Keoma [DVD] [1976] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

Review of Anchor Bay DVD production of Keoma

THE BAD

Post-sound production sound work. The voices are over-modulated, hissy, gritty and raspy. The voices overpower the ambience sounds. Every other word breaks up as if the actors were to close to a cheap microphone. The effect is that the voices to seem to be disembodied from the actors. The good mood music and songs are so compressed and muddy that all ambience, and dynamics of the music are lost. The background ambience sounds such as horses hoofs or wind or gunshots are compressed, muffled or to low. The film stock although clear, crisp and colorful has a cheap look.

The accents are at times over the top except the Protagonist. He is supposed to be a half-breed Native American - but has an Italian accent. In one scene a man twists and falls seemingly before the gun is fired. There are a couple of obvious novice actors. There are some embarrassing pretentious macho cliches and campy dialogue... That said...Read on...

THE GOOD.

Keoma is full of style, artistry, imagination, atmosphere, pathos and symbolism. There are authentic looking frontier ghost towns and western paraphernalia, dust storms, rain storms, dark hazy nights, crazed mobs, smoky bars, gritty costumes and a some good, albeit mostly unknown, character actors.

The camera work is magical. The movie is shot through and or framed with in wagon wheels, fire, running water, fingers, tattered rags, fence-posts, stair railings, halfcocked doors, splits and cracks in lumber and bullet holes.

The editing works well splicing in slow motion scenes far better then others - outside of Peckinpah.

The actors fit their rolls well. The four brothers have an incredible look-alike as the adult versions of the four children.

Keoma might be considered an art film, borrowing from the New Testament (the prodigal son, the healing of the lepers, crucifixion, death, rebirth, (in one scene Keoma actually walks on water!), Hamlet (An apathetic and disillusioned Kemoa is visited by the ghost of his father), Macbeth (a reoccurring old Witch tells the future). There are allusions to Bergmann's The Seventh Seal, Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, Shakespear's King Lear, and Camus's The Plague.

The film is full of well-written vignettes as homage to numerous other westerns. There is also an obvious similarity between the end of Keoma and the end of Ron Howard's the Paper (1994). Nevertheless, Keoma was made 18 years before the Paper.

The story moves ahead keeping you interested the whole time. Flashbacks are built into the story without special effects. The flashbacks are appropriately dreamlike.

In spite of what some say, the strange music fits the macabre off kilter atmosphere of the story. The fault in the music is more in its post recording and sound production. Not the music itself.

The film ends up being violent, funny, strangely beautiful, fantastic, dreamlike, daring and completely original.

If you are able to overlook the postproduction video and sound shortcomings, along with a little campy dialogue, a couple of novis actors and some pretentiousness Keoma is haunting, entertaining, and very rewatchable. It should be among the list of best westerns, spaghetti westerns, and art films.
In my opinion this Anchor Bay version of Keoma (especially if you love film making) is very worth owning.

ONE WISH

The Kemoa Song, played during the Anchor Bays main menu has the depth, ambience and dynamics that are missing throughout the sound on the rest of the film. Its obvious that since Anchor Bay could do this with this short piece of music - the same could be accomplished during the rest of the film. I wish one day this film's sound and picture quality gets the love and care it so deserves.

This is really a great western and is along with Damiani's A Bullet for the General, one of the best italian westerns along with those made by the three great Sergios (Corbucci, Leone and Sollima). What's even more fascinating is how Castellari managed to make a film with no script, making up the dialogs as the shooting went along (even if he copied a bevy of filmakers along the way; try to figure them out as you watch the film), all this adding to it's really bleak and bizarre look. I actually enjoyed the music which was a reference to Altman's great western McCabe & Mrs. Miller. And Franco Nero never looked better and cooler than in this film!
Though the film was made at a time when italian westerns were practically dead, as they had already been made into a parody with the Trinity films, Keoma didn't manage to resurrect the genre. Why? Maybe because nobody could figure a way to top this film, which gives you a general idea of how good it is.
The DVD copy is absolutely brilliant, as is anything coming from Anchor Bay, and it features a great commentary by Castellari himself (though I find annoying the journalists Anchor Bay send to view the films along with the directors, as any real fan would have a trillion more questions to ask).
Overall, a great film that should be (re)discovered by any western fan!

KEOMA is arguably Castellari's best movie, up there alongside HIGH CRIME, THE BIG RACKET, THE INGLORIOUS BASTARDS, and STREET LAW. Rarely has Castellari excelled so well at creating pure poeticism through editing and camera techniques. The story often feels disjointed or confusing, but overall the experience is very rewarding with plenty of action, an engaging storyline, well-rounded characters, an excellent cast, and a good (if overused) soundtrack by Guido and Maurizio De Angelis. Where the movie really takes off are its use of slow motion and bizarre seemless scene transitions.
The DVD is absolutely loaded as it comes with a dazzling commentary by Enzo G. Castellari. Unlike Umberto Lenzi or Dario Argento, Castellari does not have a thick Italian accent so it's relatively easy to understand everything he says. He does trail off at a few points when he really should be giving background on the actors and techniques, but the commentary does not fail in being one of the most INTERESTING I have heard in a long time. It's too bad the journalist who mediated the commentary didn't seem to have a very wide knowledge of the genre, though he was able to recognize Donal O'Brien from ZOMBI HOLOCAUST.
The picture quality is beyond crisp, this is the best the movie has ever looked (yeah I know it's a cliche to say this about Anchor Bay DVDs, but this one deserves it). The film is also the UNCUT version which has never been available in the states, and also is presented in its proper widescreen aspect ratio for the first time anywhere ever. Those like me who bought the old import tape from Holland will be blown away because the look of the film is so different than before.
The only flaw is the sound, which sounds a tad hissy when the actors are talking. This is partially due to the fact I have a quiet DVD player and have to turn the sound up to full blast just to hear it regularly, so it amplifies the flaws. On a regular player the sound should be just fine.
All in all, there is no excuse to miss this movie. It's not so much a Spaghetti Western as it is an action movie with lyrical and poetic subtexts with an almost hyper-real stylized Western setting. Vastly superior to Italy's many Django films though not quite in Sergio Leone territory. This film is so different from Leone's work that it can't really be compared.

Spaghetti westerns are, in my opinion, generally the best fictional films about the American West. You can argue that John Wayne made a bunch of great movies about life in the Old West, and you would be right to say so, but for some reason the Italians captured perfectly the specific elements of the era that made their movies seem more realistic. The frontier was a dirty, violent place full of unsavory types trying to get rich quick. Italian westerns capture this mood expertly whereas American films portray characters whose outfits look like they just came back from the dry cleaners. Hollywood films also tend to apply a black and white dichotomy onto their characters, the old "good guys wear white, bad guys wear black" philosophy that obscures the reality of the time and place. Not so in Italian films, where even the good guys often have distinctly unsavory traits. It's too bad spaghetti westerns went the way of the dinosaurs a few decades back; I never tire of watching these films even though I am not an expert on the genre. "Keoma," part of the larger Anchor Bay "Once Upon a Time in Italy" spaghetti western box set, serves as an excellent example of how powerful the genre once was.

Surprisingly, I discovered none other than director Enzo G. Castellari lensed this epic western, and actually made it when the spaghetti western genre was essentially dead on its feet. Castellari's name should ring a few bells with fans of low budget Italian schlock; he's the guy who made "1990: The Bronx Warriors" and "Escape From the Bronx," two science fiction films of such mediocre standards that anyone who appreciates such things should immediately check them out. With "Keoma," Castellari proves he's much better than most of his output. The story stars the ever reliable Franco Nero as Keoma, a brooding, mixed blood loner returning home from the Civil War to find his family and his town suffering under the throes of a plague and a gang of thugs. The cast of characters in this picture is a veritable who's who of low budget Italian movies. You've got Olga Karlatos, sans a splinter to the eye, playing a woman infected with the plague. Donald O'Brien turns up in the role of gang leader Caldwell. Then there's Woody Strode as George, a one time slave owned by Keoma's father who now ambles about town drinking himself into a stupor and plucking a broken down banjo. William Berger turns in a competent performance as William Shannon, Keoma's father as well as the father of the loner's three half brothers. How can you go wrong with such a cast?

Keoma has several problems. First, he can't stand to sit idly by as thugs prey on the townspeople. His concern in this area leads him to rescue Karlatos's character from the clutches of several gang members, something he must do occasionally throughout the film as none of the citizens in town want this infected woman living in their midst. Second, his three brothers--Lenny (Antonio Marsina), Cham (Joshua Sinclair), and Butch (Orso Maria Guerrini)--carry a huge grudge against their half brother. They always have, too, as we learn from flashbacks to Keoma's childhood appearing throughout the film. Third, Keoma must continually confront members of Caldwell's gang, no easy feat considering the sheer numbers of ex-Confederate soldiers now working for this brutal goon. You just know from the start that these three elements will eventually culminate in a frenetic, no holds barred shoot out with a high body count. Thankfully, Keoma possesses the necessary skills--a quick draw, piercing gaze, and flashing fists--to get the job done.

"Keoma" is a spaghetti western unlike "A Bullet for the General" or "Companeros," two of the other films in the box set, because Castellari refused to instill a strident political message in the story. In fact, if the biography of the director included in the extras section on the disc is any indication, Nero and Castellari made up the dialogue and scenes as they went along since the two men disliked the initial script. "Keoma" is more along the lines of a Leone/Eastwood epic in that the hero rides into town, purges the necessary evils, and then moves on at the end. It's a lesson in good versus evil, folks, and it's a very good exposition on that age-old cinematic dichotomy. Two other elements help "Keoma" shine in my eyes. First, the music score is unique to say the least. Imagine twangy, Leonard Cohenesque narrative songs praising the virtues and activities of the main hero as the action unfolds, and you'll have some idea of what the film sounds like. Or maybe not. You really need to hear the songs yourself in order to fathom the experience. Second, and most important, Castellari relies heavily on stylish, slow motion violence typical of Sam Peckinpah countless times throughout the movie. We see guys flying through the air full of buckshot, falling off of horses after catching a bullet, and splashing into water frequently. It's great fun.

Anchor Bay deserves our kudos for once again doing a great job on a spaghetti western. The widescreen transfer looks good (although not as good as "Companeros" or "A Bullet for the General"). Extras on the disc include a lengthy trailer, bios for Franco Nero and Castellari, and a ten-minute interview with Nero about the production of the film. Even more surprising is the inclusion of a commentary track with Enzo Castellari himself. The director promises to make another western in the future toward the end of the commentary track, but time will tell. I'd sure like to see a resurgence of the spaghetti western genre. Until then, I'll content myself with films such as "Keoma."

Being a veteran of very few spaghetti westerns (I was on National Guard Duty at the time, so to speak), I wasn't sure what to expect from this one. I've seen KEOMA listed on a couple of top-100 westerns and decided to give it a go.
It's opening, atmospheric and a little over-the-top, fulfilled my expectations. A bearded, unidentified man (Keoma - Franco Nero) slowly rides into a desolate landscape. It looks like a town that has cantered over onto its side. The winds blow and small fires burn here and there. An old crone (The Witch - Gabriella Giacobbe) confronts Keoma, it turns out, is no stranger here. "I changed destiny," the Witch says, "when I decided that you alone would survive that useless massacre."
"Aren't you tired of killing?" The Witch asks the first of many questions thrown at Keoma throughout the movie. Keoma, thick bearded with hair down to the bare chest under his white duster, doesn't answer. His eyes flash, he gallops off a short way, turns and yells back to her: "You have to survive."
Keoma is back home from "the war" (the American Civil War, I think) and home has changed drastically. A plague has hit town and those who aren't dead are carted off to a internment center by the evil mine-owner Caldwell (who doesn't allow anyone to leave town to get food or medicine.) Keoma intercepts a cart loaded with plague-infected victims and rescues a pregnant woman, (the drop-dead gorgeous Olga Karlatos).
Keoma has to protect this woman and her unborn child, and defeat the evil Caldwell. It's a heavy task, but Keoma can throw a knife through the palm of a man drawing his gun from a half-mile off and shoot three men dead before any one of them has the chance to draw their gun from their holster. If he goes down, he'll bring a lot down with him.
Keoma will also have to deal with his three evil step-brothers; the massacre the Witch spoke of must have happened in an Indian village. Keoma is a half-breed, adopted and best beloved by his father and George (Woody Strode), and his half-brothers hate him for it.
KEOMA revels in its excesses and isn't to everybody's tastes. Dust is ALWAYS blowing through the broken down town unless a raging night thunderstorm rolls through. Keoma plays a savior of sorts and to show their appreciation the townfolk tie him down on a large wheel that is an obvious and heavy-handed reference to a crucifixion. When a bad guy is shot, he tumbles backward in a slow-motion shot that would make Sam Peckinpah blush. You'll either love or hate the soundtrack (I hated it. Hated it, hated it, hated it.)
This one wouldn't make my top 100 list, but it wouldn't make a worst-of list, either.