Il mio nome è Nessuno aka My Name Is Nobody (1973)

[drinkanddestroy]

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

[stanton]

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.

[Novecento]

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.

[drinkanddestroy]

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

[drinkanddestroy]

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.

[stanton]

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 ...

[drinkanddestroy]

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

[stanton]

Then we agree that we disagree.

[drinkanddestroy]

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.

[Groggy]

Light-hearted does not mean comedy.

[stanton]

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.

[drinkanddestroy]

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

[Groggy]

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

Says Leone is one of his favorite directors to work with here:
http://www.terencehill.com/interview_qa.html

No explicit quote but an inference can be drawn.

[dave jenkins]

The German blu-ray has shipped!

[Groggy]

Post screencaps please.