Revolver (1973)
I was buying a new shipment of spaghetti westerns and this came up under recommendations, likely it is directed by Sergio Sollima - the director behind some of the prominent Italian westerns. This is a poliziottesco film - crime plots set in modern times. It is easy to see why this was sort of the spiritual successor to spaghetti westerns, as these got very popular in the 70s where the westerns was starting too lose steam. Clearly inspired by films like Dirty Harry, but also very much their own thing. Especially when it comes to this by Sollima as there is much more to it than a simple cops versus criminals plot.
Starts off simple enough when a prison warden is pressured into releasing a prisoner because by people who hold his wife as hostage. Everything doesn’t go as planned and it gets gradually revealed that there is much more to this than a criminal gang wanting their accomplice released. I am not familiar with Oliver Reed but he does an absolute fantastic job in this. There is a great complexity to his character as the narrative forces him into to deal with much more than just wanting his wife back. He gets disillusioned over government officials who was supposed be servants of citizens, but only serve their own interest. This is were the political undertones from Sollima comes in, as they also did in his westerns.
This isn’t a film that should be watched for an action filled plot, though it does has some action scenes, and while the title might suggest gunfights, it is not that kind of film. Deaths matter and are dealt with proper emotional impact and weight. It is worth watching for an interesting portrayal of a man who loses his own moral principles and let the people in power win, and it pains him.
In addition we also get an amazing score by Morricone.
Rating: 4