Review of Fistful of Dollars, A

Introduction

The film that gave birth to a genre, the Spaghetti Western, A Fistful of Dollars has always been one of my favourite films. Itself a remake of Akira Kurosawa`s seminal Yojimbo, A Fistful of Dollars can be regarded as a classic in its own right. This is the movie that made Clint Eastwood a movie star and introduced the world to the magnificent scores of Ennio Morricone. Sergio Leone gave the words "Extreme close up" new meaning. But does it get the treatment it deserves on DVD?

The story, often imitated but rarely bettered is well known by now. But to recap, a mysterious stranger rides into the small town of San Miguel, looking to make his fortune. His only assets are his wits and his gun. San Miguel is a town cursed with two bosses who fight for supremacy. On one side, the Baxters and on the other, the ruthless Rojos, led by the psychotic Ramon. The stranger, known only as Joe, with the reluctant aid of the beleaguered saloon owner, Silvanito concocts a plan to play both sides against the middle and make money from both sides. However, he hasn`t figured on Marisol, Ramon`s concubine and feels uncharacteristic sympathy towards her. His desire to help her and Ramon`s ruthlessness will lead to disaster.

Video

"Completely restored with enhanced sound and picture quality" is printed on the back of the case, and after wearing out the video and having sat through countless television showings, I looked forward to seeing Fistful at its best. To be fair, the film is in the best condition that I have ever seen it. Unfortunately that isn`t saying much as the presentation is perhaps the worst possible. The picture is given a 2.35:1 letterbox treatment, which is a let down to be sure. It`s true that the image is quite good, with strong colours, but the film still shows its age with a few scratches and blips. There are a few scenes where the brightness seems to flicker and again in two instances I saw some digital artefact.

Audio

I understand the point of view of the purist, that a film should be seen as close to the original form as possible and in some instances agree with the sentiment. Here the soundtrack is given the mono treatment, giving most of my speakers a well-earned break. I`m in two minds about this, part of me would have liked to have the sound enhanced to take advantage of current technology. But far more important is the sound quality, as there are moments where you can hear crackles and pops, and good old-fashioned hiss. I really don`t want to know how bad the film was before it was restored.

Features

There is a cute animated menu, with a gecko crawling up and down a wall, and the only extra is the original theatrical trailer. You do get subtitles as well, but they are useless on a 16: 9 television

Conclusion

What can I say? The performances are excellent, Clint Eastwood is on top form as the man with no name, Gian Mario Volante is brilliant as the psychotic Ramon Rojo and Jose `Pepe` Calvo gives an inspired performance as the saloon owner, Silvanito. Sieghardt Rupp is especially devilish as Ramon`s brother, Esteban. The cast was notoriously European, with Clint Eastwood the only American. So you had Germans, Spaniards and Italians all speaking their lines in their native tongues and the film being dubbed for the necessary markets. You quickly get used to the dubbing and can easily enjoy the often-brilliant dialogue.


Sergio Leone directs with his trademark style and the music of Ennio Morricone simply lifts the film to another plateau. Is it better than the Kurosawa original? The style of Leone plus the outstanding soundtrack by Morricone coupled with the brilliant characters of Joe, Silvanito and Ramon contribute much to this film. In fact all of the principal characters are charismatic and engaging. The story is well suited to the western genre and the film feels very natural. Yojimbo on the other hand has a stronger storyline, and all the characters are very well formed. Kurosawa has an excellent eye for human observation, and his film is a far more human piece of cinema. At its heart the comparison is one of style against substance and for me Yojimbo is marginally the better film. That shouldn`t detract from A Fistful of Dollars, which is surely a classic in its own right, or as Biff Tannen said in Back to the Future 2, "Great flick, great friggin` flick!"

It`s just a shame that the quality of the DVD doesn`t match. I`m all for preserving the original format of a movie, but the picture requires further restoration and the sound is simply below par.