"La Resa dei Conti", a.k.a. "The Big Gundown", rates highly as a grand example of its genre. It's got a meaty story (screenplay credit goes to Sergio Donati and director Sergio Sollima), an epic feel to it, eye popping gorgeous widescreen photography (by Carlo Carlini), one of Ennio Morricones' most majestic and best ever scores, and enough action to keep a viewer riveted.
Lee Van Cleef, incredibly cool as usual, plays Jonathan Corbett, a bounty hunter with political aspirations. He's hired by businessman Mr. Brokston (Walter Barnes) to go after "Cuchillo" (Tomas Milian), an outlaw who's been accused of raping and murdering a 12 year old girl. Corbett soon finds Cuchillo, but what happens is that a sort of cat and mouse situation arises where the outlaw slips from Corbetts' clutches on more than one occasion. As the hunt continues, Corbett begins to have his doubts about the mission, and indeed he hasn't been told the truth.
Eurofilm superstar Milian delivers a very hearty performance as the desperate quarry, who proves to have a crafty nature to him as well. He and Van Cleef are well matched and receive strong support from Barnes, Luisa Rivelli as Lizzie the prostitute, the scene stealing Fernando Sancho as Captain Segura, Nieves Navarro as a widowed woman, and Gerard Herter as the colourful character Baron von Schulenberg.
Sollimas' direction is stylish and the film is just beautiful to look at, with plenty of detail filling the frame at all times. It's got plenty to recommend it to fans of Italian oaters.
Eight out of 10.
Lee Van Cleef, incredibly cool as usual, plays Jonathan Corbett, a bounty hunter with political aspirations. He's hired by businessman Mr. Brokston (Walter Barnes) to go after "Cuchillo" (Tomas Milian), an outlaw who's been accused of raping and murdering a 12 year old girl. Corbett soon finds Cuchillo, but what happens is that a sort of cat and mouse situation arises where the outlaw slips from Corbetts' clutches on more than one occasion. As the hunt continues, Corbett begins to have his doubts about the mission, and indeed he hasn't been told the truth.
Eurofilm superstar Milian delivers a very hearty performance as the desperate quarry, who proves to have a crafty nature to him as well. He and Van Cleef are well matched and receive strong support from Barnes, Luisa Rivelli as Lizzie the prostitute, the scene stealing Fernando Sancho as Captain Segura, Nieves Navarro as a widowed woman, and Gerard Herter as the colourful character Baron von Schulenberg.
Sollimas' direction is stylish and the film is just beautiful to look at, with plenty of detail filling the frame at all times. It's got plenty to recommend it to fans of Italian oaters.
Eight out of 10.