sergio Leone could have put his name there if he wanted, but - fact is - he didn't.
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The real question is WHY isn't he credited as Jack Beauregard?
Also, I wouldn't ask for a director's credit when the climax of the movie is a powerpoint about history books.
Last, are you really trying to troll the troll here?
Why should I care if he didn't?
You guys seem to evade this every time this 'debate' starts.
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DD believes that word "director" is sacred. I've learned it's not useful to argue with religious people.
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DD is taking very seriously something that isn't serious. I was only trolling and not debating because it's not very interesting. But if you want to know what I really think of it:
- DJ told us many time (and DJ is never wrong, as long as agrees with me) that the auteur theory is bullshit. Many people were involved and they all had there importance.
- Valerii directed the film and Leone had a lot of input. It's a Valerii film but also a Leone film. Generally speaking, they're both responsible for many of the flaws and strengths of the film. Now may be someone here is 70% responsible, or maybe 51%, or may be even 50%. Seriously, what does that even mean?
- They may not be responsible for the same stuff, that's were the debate begins to get a little less pointless. "Who's responsible for the powerpoint?" is a real question. "Who's responsible for the film?" has no answer.
- The director of photography (forgot his name) is one of the guys to blame for the cheapness of the movie. I wish they could have hired Deli Colli for this one and for DYS.
- I love the film. I love the Leonian feeling in it. I like that it's different from a 100% Leone movie.
Once again, pointless debate as long as you're just trying to pin a name on the movie. I could say it's a Terrence Hill movie I would still be more right than those who think it's a Leone film or a Valerii film, because that movie would NEVER have been imagined without Terrence Hill. Let's discuss particular scenes (the cemetery scene is amazing. Who did it?) and/or elements (too much slapping? too little poetry?).
(DD, did I really convinced you that Leone played the Fonda part? I'm a bit lost here)
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MNIN looks cheap?
MNIN looks fantastic.
MNIN had 2 DoPs. Some say they recognize the different style, I don't.
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too much slapping?
How can there be too much slapping? Bite your tongue!
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Can't we talk about how awesome Morricone's music is and forget the auteur prattle?
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MNIN looks cheap?
MNIN looks fantastic.
MNIN had 2 DoPs. Some say they recognize the different style, I don't.
Appart from the aged zooms (see: opening shot. Why did they spoil this great crane shot with a pointless vertigo effect?), MNIN usually looks really good. But we're pretty far from Deli Colli territory:
- framing is very good
- lightening isn't
- wide shots are good
- close ups aren't
- many sets are too empty
- some shots are pretty but are cheap when their point is to be NOT cheap (wild bunch shots should typically never show you the limitations of the wild bunch. They should have zoomed a little more so that you cannot see where the wild bunch stops)
- some scenes look terrible (Terrence Hill in the river, at the Begining)
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Can't we talk about how awesome Morricone's music is and forget the auteur prattle?
According to Leone, he composed the whole music himself. Morricone was playing cards with Valerii the whole time.
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Appart from the aged zooms (see: opening shot. Why did they spoil this great crane shot with a pointless vertigo effect?), MNIN usually looks really good. But we're pretty far from Deli Colli territory:
- framing is very good
- lightening isn't
- wide shots are good
- close ups aren't
- many sets are too empty
- some shots are pretty but are cheap when their point is to be NOT cheap (wild bunch shots should typically never show you the limitations of the wild bunch. They should have zoomed a little more so that you cannot see where the wild bunch stops)
- some scenes look terrible (Terrence Hill in the river, at the Begining)
I can't follow you on this.
Well, I don't think that Delli Colli was a better DoP than Ruzzoli (but prefer both to Dallamano). But then, at the same time I think all that you describe is the director's stuff, the DoP has only the function to give the director what he wants. (Of course I know that this is only an ideal and in reality it all differs from film to film from director to director who really is responsible for the look of the images)
Empty sets? In westerns often sets are not empty enough. In SWs there are always in the towns much too much people in the streets.
The opening shot is absolutely stunning, and zooms are not aged when they are used like they were used in MNIN. Chabrols cheap looking zooms in his 70s films are maybe aged, but not here.
Also the shot of Hill in the river looks great.
There are only a few shots which don't look good (probably those directed by Valerii ;) )
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Delli Colli is one of the 5 best DoP ever. His key role on the films he worked on cannot be downplayed. If GBU and OUATITW look so "perfect" is as much because of Leone as it is because of Delli Colli. You just don't have the same quality in DYS, MNIN and the early dollar films.
When shooting the wild bunch shots during the cemetery scene, the director probably asked the DoP to get a few long shots of the wild bunch. He probably mentionned the need for a very long focale (it's at least 300mm from what I can see and the effect is very strong) and also told "it must look like they are 1.000". It doesn't. At all. It looks like they are 50:
http://www.highdefdigest.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/name-nobody-3.jpg
The shot is very cool, but there is too much space on the right and on the left. Hence, it's a little cheap, while being one of the most expensive scene to shoot. Some directors are more precise than others when it comes to framing (Fincher). I don't think Leone was, appart from close ups and I don't think Valerii was.
Still looks better than any non Leone SW.
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Empty sets? In westerns often sets are not empty enough. In SWs there are always in the towns much too much people in the streets.
No no don't get me wrong: there is good empty and cheap empty. It's the job of the director to say there is a problem, it's the job of a set designer to make "empty" look cool and it's the job of the DoP to film it the way it will look cool. In MNIN some sets look very good (the saloon, some of the streets, the outside of the first Beauregard/Nobody dialogue, the cemetery...), mainly due to good set design, and many of the empty streets just look cheap. May be we're entering subjective territory here, but the opening of GBU doesn't look cheap at all it looks terrific to me.
This...
http://www.dvdactive.com/images/reviews/screenshot/2013/11/20131107181131707_original.jpg
... looks good but cheap because there is nothing in the street. The set design is good, but the composition of the frame is flawed: there is only nothingness at the right of the image. A single item would have made the trick. And that's the DoP's job.
This...
http://www.fistfuloflocations.com/maps/gbu/gbu02.jpg
... is probably WAY cheaper but looks more finished to me because there are stuffs here and there, and a dog, and abandoned carriages, and wind in the carriages, and some kind of grass in the foreground...
Keep in mind that the first image is really simpler to compose because of the many characters or group of characters.
Also:
Regular close up: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Q1-iNLu0v5g/UAQlPF6FYRI/AAAAAAAABw4/Yl3jBKop4ps/s1600/My+Name+Is+Nobody+-+inside.jpg
vs real magic: http://livingincinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/you-brought-two-too-many.jpg
Once again, it LOOKS good. Better than most movies of the area. Still way cheaper than Delli Colli work.
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I can't see the first image (try to post it again), but I assume I know what you mean, and still do not agree.
The 2 close-ups of Hill and Bronson are nor meant to have the same impact, so this does not count for me.
There are a few shots which are less good looking, but there is such stuff in GBU too, but then not in OUTW, and not in Giu la testa either. For me the photography in OUTW is superior to GBU.
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OUATITW has a better photography than any movie shot before 2000.
Photography in american movies apart from noir films really became a thing in 79 with Apocalypse Now. The 90's weren't the most glorious decade for photography (over lightened sets with either 100% realistic colors or heavy red/blue filters aren't my cup of tea... hopefully Darius Konji did most of his best work in this area) but now we're getting gorgeous stuff on a regular basis.
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When shooting the wild bunch shots during the cemetery scene, the director probably asked the DoP to get a few long shots of the wild bunch. He probably mentionned the need for a very long focale (it's at least 300mm from what I can see and the effect is very strong) and also told "it must look like they are 1.000". It doesn't. At all. It looks like they are 50:
http://www.highdefdigest.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/name-nobody-3.jpg
In the first row you can even see the gunslingers Jack killed in the opening scene.
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(DD, did I really convinced you that Leone played the Fonda part? I'm a bit lost here)
He did play it. You are lost.
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OUATITW has a better photography than any movie shot before 2000.
That's nearly as good as Irreversible being the best French film ever. But only nearly. Try again ... ;)
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Photography in american movies apart from noir films really became a thing in 79 with Apocalypse Now. The 90's weren't the most glorious decade for photography (over lightened sets with either 100% realistic colors or heavy red/blue filters aren't my cup of tea... hopefully Darius Konji did most of his best work in this area) but now we're getting gorgeous stuff on a regular basis.
So are you saying that if Storaro hadn't boarded that US bound plane from Italy, the American film industry would still be languishing in some cinematographic hinterland ???
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Haha no they would have adapted at some point but just like they lost something they took decades to find back when cinema went from mute to talking, they lost something leaving black and white for colors.
The 70's had some great photography (Chinatown, Godfather...), even the 60's (the graduate...) but Apocalypse Now is to photography is to cinema what Leone was to camerawork: you cannot watch that movie and not notice it. Hence it's influence. Many cinematographers and filmmakers say they discovered photography with Apocalypse Now.
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When shooting the wild bunch shots during the cemetery scene, the director probably asked the DoP to get a few long shots of the wild bunch. He probably mentionned the need for a very long focale (it's at least 300mm from what I can see and the effect is very strong) and also told "it must look like they are 1.000". It doesn't. At all. It looks like they are 50:
http://www.highdefdigest.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/name-nobody-3.jpg
Yes, clumping them together in a narrow road does no favors for the illusion. Even 50's generous.
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I thought the same while looking at the picture and writing that post. A possibility is that they never designed it this way but once on location the horse guy said "no way you're gonna ride my horse that fast outside the road" and they were screwed.
By the way, where did they shoot this? Chelly Canyon?
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But you're way wrong when you say the movie looks cheap... It doesn't.
Granted, it doesn't look like OUATITW, but that's simply cause that's a Leone movie. :P
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But you're way wrong when you say the movie looks cheap... It doesn't.
Granted, it doesn't look like OUATITW, but that's simply cause that's a Leone movie. :P
FACT 1: I am never wrong because of my Armenian origins. "Wrong" has no translation in Armenian. When we really have to we just use "Turkish".
FACT 2: OUATITW is a Valerii movie.
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It is not a Leone movie, hence it doesn not have or need its own section.
That's like saying SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARF'S isn't a Walt Disney Movie because Walt Disney didn't direct it
Or, EMPIRE STRIKES BACK isn't a George Lucas movie ' cuz Gl didn't direct it.
Y'all puttin' too much emphasis on the "directed by" credit.
bruce marshall
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That's like saying SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARF'S isn't a Walt Disney Movie because Walt Disney didn't direct it
Misfire: WDC was/is a production company, Sergio Leone wasn't, as far as I know.
Or, EMPIRE STRIKES BACK isn't a George Lucas movie ' cuz Gl didn't direct it.
Misfire #2: in fact it isn't. GL didn't strike me, unlike SL, as someone whose passion was focused just on the making of the movie, but more on the things 'around' the movie. Which was, without trying to diminish his role in the whole project, very practical.
Y'all puttin' too much emphasis on the "directed by" credit.
bruce marshall
You 'others' must be trying equally hard to discredit that role. Who is the 'owner' of a movie piece anyway, if not the director? - To answer that question you have to ask yourself a more practical one: who usually gets blamed if the movie ends up being a failure?
'Author' ? Please. Read above, I have no interest in illusory entities that show up only in time to harvest the cream.
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You 'others' must be trying equally hard to discredit that role. Who is the 'owner' of a movie piece anyway, if not the director?
In theory the director is 100% responsible of the movie. In real life (for movies that aren't blockbusters), he absolutely has to think and act as if he was 100% responsible, but he is only 60 to 80% responsible for it, because producers have a lot of power (as well as movie marketing people). Now we're talking about one of these rare and difficult cases where the producer is a (far most) famous director. Let's add that the movie is a western, which is the specialty of the producer. Also, the producer came up with the idea and probably supervised the writing of the script. Last, the producer directed some scenes and was often on the set (hint: regular producers never show up on set).
May be that doesn't make it a Sergio Leone film, but you can be sure it doesn't make it a 100% Valerii film either.
To answer that question you have to ask yourself a more practical one: who usually gets blamed if the movie ends up being a failure?
The "usually" argument is always fallacious. You're a fallacious person so it's ok. However, you shouldn't use it in this case since it doesn't support your point: who's usually blamed for MNIN's flaws and congratulated for its strengths? Sergio Leone.
I have a better question for you: would it be the same movie if Leone had not been involved? The movie wouldn't have happened at all.
Once again, it's kind of obvious that we're in one of these strange cases of co-directing. The movie is great so for the most part the co-directing thing went great so who cares.
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May be that doesn't make it a Sergio Leone film, but you can be sure it doesn't make it a 100% Valerii film either.
The discussion is on whether it is a SL movie or not, and not whether it's a Valerii movie or not. Since we're not on TV's forum here).
The "usually" argument is always fallacious. You're a fallacious person so it's ok. However, you shouldn't use it in this case since it doesn't support your point: who's usually blamed for MNIN's flaws and congratulated for its strengths? Sergio Leone.
Which is exactly why he didn't sign himself as the director there. A position he himself, being old school, cherished very much. He makes it very clear in that interview the director is the 'father' of the movie.
Let's face it: he knew all along it wasn't his caliber of excellence. It is unwritten yet sensed by everybody here, though you don't wanna say it, hah.
Plus, he did not write it alone.
I have a better question for you: would it be the same movie if Leone had not been involved? The movie wouldn't have happened at all.
Now that's a real facto-logically sound discussion... when the ''iffing'' starts.
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The discussion is on whether it is a SL movie or not, and not whether it's a Valerii movie or not. Since we're not on TV's forum here).
And my point is: it's both.
Which is exactly why he didn't sign himself as the director there.
He didn't want to sign another western he was afraid of doing less good.
A position he himself, being old school, cherished very much.
A position he himself, being narcissic, cherished very much.
He makes it very clear in that interview the director is the 'father' of the movie.
See previous answers. Mix them and you have the answer for that point.
Let's face it: he knew all along it wasn't his caliber of excellence. It is unwritten yet sensed by everybody here, though you don't wanna say it, hah.
I have no problem saying it's not GBU or OUATITW but it's way better than FoD and probably better than FFDM.
Plus, he did not write it alone.
Most directors don't.
Now that's a real facto-logically sound discussion... when the ''iffing'' starts.
Dude, he came up with the idea. It's not a iffing, it's a fact.
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I believe we've had the debate about whether Leone or his cinematographers have primary responsibility for the look of his movies in this thread about the cinematographers http://www.fistful-of-leone.com/forums/index.php?topic=11611.0
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And of course MNIN should have it's own section just like the other Leones. Last Days of Pompeji too. The MNIN thread has already become too large and too unclear to find information if one searches for such.
I have a solution/compromise for this debate over whether MNIN should have its own section: How about starting some new threads (in this, "Other Films" section) on specific issues RE: MNIN, rather than posting everything MNIN-related in this one thread? That way, not every issue RE: MNIN will be discussed in this one thread, it'll be easier to separate different issues about this movie, and we can stop these endless debates about whether or not MNIN deserves its own thread. The title of each of these new threads should start with "MNIN:" so for example, you can make a thread entitled, "MNIN: Whose Movie Is It?" or "MNIN: What Do You Think of the Cinematography?" etc.
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Another solution: having a "produced by Sergio Leone" section.
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What's with Pompeji?
Leone directed the whole movie (as far as I know), but the credit went to the original director. It is his real debut.
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Goddamnit, are you serious about The Last Days of Fucking Pompei?
tell me, how many times did you feel an urge to post about that movie?
We've had a thread about that movie http://www.fistful-of-leone.com/forums/index.php?topic=266.0 almost since the day these boards opened, and you know how many posts that thread has?
Six.
Count 'em. Six.
The last one being over 4 years ago.
So how about we not worry about The Last Days of Pompei, eh?
Maybe we should give Bicycle Thieves its own section, too http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ploONRiACko
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What if we open another forum only for TLDoP? www.fistful-of-pompei.com
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Goddamnit, are you serious about The Last Days of Fucking Pompei?
Still his first directed film. Nobody cares much for the Coloss either.
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Goddamnit, are you serious about The Last Days of Fucking Pompei?
tell me, how many times did you feel an urge to post about that movie?
We've had a thread about that movie http://www.fistful-of-leone.com/forums/index.php?topic=266.0 almost since the day these boards opened, and you know how many posts that thread has?
Six.
Count 'em. Six.
The last one being over 4 years ago.
So how about we not worry about The Last Days of Pompei, eh?
That's because it's a much more obscure film than Nobody, an entirely different issue from whether or not they're Leone films.
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What's with Pompeji?
Leone directed the whole movie (as far as I know), but the credit went to the original director. It is his real debut.
Yes, he may have directed it, but he's not the author of it.
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I have no problem saying it's not GBU or OUATITW but it's way better than FoD and probably better than FFDM.
I see you're having trouble with your adding, boy.
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You're the trouble.
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MNIN has btw more replies than the colossal Colossus related part of the forum
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Who's having trouble with his adding, now?
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MNIN has btw more replies than the colossal Colossus related part of the forum
I think it would be just fine if CoR didn't have its own section. It's unquestionably a Leone movie, but one that nobody talks about :P
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Who's having trouble with his adding, now?
40 % of the replies on this topic are like added zeros to the count. :)
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n_l: when you talk about "cinematography," are you only referring to the lighting/color, or are you also referring to the camera work? Seems that you are only talking about lighting/color. So you're saying directors choose the shots, but rely on the DP for the proper lighting/color?
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I'm talking about both. Some directors are very specific about the shots they want, some don't work on it at all (they explain the feeling they need and the DP is in charge). I'm pretty sure Leone was very specific about what he wanted ("big close up, long focal, cut the chin" or "travelling from there to there when this guys moves, I want to see that other guy in the background over his shoulder"). Still, they worked together with the DP, the set designer, the assistant director and tens of other guys to get the best out of each shot, because that's how things work on a set. What I'm saying is that Leone probably knew the kind of framing he wanted but he would never get the same shot with 2 different DP. Just like GBU wouldn't be the same film if Bronson had played the part of Blondie. Directors of photography matter.
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n_l: when you talk about "cinematography," are you only referring to the lighting/color, or are you also referring to the camera work? Seems that you are only talking about lighting/color. So you're saying directors choose the shots, but rely on the DP for the proper lighting/color?
Depends on the director. Ideally he should everything. The DoP's job is to make the images the director wants. This includes of course colors and light. If the DoP decides what the camera does he is some kind of co-director.
Robert Aldrich said he always told the DoP exactly what he had to do, and there was no discussion about that.
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Ask two different actors the same thing, with the same blink at the same second, you'll get 2 performances that have very little to do with each other. Ask 2 DPs for the same shot, you'll get 2 different shots. The first job of the director is to get the right people for each job. Usually the DP is a better DP than the director, the sound guy is better at sound than the director, and so on. Being better means you can have better ideas than the director because you know what sound/light/film is. When those guys reach their limit, the director kicks in and ask for more :) As a director you spend more time saying "yes" or "no" than actually describing your vision.
And believe me, as a (ultra low budget) director, I'm a control freak. Still, if there is an academy award for your position, you're not switchable.
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Perhaps it was different in the studio-system days? Take Michael Curtiz, for example. That guy directed more legendary movies than almost anyone you can name, and his name NEVER comes up when talking about great directors. Roger Ebert once quoted Andrew Sarris (the biggest advocate of the auteur theory among American critics) as saying that CASABLANCA is the exception to the auteur theory, that producer Hal Wallis is most responsible for its success. And Curtiz may have been hurt by working in many different genres, so he isn't associated with e..g. the Western like Ford or the Thriller like Hitchock; and Curtiz didn't have a recognizable style. Nevertheless, no way would a director in the post-studio system with so many hit movies have the lack of fame that Curtiz does.
So, I'd assume that generally speaking, the older movies are less controlled by director?
Also, considering how much the director is now associated with his movies, how the auteur theory is so widely accepted (if not by name, then by subconcious assumption), I think directors nowadays consciously feel a need to put their "stamp" on a movie. Which IMO is a detriment, because the decisions they make aren't solely with the best interest of art in mind, but (at least partially) "I want people to be able to say 'this is a (insert name here) movie' "
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Because if you put aside all kind of producers vs director struggle, in the end, the director approved everything you see and ear on screen. He hired the people who worked on it, he gave them directions and he said "it's a wrap!". That makes him responsible for everything. That is, except Valerii, just because. To put it in fewer words: the director is hired for his vision, hence, he IS an auteur.
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Because if you put aside all kind of producers vs director struggle, in the end, the director approved everything you see and ear on screen. He hired the people who worked on it, he gave them directions and he said "it's a wrap!". That makes him responsible for everything. That is, except Valerii, just because. To put it in fewer words: the director is hired for his vision, hence, he IS an auteur.
again, that's in the post-studio-system days. For those movies made at the height of the studio system – with contract directors banging out like 5 movies a year, finishing one on Friday and starting the next on Monday; and having to use studio contract cast/crew, including the editor – I'd have to assume that the directors were less 'auteur' than they've been in the past half-century or so.
and in those days, no, the director didn't necessarily "hire the people who worked on it." Not all of them, anyway. Also, some directors (whether by choice or not) would just dump the footage in the lap of the editor.
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This is why the auteur theory was developed: to defend the role of director and help directors around the works to become the man in charge. It was not describing facts it was a struggle to help cinema to become an art.
The auteur theory may be bullshit on the paper, it's still a theory that had a very strong and positive impact on cinema for years if not decades.
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I once heard Clint Eastwood say – I'm sure it was on an interview on a DVD bonus feature – that as far as the question of "whose film is it," he says it belongs to the writer. I think that's friggin' crazy. All you have to do is look at the 3 versions of The Maltese Falcon – or the TV version of Double Indemnity vs. the movie version – and tell me its the writer who makes the movie. And I'm not even talking about the French New Wave filmmakers like Godard, who deliberately made unconventional films with a personal touch just so that you could say, "look at me, I'm the director." Even in the studio-system days, to say it's the writer's movie is crazy.
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Does anyone happen to know in what publication this image can be found?
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OQWzB2Kx8-I/S8QMFNB-o2I/AAAAAAAACnA/kg756e1tkbA/s1600/11.jpg)
The website displaying it says they could not find a source:
http://monnomestpersonne1973.blogspot.com/2010/04/deux-maitres-pour-arlequin-sergio-leone.html
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Bump ???
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Does anyone happen to know in what publication this image can be found?
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OQWzB2Kx8-I/S8QMFNB-o2I/AAAAAAAACnA/kg756e1tkbA/s1600/11.jpg)
The website displaying it says they could not find a source:
http://monnomestpersonne1973.blogspot.com/2010/04/deux-maitres-pour-arlequin-sergio-leone.html
In any event, this is a chance to see a very hands-on film producer doing what comes naturally.
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A member over at http://forum.westernmovies.fr/ kindly informed me it can be found at the 2:54 mark here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xxONE8iedg#t=234
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DAY OF ANGER dvd (Arrow) has a great interview w.screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi.
I think he pretty much settles the issue on who did what.
And, he debunks the myth that Spielberg called this his "favorite Leone western" ; great anecdote!!!
check it out!
bruce marshall
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DAY OF ANGER dvd (Arrow) has a great interview w.screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi.
I think he pretty much settles the issue on who did what.
And, he debunks the myth that Spielberg called this his "favorite Leone western" ; great anecdote!!!
Then, please enlighten us ...
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DAY OF ANGER dvd (Arrow) has a great interview w.screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi.
I think he pretty much settles the issue on who did what.
After reading your comment, I raced to my copy of DoA and watched the interview you mentioned. I was disappointed.
Sure, Gastaldi wrote with Valerii and is a great pal, but was he actually present at the time MNIN was shot? He does not assert this, neither have I ever read anything to suggest he was. Whence, then, is the source of his information? It would appear that his evidence is a mixture of hearsay and conjecture. This is hardly dispositive.
Gastaldi pooh-poohs what Terrence Hill has said in interviews on the subject. Hill's version of who-did-what is at considerable variance with Gastaldi's. But Hill was actually there when the shooting went down. He is obviously a more credible witness than Gastaldi.
Nothing that Gastaldi says in that interview has any bearing on our understanding of who did what. All it does is tell us what Gastaldi believes about his good buddy Valerii.
And anyway, there's nothing here that addresses the more interesting question of authorship. Since we all understand that the title "director" is not necessarily synonymous with "auteur" (some directors are sometimes auteurs, others never are), we need to apply criteria that will help us see the matter in this case more clearly. But that's a topic for another day.
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Gastaldi said somewhere that the screenplay was shot exactly as it was written. And that he and Leone worked fora long on the screenplay, and that Leone worked hard on it to make the individual scenes work. E.g. by playing them himself as part of the writing.
Question would be how detailed the screenplay was in regard of camera positions and movements, objectives etc
Alain Robbe Grillet's screenplay for Last Year in Marienbad described exactly how the film should be shot, and it seems that Resnais followed the screenplay largely. Still it is considered widely as a Resnais film, even if Marienbad is very close to Robbe Grillet's other films. But then it was Resnais who demanded a screenplay from Robbe Grillet to fulfill his ideas.
In the case of Nobody what I read about the screenplay points again to the Leone who wanted Giu la testa to be directed by someone else like it was himself.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvWvC7pRn-0
Gastaldi tells how things went between Leone and Valerii.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvWvC7pRn-0
Gastaldi tells how things went between Leone and Valerii.
Maybe. But he wasn't there so he doesn't really know. He knows what Valerii told him.
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Maybe. But he wasn't there so he doesn't really know. He knows what Valerii told him.
You think he didn't have a chance to check with other sources? And especially as being a very good friend of V. (it was he who announced his death) do you think that Valerii could have bullshitted him? BTW, this is a question I couldn't care less, I just posted it for your info. I can't listen to it now, I will possibly tomorrow and report.
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Gastaldi says that Leone wanted to make the Odissey into a western. He didn't make it after having worked with many screenplayers. Of the Leone's pristine idea all it was left was the title. The story is completely Gastaldi's own. He worked at the screenplay with L. and Morsella. Leone directed 2 scenes: the saloon and the pissoir.
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Leone directed 2 scenes: the saloon and the pissoir.
That's exactly what Valerii says, all others say different. Photos show a Leone directing the scenes he claims for himself. Except the opening scene.
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Promo tag for the January issue of CINEMA RETRO>
"Did Sergio Leone "ghost direct" the cult Italian Western "My Name is Nobody"? Chris Button examines the case for and against this theory."
hAV NOT READ IT YET!
Bruce marshall
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Thanks for the heads up. O0
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Promo tag for the January issue of CINEMA RETRO>
"Did Sergio Leone "ghost direct" the cult Italian Western "My Name is Nobody"? Chris Button examines the case for and against this theory."
I was waiting for someone to post that.
I hope you all enjoy reading it ;)
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I was waiting for someone to post that.
I hope you all enjoy reading it ;)
Means you wrote it?
How many pages?
Why not a 400 pages book like the one on Pat Garrett & Billy the Kick?
Don't believe Tonino Valerii a single word!
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Someone I know in Italia spoke to Terence Hill for me for the Leone book I will never make. He said "Sergio was all over the production. He started the project and supervised it until the very end.''
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Means you wrote it?
How many pages?
Why not a 400 pages book like the one on Pat Garrett & Billy the Kick?
Don't believe Tonino Valerii a single word!
Yes - I did. I'd like to think it's pretty balanced and marshals a lot of evidence on both sides before drawing conclusions.
I haven't actually received my copy of the magazine yet so haven't seen the final version. I hope it has come out ok with the supporting photos.
I'll be interested to hear everyone's thoughts once they've had a chance to read it...
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Someone I know in Italia spoke to Terence Hill for me for the Leone book I will never make. He said "Sergio was all over the production. He started the project and supervised it until the very end.''
The funny thing is that Hill on the German DVD says a lot of things about Sergio being the one behind the movie, only he never says it definitely, just like he wasn't allowed to say it real openly. It's always kinda "you know what I mean, wink, wink "
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Because it is a touchy subject. A bigger-than-life director producing a film that his former assistant is directing! Who wants to go on a record on something like this? Especially in Italy, were you find so many (although talented & wonderful) people who feel that they are THE ONLY ONES responsible for a good film being good :).
When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.
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Gee this board now has three gringos who have contributed Western articles to CINEMA RETRO!
Mike SIegel, Novocento, and me!
Maybe we should form a "caucus'.
LOL!
Bruc 8)e Marshall
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12 years with RETRO - Dave & Lee, 12 years....
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12 years with RETRO - Dave & Lee, 12 years....
How did you acquire that massive collection of movie memorabilia, MIke
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When my father died in 1971 my mother started to "sent" me to the movies, so I was safe & away for some time. Age 7 I saw James Bond, age 10 I saw STAR WARS and age 11 I saw EASY RIDER, THE WILD BUNCH and ENTER THE DRAGON. So I fell in love with films quite early in my Life, some 40 years ago, and watched 3000 films in 10 years, 'started collecting immediately. You remember the dream sequence in DAY FOR NIGHT? Truffaut stealing the CITIZEN KANE lobby cards? 100% autobiographical :).
So in 40 years I assembled a lot of stuff :). Well, not just "stealing" of course - working at cinemas, for distributors, knowing major collectors... Gotta go back to my guests before they run out of Tequila :).
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I saw 2 short clips of this movie. Is this Blazing Saddles part 2? I hate western comedies...
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I saw 2 short clips of this movie. Is this Blazing Saddles part 2? I hate western comedies...
Yes
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I saw 2 short clips of this movie. Is this Blazing Saddles part 2? I hate western comedies...
I hate all comedies. I am a deadly serious guy >:D >:D
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Il mio nome è Thomas:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-8kLYZP2-0
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Il mio nome è Thomas:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-8kLYZP2-0
Aeh.
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This one was a little hokey for me, more comedy and not as plausable (espcially the shots of the what seemed like 5,000 wild bunch, lol) I just don't rate it up there with the others.
For me anyway as soon as a SW pushes the reality envelope, I loose a little respect for it. For example I think it was maybe "Sabatta"?, that had the gun hidden in the banjo, or the troop of acrobats, or maybe both, that was to me more "Wild Wild West" ish. Take it with a grain of salt.
Sabata was a masterpiece compared to this. Its as if Sergio decided to tear down everything that made his films great. I turned it off halfway through. 2 out of 10...
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Sabata was a masterpiece compared to this. Its as if Sergio decided to tear down everything that made his films great. I turned it off halfway through. 2 out of 10...
Then you missed some of the most beautiful scenes to be found in a Leone film, or in other words: some of the most beautiful scenes in any kind of western.
And Sabata, really? Sabata is a nice film, but there's nothing in it which could be compared to the best stuff in Nobody.
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Go for the throat, Stanton. >:D
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I suggest teamwork: you hold him, I beat him (or the other way round) ...
What do you think?
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I think the beating should be administered by . . . (wait for it) . . . Nobody.
In other words, the film is its own best advocate. Let's give moorman the Ludovico treatment: toothpicks propping open the eyelids, saline solution, and MNIN on continuous loop. He'll come around in the end.
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Sound also pretty reasonable ...
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Then you missed some of the most beautiful scenes to be found in a Leone film, or in other words: some of the most beautiful scenes in any kind of western.
And Sabata, really? Sabata is a nice film, but there's nothing in it which could be compared to the best stuff in Nobody.
There was a ton of stuff that I saw in the first half of the film that had Leone played it straight, this would have been a good addition to his other westerns...
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There was a ton of stuff that I saw in the first half of the film that had Leone played it straight, this would have been a good addition to his other westerns...
Yes Straight and restrained, would have improved it.
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Yes Straight and restrained, would have improved it.
Why Henry Fonda would sign up for this is questionable...
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Well, that film gave him some of the very best scenes of his whole career, so there is that.
The fact that it's a wonderful film is another good point.
Last, there is that thing about you two being so wrong, so very very wrong.
(Objectively speaking, of course. :-*)
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There was a ton of stuff that I saw in the first half of the film that had Leone played it straight, this would have been a good addition to his other westerns...
That intro at the barber's was entirely shot by Valerii mind you. Leone was still in Rome then. That's not to say Leone's influence wasn't felt of course.