A Fistful of Dynamite

A Fistful of Dynamite is a 1971 film by Sergio Leone, which is centred on two individuals, a poor Mexican bandit (played by Rod Steiger) and an ex-IRA revolutionary (James Coburn), who meet during the turbulent Mexican Revolution. The movie was written by Luciano Vincenzoni, Sergio Donati, and Sergio Leone. Peter Bogdanovich was the intended director, but the role ended up in Leone's hands. Because of this switch, some fans of the film contest that A Fistful of Dynamite is actually two films in one (the first part dealing with Mesa Verde whereas the second deals with the revolution).

Related Topics:
1971 - Sergio Leone - Rod Steiger - IRA - James Coburn - Mexican Revolution - Luciano Vincenzoni - Sergio Donati - Peter Bogdanovich

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Compared to Leone's previous film, Once Upon a Time in the West, it didn't gain much popularity. One reason for this could be Leone's insistence on using the Duck, You Sucker title, which, unintendedly, gave potential movie-goers the impression that the film was a comic western (Duck, You Sucker is a direct translation from the Italian title, Giú La Testa).

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A close relative of Lawrence of Arabia in terms of scenery, A Fistful of Dynamite boasts awesome colour cinematography and beautiful, rich shots of the desert landscape.

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Social commentary by Leone is also present, more so than in any other of his films. Throughout the course of the film he delves deep into the class differences that shaped Mexico during its bloody revolution. The main villain, Gunter Ruiz (Antoine Saint-John), is presented as a Nazi-like tank commander, complete with an armored car. Throughout the movie there are numerous scenes of execution of revolutionaries by Mexican Federales. These touches were intended by Leone - who grew up in Benito Mussolini's Italy during World War II - to represent a parallel with fascism. The movie was also, despite Leone's left-wing sympathies, meant as a sort of criticism of other left-wing "revolutionary" film makers such as Jean-Luc Goddard, and the recent spate of so-called "Zapata Westerns" which had hijacked the Spaghetti Western genre. For this, the film suffered a great many edits and cuts. To date, many versions of the film have been released, each one offering previously unseen material.

Related Topics:
Antoine Saint-John - Nazi - Benito Mussolini - World War II - Fascism - Jean-Luc Goddard - Zapata Westerns

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Running times of the film range from 121 minutes (1972 version), 138 min. (1989), and 154 min. (1994) to more recent and more uncut versions of 160 and 162 minutes (the latter version being available only in Italian). Much to the disappointment of fans, a number of the aforementioned versions have omitted pivotal scenes, most notably that of the final flashback (some films only list the shortened flashback, if at all).

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A Fistful of Dynamite features a number of Leone trademarks namely: close-ups on eyes and mouths, hauntingly beautiful soundtracks by Ennio Morricone, and the elusive fortunes.

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