X
- 1967
- R
- United Artists
- 1 h 39 m
- 1967
- R
- United Artists
- 1 h 39 m
Summary A wandering gunfighter plays two rival families against each other in a town torn apart by greed, pride, and revenge.
- 1967
- R
- United Artists
- 1 h 39 m
- 1967
- R
- United Artists
- 1 h 39 m
A Fistful of Dollars
65
8.1
Where to Watch
Summary A wandering gunfighter plays two rival families against each other in a town torn apart by greed, pride, and revenge.
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 7 Critic Reviews
65
43% Positive
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
57% Mixed
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 7 Critic Reviews
65
43% Positive
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
57% Mixed
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Leone makes the borders of the frame feel limitless, his camera moves striking out unpredictably as if he could barely tame his vision. Ennio Moriconne’s indelible score added a wild swagger to this oddball tale of a lone guman conniving plan to set two gangs of killers against one another.
This is a hard-hitting item, ably directed, splendidly lensed, neatly acted, which has all the ingredients wanted by action fans and then some.
User Score
Universal Acclaim
Based on 113 User Ratings
8.1
87% Positive
98 Ratings
98 Ratings
12% Mixed
14 Ratings
14 Ratings
1% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
User Score
Universal Acclaim
Based on 113 User Ratings
8.1
87% Positive
98 Ratings
98 Ratings
12% Mixed
14 Ratings
14 Ratings
1% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
Timeless classic, can watch several times and its always as good as the first time.
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Based on Kurosawa's Yojimbo, it sets a fashion in surly, laconic, supercool heroes with Eastwood's amoral gunslinger, who plays off two gangs against one another in a deadly feud.
The visual scheme of Leone’s movie leaves no doubt as to his familiarity with Kurosawa’s movie. Plopping Eastwood’s roving gunman down in the middle of a dusty street with opposing gangs lodged at either end, Fistful replicates Yojimbo’s visual plan to an almost distracting extent. The bigger problem with Fistful is that Leone is still attempting to work with a conventional plot, which never plays to his strengths.
The plot is simple and the Italian performances verge on the operatic, but Leone revitalizes the Western through a unique and complex visual style. The film is full of brilliant spatial relationships (extreme close-ups in the foreground, with detailed compositions visible in the background) combined with Ennio Morricone's vastly creative musical score full of grunts, wails, groans, and bizarre-sounding instruments. Aural and visual elements together give a wholly original perspective on the West and its myths.
Clearly, the magnet of this picture, which has been a phenomenal success in Italy and other parts of Europe, is this cool-cat bandit who is played by Clint Eastwood, an American cowboy actor who used to do the role of rowdy in the Rawhide series on TV. Wearing a Mexican poncho, gnawing a stub of cheroot and peering intently from under a slouch hat pulled low over his eyes, he is simply another fabrication of a personality, half cowboy and half gangster, going through the ritualistic postures and exercises of each.
Actor Eastwood, the sometime star of television's Rawhide, is certainly not paid by the word. In Fistful he hardly talks at all. Doesn't shave, either. Just drawls orders. Sometimes the bad guys drawl back. Just as tersely. Trouble is, after they stop talking, their lips keep moving. That's because the picture is dubbed. Like the villains, it was shot in Spain. Pity it wasn't buried there.
Some films are not the greatest films in the genre. They are the f**king trendsetters. This movie is one of them. And, there's much more to it other than being a trendsetter. .
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Good : Holy s**t, am I supposed to say something good about this film? There are no words to describe the greatness of a film that started it all. Let's speak in retrospect. Before this movie, the word "Spaghetti Western" wasn't even around. This movie gave us the word, and made it popular. There have been really great Westerns before this, and many cheesy and nosy ones. The greats are always the greats, but it took a lot of risk and did many things in contrast to the nosy and cheesy ones. It had a protagonist, who was characterized as someone similar to the bad guys. Obviously, he did things only against bad guys, but that's the only part of his characterization that separated him from them. Also, he was shown to be a mysterious, and somewhat vulnerable, person in contrast to the messiahs of typical American Westerns. Plus, it had some suspenseful and believable violence for delivering the usual "triumph of good over evil" in the end. And most importantly, all of these worked in this movie. It isn't an awkward Italian styled Western, it is very much relatable to the great older Westerns. Yet, it easily shines out as a uniquely distinct film. It popularized an entire subgenre of films, which is a very difficult task to do. Other than that, the movie made Clint Eastwood a star. Everyone is familiar with his level of ****. He is arguably the biggest star of American film industry. It was all because of this movie. And Clint went on to make many great films, including Westerns, himself. This would've never been possible if he wasn't a star, which was due to this movie. It gave us a perfect combo of Ennio Morricone and Sergio Leone, which would improve over time. Speaking of the story, you can say that it's a typical story. But the beauty is in the way it was told - with suspense, music and violence. Eastwood's character feels like the same character that we see in the next two films of this trilogy. That gives a feel of continuity among these films, even though a very less of it is to be expected. He f**ks up bad guys, but never would he put his hands on the innocents. There are quite a few moments which prove that he is compassionate and clever. That is what has been shown in the other two films. .
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Mixed : Reconsidering it on the present day, there have been many improvements over this. It's certainly not better than The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. I am a huge fan of Sergio Leone. I love his way of visual storytelling. He excelled in this aspect in his latter films. So, it feels a little weak compared to other of his films. It feels experimental in a few parts, as if Leone was trying to figure out what to do. .
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Conclusion : A must watch for Western fans! It may not be as great as other iconic Westerns, but in retrospect, it's one of the greatest films ever made. Eastwood is a badass and full of testosterone. The "three coffins ready" scene is, in my opinion, the best "testosterone scene" he has ever been in. .
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Rating. .
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Score : absolute 10/10
Grade : golden A+
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Considering Yojimbo is possibly my fave movie of all time. Well how did this spiritual adaptation work out? Enough beats were changed from the original. So this version, became very much it's own thing thankfully.
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A **** of Dollars is not quite as good as The Good, The Bad and The Ugly from the Three Dollars trilogy(or Once Upon a Time in America and Once Upon a Time in the West), and I also think the film that inspired it Kurosawa's Yojimbo is the superior film. That said, that is not down-grading A **** of Dollars in any way, it is still a truly great film. As with all Leone's it is incredibly well made, the scenery is epic and looks gorgeous and the extreme close ups really helps to enhance the unrelenting violence. Ennio Morricone's score is wonderful with its minimalist style really fitting with the movie. The story is both elegiac which helps to give that feel of mystery to the Man with No Name's character and thrilling with the violence and the camera work. Leone's direction is as ever superb, as is the acting. Clint Eastwood became an international superstar and you can see why, he oozes charisma and his idea to make The Man with No Name mysterious with minimal dialogue proved to be a great one. Of the supporting cast, Gian Maria Volonte is especially impressive, as Ramon he snarls very convincingly. All in all, a great film. 9/10 Bethany Cox
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I liked the music featured - the famous score by Ennio Morricone, which certainly does add atmosphere and tension to the relevant scenes, as well as highlighting the isolated, somewhat desolate surroundings. Easwtood does, of course, play the very sly and laidback man with no name, although his character is referred to briefly as 'Joe'. Some scenes are rather slow paced and thus may put off some but the confrontation/fight scenes are, obviously, the opposite - there's a real frenetic energy which energised me while watching.
I liked that it has a more budget feel to it - that its clearly not a Hollywood film, featuring characters of different ethnicities/nationalities, the visually grainier feel to the shots and so on. Also the very bright red blood used didn't seem esp. realistic but I suppose there is a certain charm to that somehow.
I can understand the appeal of this film, its one of those whereby characters can say more in their moments of silence, via their facial expressions than by dialogue, so suffice to say I'd certainly recommend this film to fans of Westerns, more specifically Spaghetti Westerns (if you haven't seen it already).
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Aqui está uma obra surpreendente sobre faroeste.
A trama é simples, porém a riqueza dos personagens deixa tudo mais intrigante. A personalidade do protagonista é no minimo cativadora. Você sabe que ele é esperto, sabe do que ele é capaz - só pelo olhar do mesmo, muitas vezes -, mas não sabe como ele vai fazê-lo.
A cinematografia é muito moderna e ao mesmo tempo característica. O plano aberto, para indicar o desafio. Primeiríssimo plano, que aumenta a tensão passando a câmera um por um até o combate. O plano detalhe, que não tem medo em buscar os olhos e maximizar ao máximo o sentimento do ator - principalmente nos momentos de surpresa. O Contra-Plongée também é muito bem utilizado, que junto ao plano americano, caracterizam muito a obra e criam um ar único.
A ambientação como um todo é excelente. O figurino está de parabéns, principalmente pela roupa do protagonista, que é quase um contraste do que há ao seu redor. Com tudo isso dito, devo dizer que o que mais me chamou atenção na obra foi sua trilha sonora. Sinto muita falta da criatividade no que se diz respeito a OST nos filmes. Antes essa ideia era muito utilizada, e aqui ela funciona de maneira magnifica. A ost que toca em diversos momentos do filme aumenta a tensão, define o gênero e fica na nossa memoria por até mesmo décadas - dependendo de quão marcante for.
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Production Company
Jolly Film,
Constantin Film,
Ocean Films,
Polyphony Digital
Release Date Jan 18, 1967
Duration 1 h 39 m
Rating R
Tagline This short cigar belongs to a man with no name. This long gun belongs to a man with no name. This poncho belongs to a man with no name. He's going to trigger a whole new style in adventure.
Awards
Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists
• 1 Win & 2 Nominations
Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA
• 2 Nominations
Satellite Awards
• 1 Nomination
