Another day, another western...
From all the spaguetti westerns I've seem, I've noticed they tend to fall on the following cathegories:
1) The bad ones. Their main appeal is action / violence and they are of poor quality. Enough said.
2) Political ones. Most of the so-called "Zapata-westerns" fit here. Italy produced tons of political films during the 60 and 70s, and some filmmakers realised westerns could have that treatment as well. Examples: "Tepepa", "A bullet for the General", Sergio Leone's "A fistful of dynamite".
3) Exercises of style. Leone is the big figure as well, with his operatic, grandiose style, but others like "The big silence" also fit here.
4) Morality tales / pacifist westerns. Until today, I had seen one of this kind only, "Face to face", but today, thanks to "Day of anger", I know others exist.
In short, "Day of anger" is a film directed by Tonino Valerii, who worked as an assistant director for Leone early in his career. It tells the story of Scott (an excellent Giuliano Gemma), a young man that is ostracised in his town because his mother was a prostitute. Things change when an aging gunfighter (Lee Van Cleef, perfect as welll) takes him under his protection. Scott loves the power the new situation gives him, but is unaware that the gunfighter is making his own plans.
Compared to other spaguetti westerns, this one plays quite restrained. Direction is always solid, but certainly not flashy. Violence, however, is as present as in any other films of the genre, and it's well handled, although it's not as bloody as in say, "Django". After all, this is a film about the use and consequences of violence, a film which depends more in its inner moral message than in its action sequences, although I don't think any western aficionados will find it falls short on shots.
All in all, I'd say it one of the best non-Leone spaguetti westerns I've seen so far. The pace and the filmmaking are very good, if not too spectacular, the acting is superb (I had seen Gemma in other films and always thought of him as a rather mediocre actor; I was clearly wrong), and although the film is clearly as a morality play it never becomes too obvious or preachy.
Wow.....DAY OF ANGER has been on my list for quite a while now Neville and you know I'm still looking for FACE TO FACE and TEPEPA. These three films have eluded me for some time now as Nevilles unfavorable EL CONDOR review has also not crossed my path. Your doing great work Neville ! ! ! You must have access to all the great Spaghetti Westerns over there in Spain.
I'm trying to complete all the Lee Van Cleef Westerns that he made which leave only DAY OF ANGER and EL CONDOR.