"We don't like weaklings here." In a bad time and in a bad place called Douglas, a dressed stranger Joe appears from a needle. It was the only thing missing in a dusty hole temporarily caught between two fires as a disputed border territory. While the United States and Mexico are trying to deal with this difficult situation in a civilized manner, some third decided to solve it exclusively in their favor, and not the order of the US representative temporarily left to monitor the order. There is very little time left before the thunder strikes, the blow of which will affect every citizen, and good manners are unlikely to serve well in the fire of cruel violence that burns outward decency and exposes to the bones the true nature of man. . .
In the track record of the Italian director Giorgio Stegani, in the "Leonian" manner, covered in the credits with the English-language name George Finley, there are not so many films, and in the aggregate of works he can rather be called a screenwriter. But since art at its best relies on quality, not quantity, it is important to note that the work of this director is distinguished by sometimes elusive and sometimes very pronounced originality. Full confirmation of this observation is the western "Gentleman Killer", for which the debuting in the genre Stegani acquired a strong cast, designed to support an equally strong script.
At the forefront of the action are two notable figures of longtime partners in the representation of the Wild West in the European style. Well, it is true, Anthony Steffen and Eduardo Fajardo can be remembered by joint works even to a simple viewer, not to mention connoisseurs. Yes, they have not had the most successful unions, but not in this case.
Traditionally seeking to add soulfulness and martyrdom to his hero’s self-sacrifice, Steffen as Joe here does not cause any irritation. As for Fajardo, his brutal merry man Ferrokas, reminiscent of the revived pirate-blot from the cartoon “Blue Puppy”, in general one of the best genre images embodied by the artist.
It is difficult to single out someone from the performers of the second plan, but this is not a reason to make claims for inexpressiveness. In fact, each such, even the most inconspicuous hero is called upon to act as a kind of “spotlight”, illuminating the main confrontation from its unique everyday perspective and making it even more multidimensional.
Even in the smallest details, the director and the plot do not allow you to doubt your thoughtful, balanced approach, and this makes the picture truly dramatic. But! What is there with the denouement, which is sometimes able to mercilessly and quickly cross out all the efforts of the film crew with some ridiculous or banal turn?
In short, no, the junction holds the stamp. In general, it deserves the title of one of the main decorations of the film, maintaining an emotional peak until the very last minutes, and brilliantly closing the story at a truly federal level of its beginning. Something resembling the inside-out outcome of Sergio Corbucci’s The Great Silence, which came out a year later, the culmination in combination with convex images, the confident camera work of Francisco Marina and the expressive music of the majestic Bruno Nicolai, makes Gentleman Jo... uccidi one of the brightest representatives of the dawn of spaghetti westerns.
Not a masterpiece, but bright, and impressive to the nuances, like living his own separate life laughter "blots" Farrakasa!
9 out of 10
