This is not a spaghetti western like others. Instead, it is a fascinating study of the elements that make spaghetti westerns work. Director Lanfranchi comes from the theater stage which shows in the strictly separated scenes (4 acts, in which Django kills one of the four murderers each) and the long dialogs, quite unusual for the genre. Django (Robin Clarke) discusses the motivation that made them kill his brother which each of his victims. Diaz (Richard Conte) was greedy for land, to own a huge farm, so Django kills Diaz by chasing him through miles and miles of land. Montero (Enrico Maria Salerno) is a gambler, demoralized by Django who defeats him easily at cards - and then challenges him for the final match: life or death? Baldwin (former Bond villain Adolfo Celi) pretends to be a religious man and preaches justice - so Django kills him with a bullet he cut from his own leg, thus returning it to the man who shot first. O'Hara (Tomas Milian) loves gold and blonds which Django uses to prepare a trap. Apart from the last episode which has a shamelessly overacting Milian with a silly white wig (he was brilliant in "Se sei vivo, spara", "Corri uomo corri", "Vamos a matar, Companeros" and many other movies, but this is crazy), the episodes are almost perfect lessons in style. Secchi's photography and Ferrio's manic music score complete the artistic achievement. Highly recommended, but maybe a bit too much out of the ordinary for some viewers.
Review of Death Sentence
