Wrath of the Wind (1970)
I got this film as part of the Savage Guns boxset from Arrow along with 3 other spaghetti westerns. This film is a bit different from what one usually puts the spaghetti western label on. It is set in Spain and the director is Spanish, but it is partly an Italian production and it does seem a bit like the director wanted to do a political historical drama about ruthless business owners and workers fighting for their rights, but was only given production if he could mold it into something resembling a western. Political allegories was definitely a thing in spaghetti westerns, like the films by Sergio Sollima and Sergio Corbucci, but in this case it isn’t a typical western plot is fitted into a metaphor for something else. Here it is straight up workers forming a resistance against their tyrannical business owners that refuse to give them basic working rights. So the plot here feels more real and concrete, because it is not wrapped in the usual bit of western lore and clichés. For that alone I think this film is worth giving a chance and I am happy they have added such an outlier to a spaghetti western boxset, because it would likely not have been something I would checked out otherwise.
Sadly, it is only halfway successful with its premise. I honestly don’t think Terrence Hill works well in this role. He is to bland and expressionless, making his very sudden change or loyalties not very convincing. In that sense a bit of a missed opportunity, but worth giving a chance solely for the reason of it being an outlier in the wast spaghetti western landscape.
Rating: 3