Giù la testa (1972)

Like Once Upon a Time in the West, I also wanted to watch this movie because of Ennio Morricone. I was reluctant at first, because this one was about a revolution. If I had known that the original American title was 'Duck You Sucker' I would have thought twice before deciding! 'Giù la testa' actually means 'Get Your Head Down', and there was nothing wrong in learning a bit about Mexican Revolution in 1913, so, again, why not?

Rod Steiger plays Juan, a Mexican bandit who has 6 sons, each from a different woman. In the beginning of the movie, he robs a luxurious coach by disgusing himself as a peasant. Interesting to see what the high class people say about him. Director Sergio Leone did close-up shots of eating mouths, thus fortifies the scene, that the gossips they are telling are as disgusting as the images. This bandit then meets an IRA explosive expert, John (James Coburn), who is on his way to join the revolution. Juan wants John's help to blow up the Mesa Verde bank, but Juan doesn't know that the bank is now used as a political prison. Juan raids the 'bank' and frees many political prisoners and becomes a great hero. He will become a hero again after killing the governor in order to revenge the death his sons. At first, Juan doesn't care about the revolution. He believes that the poor are only used. "I know what I am talking about when I am talking about the revolutions. The people who read the books go to the people who can't read the books, the poor people, and say, "We have to have a change." So, the poor people make the change, ah? And then, the people who read the books, they all sit around the big polished tables, and they talk and talk and talk and eat and eat and eat, eh? But what has happened to the poor people? They're dead! That's your revolution. So, please, don't tell me about revolutions!" However, as the movie goes on, we see Juan is forced to let himself used. He joins the revolution.

The 2 disc-Special Edition of this movie helps a lot in understanding it. I was tired when I watch this, and was lost at the cave scene because I had seen Juan's sons left with Dr. Villega (played by Romollo Valli. He was in Visconti's Il Gattopardo, but I didn't recognize him at once. In Il Gattopardo he played a priest who wasn't respected at all. Dr. Villega, on the other hand, is intelligent and elegant.), Juan and John blow up the bridge, and the next thing we see is Juan's sons dead in the cave. I was tempted to get back to previous chapter to see if I had fallen asleep, but after listening to the extras, I knew that there was no such scene.

Interesting to listen to the history of this movie and I am lucky that the first version I see is the complete version.