A Bullet for the General

I'm starting to get it, I think. The gig with spaghetti westerns, that is. Capitalism stinks, the Establishment is corrupt and everybody over thirty in clean clothes is likely to be shot. The good guys are greasy, sweaty, and rude. They talk when their mouths are stuffed with chicken stolen off the plate of the corrupt property holder. The good guys are a mescal induced nightmare of the progeny of hippies and Hell's Angels - a peculiarly sixties vision of a union of the odious with the sociopath.
The Hippie Creed is announced on the international trailer to A BULLET FOR THE GENERAL: "They gambled their lives for absolute freedom to do as they please." Right on, man.
None of this makes A BULLET an unpleasant viewing experience, but I didn't really much care who was going to be shot next, which was a good thing considering the body count in this one. Gian Maria Volonte plays El Chuncho, the leader of a band of marauders who loves The People. Klaus Kinski plays El Santo, El Chuncho's brother and a man who loves God. Lou Castel plays the gringo Bill Tate, dubbed "Nino" by El Chuncho, a man who loves Money. Castel is on a secret mission (he's carrying a golden bullet in his valise. Hint, hint) and to blend in with the banditos he's dresses up like a bank teller throughout the movie. How did he keep he shirt so clean and his collar so starched?
At one point El Chuncho tries to explain it to the uncomprehending Nino. While bear hugging a peasant he says "He's poor and filthy but he's a human being. Man the same as you. Do you understand?" Right on, man. Where was that little speech when you were murdering the land owner and ravishing his wife?
A BULLET FOR THE GENERAL is alright, but it might be a tough ride if you're like me and want someone to root for.


DAMIANI - KINSKI - VOLONTE : THE GOOD, THE BAD AND.. THE BAD   July 18, 2002
wdanthemanw (Geneva, Switzerland)
9 out of 9 found this review helpful

Directed by italian director Damiano Damiani in 1967, A BULLET FOR THE GENERAL is a pure marvel released now in the DVD standard by Anchor Bay. Just two trailers as extra features but imperial sound and images justify a must-buy status for this movie.

Now for the actors. Gian-Maria Volonte is exceptional in the role of El Chuncho, a rather likeable outlaw who considers that the mexican revolution is a good opportunity to make money by selling rifles to the revolutionaries. His brother Klaus Kinski, as blonde as El Chuncho is black, is more disturbing as a priest convinced that social justice must be brought into this world by all possible means, preferably with the help of explosives and machine-guns. El Nino, the character played by the colombian born actor Lou Castel, is even more intriguing with his attitude a la Clint Eastwood. He's the meanest of all but nonetheless develops a strange friendship for his alter ego Volonte.

Four years before Sergio Leone's A FISTFUL OF DYNAMITE, A BULLET FOR THE GENERAL is already visiting the mexican revolution but with an engaged point of view that doesn't leave unharm politicians, working-class people, wealthy ranchers, pistoleros, revolutionaries or americans. Great fun with food for the mind, what more can you expect from cinema ?

A DVD zone your library.


lots to enjoy   November 16, 2001
6 out of 6 found this review helpful

anyone who has seen For a few dollars more knows that the partnership of kinski-volonte is potentially explosive, unfortunately while volonte is hypnotic kinski suffers from a small part and poor dubbing. However Kinski goes further than his For few dollar performance, this time totally taking on the mantle of religious icon, shouting 'in the name of the father' whilst throwing grenades and dressing in messianic fashion (perhaps the producers had seen his infamous 'jesus tour' where he proclaimed himself christ only to have abuse hurled at him from the audience and more worryingly because he perhaps believed it: see 'my best fiend'). It is a shame so few volonte films are available in the US and britain (investigation of a citizen above suspicion for one)

the overtly political screenplay is by franco solinas, rare for so good a writer to be employed on a spaghetti western, rather than extreme violence this film is a thoughtful meditation on themes both political and personal, concerning friendship is very touching though the film makes sure where it stands on the issue of politics and friendship conflicting with the end. the film as a whole carries surprisingly heavy emotional weight.

The best of damiano damiani's mise en scene is breathtaking and in this dvd version the photography is finally appreciable . With morricone involved in the music (though not writing it,luis enrique bacalov using some of his score from django, himself a fine composer for film)there is a lot of audio fun to be had with this film too.

There is a wonderful ending and a casualness that reminds me of films like the roaring twenties, when volonte shoots a comrade for threatening the life of his new friend a subordinate asks him 'but why? guapo was your friend too?' volonte replies 'eh, guapo is no more'.

Being honest it is not really a spaghetti western as such, the violence is often shown without stylistic camera work, merely the killing (alot of the time summary executions of unarmed prisoners) being in the centre of the frame without cutting during the deed. there is no tense pause or close ups, just casual violence. It is more a historical drama of mexican revolution, it would be thought so if the language was subtitled rather than dubbed. Maltin misses the point, is plenty of bloodletting but at no point is it sensationalist or 'gory'. It is a mature film unlike most 'spaghetti' westerns.

interesting moments and comedy abound, but the bottom line is, if you have seen for a few dollars more and the prospect of seeing kinski and volonte riding through the desert accompanied by a thunderous score doesn't give you a smile, you should probably avoid this one. Me, i love it. It is a fine film in its own right and a firm rebuttal to the nay sayers of european westerns, powerful and driven by a performance of immense character (as usual) by kinski and pricipally volonte (pleas anchor bay, more of his films, he is wonderful).


fast, violent, atmospheric - but flawed Western   December 4, 2005
Robert W. Grandcolas (Eatontown, NJ United States)
6 out of 7 found this review helpful

The Bad:
The sound quality on the DVD is flat and lacking dynamics and the sound seems out of sync (or is it just bad dubbing?)
The film opens with an inappropriate "Untouchables style" narration that devastates a good opening sequence and annoyingly hangs over the beginning of the film.
Most dubbing actors emote with voices that are too loud. (Will dubbing actors ever learn to talk softly?)
Gian Maria Volente overacts and upstages just about everyone in a very uneven performance. Klaus Kinski is miscast in an non-essentail role as a Mexican bandito and dubbed with a ludicrous and cavalier voice that totally ruins his performance.
Shooting deaths seldom appear credible.
There are continuity errors galore: Train passengers intermittently look the wrong direction when talking to people outside the windows. A well-meaning lieutenant is inexplicitly shot in the belly even though he is lying flat on his stomach.
Characters make too many illogical decisions.
There is a feeling of hurriedness and sloppiness in the filmmaking.
Mexicans are portrayed as one of five familiar stereotypes: lackey solders, addlebrained peasants, and murdering banditos, corrupt officials or overly-idealized revolutionaries.
The film is very uneven as it jumps from political allegory to action film.
The writer and director ruin almost every scene that could contain credible moving drama by instead choosing to bludgeon us with one-sided and sophomoric political and social metaphors.

The Good:
Strangly many parts of the film are very rewatchable.
The film print is very very good if a bit soft.
Like many spaghetti westerns ABFTG boosts a great music score that perfectly fits the locations and action.
There are a multitude of similarities to the Wild Bunch just begging for comparisons.
The film is full of great western costumes props, backdrops and landscapes.
There is great atmosphere - especially arid deserts and extreme heat.
There are two good action scenes - banditos attacking a train and a gunfight in the desert with an old machine gun.
One truly great vignette - a Mexican commander is chained to the train track crucifixion style, as banditos pick off the train occupants one by one. Watching the helpless and doomed lieutenant and his soldiers (even though poorly dubbed and full of continuity errors) is one of the most memorable and atmospheric scenes of any western.
Two very good performances - Martine Beswick although given some bad dialogue is otherwise excelent as the female member of the Mexican banditos.
Lou Castel is perfectly cast as a resourceful, courageous but cold-blooded hitman. Castel's "Nino", looking like a very young twenties-style-ganster, riding with bandits, all the while orchesrating an assasination is the most compelling aspect of the film. It is very convincing that his calculated innocent voice and facial expressions could con anyone. Unfortunately the film-makers choice of forcing Castel to go out of character as an artless dandy in a sloppy political metaphor of an ending almost ruins Castel's otherwise perfect performance.
Its a shame that the film makers did not chose Beswick and Castel for the center of the film - they would have really had something.

Recommendation

All in all I recommend this film to spaghetti western fans. Fans of the American western may enjoy the film for it more closely resembles an American Western style along the lines of the Wild Bunch or The Treasure of Sierra Madre rather then a Leone film. But understand the film is uneven, sloppy, sometimes illogical, tragically dubbed and like most veiled propaganda films this one's silly, and one sided political metaphors get in the way of the entertainment.

Note:
Good Spaghetti westerns are known for their terrific music and sounds effects. But the great music and ambiance are almost ruined by the flat sound quality on the DVD. A sweetened soundtrack would have added immensely to ABFTG. Anchor Bay cleaned up one minute of music for the main menu - that minute is beautiful, and full of potential. If that had been done for the rest of the film I would have given this DVD version of ABFTG 4 stars.