Thoughts on this film

[shorty larsen]

Duck you sucker DVD was just released in Italy, but only in zone 2 in only in italian for the languages. There's no other subtitle. Italians could really have do better!!!

Anyway Duck You Sucker is my favourite Leone's movie for one simply reason: the extraordinary music of Morricone.

I think the Morricone score for this movie is the most sad of all, specially when Juan's son are killed (remember?).

OUTW is probably the best Morricone film of all, but DYS is my favourite one.

[nighteagle]

DYS is a child of the early 70´s in Italy when society was under a crushing stress ending in student revolts, street fights and Red Brigade terrorism. Movies dealing with mexican revolution were well accepted, because they reminded of a situation close to what was going on in Italy then.Sollima and Damiani had big success with Big Gundown, Run Man Run and Bullet  for the General. The knife-throwing Cuchillo was even a banner for student movements in urban fights, like el Che Guevara.
Leone was , under these circumstances, forced to depart a little from the usual  style of filmmaking, tending towards a more "intellectual" style, still maintaining his wit and great feel for the visual perception . Great movie!

[noodles_leone]

The classement of his movies (in my opinion):
1)Once upon a time in america
2)Once upon a time in the west
3)The good the bad and the ugly
4)Once upon a time, the revolution (french title)
5)a few dollars more
6)a fistful of dollars
7)the colossus of rhodes

and "once upon a time, the revolution" is the best movie about revolution, and one of the best movies about friends.

[shorty larsen]

I totally agree with this las t commentary.

Remember the seen between Steiger and Coburn, when Steiger explains that the revolutionary elite (the intelectual leaders), doesn't give a sh... about the people ("the ones who reads books and the ones who doesn't").

Coburn is so shocked by this truth that he has to throw away the book he was reading, Bakunin's "Nationalism".

It's interesting to see how Steiger's Sean, a profesional revolutionary, slowly loses his revolutionary "faith", he's absolutely disgusted with the revolutionary theory and its leaders who double cross their own (the doctoi in the film) to save their own butt.

[TBPJMR]

Dear Shorty, you must forgive me this little correction but the Bakunin's book that Mallory throws away in that scene is called "Patriotism" and not "Nationalism".

However, by the time of that episode Sean has not yet discovered the doctor's betrayal. This to say that I think he had already been in some way disillusioned about revolutions in his first experience of that kind (the I.R.A. contest). Maybe he was reading Bakunin just to try to regain some confidence with the matter, but John's passionate words make him clear he is losing his time...

Bye and bye

[Jon]

I think this is  Sergio,s most under-rated film.Although maybe not his best,it is the one I have probably watched the most.The way it starts in comic vein and gradually gets more and more serious is interesting and the use of flashbacks is superb,plus there is possibly Morricone,s best soundtrack ever.
P.S.Why do some versions omit the final flashback?I think Seans reverie before he dies ,accompanied by THAT wonderful theme,is Sergio,s most beautiful scene ever.

[shorty larsen]

Jon, I'm a great fan of Morricone also (I have almost 70 cds of him) and I agree that it's probably one of his best scores ever.

TBPJMR: You're wright, it's not "Nationalism" but "Patriotism". I was confused by the fact that Bakunin never wrote this book. I know that it was an us compilation title of some of his writings, but Bakunin never wrote a book called "Patriotism".

I don't know if Mallory reads the book in order to try to regain some confidence wiht the matter. I think the presence of this book in the movie is symbolic. Don't forget that the book is founded later by the general of the mexican army. Beeing from south america I can tell you that THIS IS VERY SYMBOLIC. The military class all over Latin America is extremely catholic, extremely conservative (is this the wright word in english?) and hates all the left, revolutionary, marxist or anarchist thought. This is all military regimes in Latin America were about.

[Sackett]

While I believe that OUATITW is the best western, I have always thought that Duck You Sucker was the deepest, and it is my second favorite.  You had real people caught up in real situations that they had no control over.  You had Coburn trying to escape his past and winding up in the same situation again.  The film, as a whole, had a very melancoly tone.  Of course the music was haunting as well.  

[Jon]

I agree.A Fistful of Dynamite was the first Leone film to feature genuine character development in the 'classic' sense[which was carried on by OUATIA.Both Sean and Juan go through changes,one of the reasons that this film is probably Leone,s most emotional.Much of this centers around Sean,but i also think the scene where Juan finds his children dead is the most moving scene in a Leone film.And ofcourse,at the end,Juan has just about lost everything.His final line'what about me? is so sad[it annoys me when some versions of the film cut this].What starts out as a virtual comedy[a partial spoof of the 'political'spaghetti westerns of Damiani Damiano etc.] becomes something much deeper.

[shorty larsen]

We should talk more often about this great movie, my favourite Leone's one.

Let's not forget the GREAT  Rod Steiger, 2 times oscar nominated and 1 time winner.

[Jon]

Shorty,I agree with you on both counts,I think that this movie is always being under-rated.

I love Steiger's performance in this film-some people say he over-acts in it but I say to them watch the scene where his children are killed-he expresses so much emotion in his face and when he says"I never counted them before"he is quite restrained which makes the scene even sadder.

Apart from the sequence I mentioned in an earlier post,I also love the Mesa Verde attack scene.Although it has been sais that this film misses much of the Leone 'touch'[wrongly I think]I think this sequence is another great example of the combination of Leone's direction and Morricone's music,I think this may have been another time where Morricone wrote the music first,it is so well choreograghed,I particularly love the bits of Mozart[or is it Beethoven ,I'm not sure?] you here when Juan opens the doors and just sees lots of political prisoners.I can remember a few other instances where Morricone quoted classical music to make a point[i.e.Face To Face].

[cigar joe]

My problem is that I have not seen this movie in such a long time and I do not even know which version that I did see then the last time. So I feel I'm at a disadvantage and cannot comment on this movie.

[SEB]

the worst movie leone made was the colossus of rhodes

this is a great movie i saw it 20 times think about it

1-an ex ira soldier on a bicycle with a trench full of dynamite
2-a poor father who take care of is family and work with is old papa(what a look the boot)who become one of the best of pancho villa
3-a loud mouth doctor who use poor people  and get them kill for THEM
4-you got the bad guy he dont talk and he is mean as a nazi

a)them you got the flash back and the comparison between sean past and the present

b)you got juan who suffer the death of the family so leone make him become like sean

you got the best use of music in cinematic histoy
this his a great movie about social difference ,church ,politicien and money

about steiger  ,and coburn they never been as great after and it a good thing leone didnt take wallach cause it make tuco from gbd unique and by the same juan

[simon_foulkes]

Well personally I think that FoD is better than the first two "dollars" films.  The story is a lot more involving whilst losing none of the stylistic excess of the first two. It has to be said though that the two 'Once upon a time ...' movies take the cake.

[sacco]

I am in agreement with more recent posts. Seen many times, only full version once and it all makes much more sense. It's the greatest. It's beautiful. Coburn combines great physical prescence with an emotionally humane performance as he did in The Illustrated Man. Coburn's accent, though funny, does not distract from a solid performance.
Pity about the historical contradiction of Mexican revolution and formation of IRA. I was a bit gutted when I found out for some reason.
Favourite scene is when Juan reaches Mesa Verde and finds it full of soldiers engaging in repression. The robbery is pretty brilliant too. I always think Mesa Verde when encountering dissappointment.
As a political spectator and futurologist I find this film to be my inspiration. Kinship and compassion may not be as strong as government, ideology and people with guns, but they're what it's all about.