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A Fistful of Dollars / Realism: Is it Important?
« on: November 06, 2003, 11:06:11 AM »
I enjoy greatly the intelligent conversation concerning the mind of Leone and the hidden meanings in his movies.
The amount of criticism based on the realism in his films though causes me concern. If we are talking unrealistic then we could go on all night, and encompass most of Leone's movies. If you remember the scene in FAFDM of Eastwood shooting the Colonel’s hat into the air and the amazing ricochet of the bullets hitting…..material?
That was also highly questionable but visually effective.
Then in FOD the scene of the soldiers "sleeping" in the cemetery and who strangely remained asleep throughout the ensuing gun battle. The fact that Ramone went to the trouble of sneaking up, and shooting them in the back, whilst supposedly believing that they were alive, was very unrealistic.
When you take into account that in the West at its peak, a revolver cost the then princely sum of $100 second-hand, and only the very rich, or the very bad, could afford one. The revolver was accurate to a range of 15 yards, not guaranteed to hit a barn door any further than that. The rifle in its early stages was not much better and even more expensive and rare. So this makes nonsense of most of the shooting accomplishments of the western stars in the most famous movies.
The real Annie Oakley was as ugly as a horse, or worse some say, but most western women are portrayed as beauties in the movies, again unreal but who cares.
In fact Annie was so unattractive and desperate she had to rape men at gunpoint to get laid, and did so frequently. When you imagine the probable lack of hygiene at the time, along with the heat and the lack of sanitary wares modern women take for granted, the stench must have been overpowering.
I think to dissect these movies causes us to lose what we liked about them in the first place, the escape from reality and the roles we all wished we could play, but in the safety of our minds. Sergio Leone takes us on a journey of escapism in his movies, they are mythical and about as real as King Arthur, albeit historically and factual correct in some cases.
The clothes, surroundings and the weaponry are in most cases accurate, but the deeds that were done by the individuals wearing those clothes, then take on a surrealist quality. I am all for enjoying them as a spectacle, and to watch in awe as Leone goes about his craft, but aside from that I try not to read too much into things.
The amount of criticism based on the realism in his films though causes me concern. If we are talking unrealistic then we could go on all night, and encompass most of Leone's movies. If you remember the scene in FAFDM of Eastwood shooting the Colonel’s hat into the air and the amazing ricochet of the bullets hitting…..material?
That was also highly questionable but visually effective.
Then in FOD the scene of the soldiers "sleeping" in the cemetery and who strangely remained asleep throughout the ensuing gun battle. The fact that Ramone went to the trouble of sneaking up, and shooting them in the back, whilst supposedly believing that they were alive, was very unrealistic.
When you take into account that in the West at its peak, a revolver cost the then princely sum of $100 second-hand, and only the very rich, or the very bad, could afford one. The revolver was accurate to a range of 15 yards, not guaranteed to hit a barn door any further than that. The rifle in its early stages was not much better and even more expensive and rare. So this makes nonsense of most of the shooting accomplishments of the western stars in the most famous movies.
The real Annie Oakley was as ugly as a horse, or worse some say, but most western women are portrayed as beauties in the movies, again unreal but who cares.
In fact Annie was so unattractive and desperate she had to rape men at gunpoint to get laid, and did so frequently. When you imagine the probable lack of hygiene at the time, along with the heat and the lack of sanitary wares modern women take for granted, the stench must have been overpowering.
I think to dissect these movies causes us to lose what we liked about them in the first place, the escape from reality and the roles we all wished we could play, but in the safety of our minds. Sergio Leone takes us on a journey of escapism in his movies, they are mythical and about as real as King Arthur, albeit historically and factual correct in some cases.
The clothes, surroundings and the weaponry are in most cases accurate, but the deeds that were done by the individuals wearing those clothes, then take on a surrealist quality. I am all for enjoying them as a spectacle, and to watch in awe as Leone goes about his craft, but aside from that I try not to read too much into things.