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Hi all,
This is a little out of left field, but I watched a DVD last night that could have been scripted by Mike in his more adventurous, Western-inflected persona. It's not a well-known movie at all, but is book-ended by two famous movies.
In 1968, Sergio Leone made the first of the famous bookends: "Once Upon a Time in the West," with Henry Fonda and Claudia Cardinale. 16 years later, in 84, he released "Once Upon a Time in America." What's less well known is that there was a middle movie in this loose trilogy: "Once Upon a Time During the Revolution," or "A Fistful of Dynamite," or my favorite title: "Duck, You Sucker." (1971)
It's an absolutely great movie, my favorite Leone film, but really fell through the cracks compared to his Spaghetti Westerns, which it's really not. It takes place during the Mexican Revolution, has strong anarchic overtones, and features motorbikes and tanks, a real departure from his other work. But the twisted good vs. evil (who's good and who's evil?) theme in the movie is so typical of the Law and Chaos ideas of MM. James Coburn's IRA agent-on-the-run plays a scalliwag in the finest Blood tradition, with perhaps even a non-urban nod to Jerry Cornelius to be found. The evil, tank-driving German is a dead ringer for Prince Gaynor, plus there's a perfect Colonel Pyat character in the mix. Given Leone's greatest blind spot--women characters--there's not Una Persson, et. al., to be found, but it's still like a roll-call of the Moorcock archetypes.
And of course it's all brought together by Rod Steiger, who looks uncannily like Mike, especially the cartoon avatar Mike used for so long here!
If you get a chance to rent it, you'll not be sorry. I love when that kind of accidental, unintentional cross-pollination happens, where I see one artist's work and it happily brings me in the world of another's.
Any other accidentally Moorcockian movies out there?
russell
This is a little out of left field, but I watched a DVD last night that could have been scripted by Mike in his more adventurous, Western-inflected persona. It's not a well-known movie at all, but is book-ended by two famous movies.
In 1968, Sergio Leone made the first of the famous bookends: "Once Upon a Time in the West," with Henry Fonda and Claudia Cardinale. 16 years later, in 84, he released "Once Upon a Time in America." What's less well known is that there was a middle movie in this loose trilogy: "Once Upon a Time During the Revolution," or "A Fistful of Dynamite," or my favorite title: "Duck, You Sucker." (1971)
It's an absolutely great movie, my favorite Leone film, but really fell through the cracks compared to his Spaghetti Westerns, which it's really not. It takes place during the Mexican Revolution, has strong anarchic overtones, and features motorbikes and tanks, a real departure from his other work. But the twisted good vs. evil (who's good and who's evil?) theme in the movie is so typical of the Law and Chaos ideas of MM. James Coburn's IRA agent-on-the-run plays a scalliwag in the finest Blood tradition, with perhaps even a non-urban nod to Jerry Cornelius to be found. The evil, tank-driving German is a dead ringer for Prince Gaynor, plus there's a perfect Colonel Pyat character in the mix. Given Leone's greatest blind spot--women characters--there's not Una Persson, et. al., to be found, but it's still like a roll-call of the Moorcock archetypes.
And of course it's all brought together by Rod Steiger, who looks uncannily like Mike, especially the cartoon avatar Mike used for so long here!
If you get a chance to rent it, you'll not be sorry. I love when that kind of accidental, unintentional cross-pollination happens, where I see one artist's work and it happily brings me in the world of another's.
Any other accidentally Moorcockian movies out there?
russell
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