Yankee

Yankee

Genre: Spaghetti Western

Director: Tinto Brass

Year: 1966

A man referred to only as "Yankee" rides into a dying, desolate town in frontier New Mexico which is completely controlled by a man called the "Grande Concho." Almost immediately, a battle for dominance ensues.

This, like many other Spaghetti Westerns released in 1966, owes a great deal to Sergio Leone's first two spaghetti's, A Fistful Of Dollars & For A Few Dollars More. From its simple plot to its anti-hero, Yankee never strays far from what was then a successful formula.

Here the notorious Italian director Tinto Brass delivered his one & only Spaghetti Western which unfortunately is a very much floored attempt. As far as direction goes Tinto's use of visuals are pretty impressive with his quick flashy edits, unusual camera angles & close ups. He certainly showed he had the eye to present a visually enjoyable western.

Despite Tinto's noble attempt, where Yankee fails most is its cast. French actor Philippe Leroy plays the part of our anti-hero. His character, which is clearly in the style of Clint Eastwood's Man With No Name simply doesn't work. Leroy is unfortunately miscast & lacks the charisma needed to pull off this type of character, he's also not helped by the clunky dialogue he has to unconvincingly deliver throughout. 

The rest of the cast is also very forgettable except for Adolfo Celi, best known to the world as the villain, Largo, from the mid 60s Bond flick, Thunderball. Celi is also recognisable to fans of Italian cult cinema from films such as Danger: Diabolik & The Italian Connection. Here he plays the films villain, Grande Concho, a man who has taken over a small town in New Mexico & is obsessed with fire. Yankee kills a bunch of Concho's bandits & abducts his girl to which Concho responds by setting the town on alight & murdering the sheriff, telling the townspeople that they will die one by one unless they deliver yankee to him. It's the films best performance & Celi handles this larger than life, hellbent bandit with a huge ego to boot, perfectly.

The film plays out in a mildly entertaining way but unfortunately remains largely forgettable. Nothing stands out here from the other bucket load of early Leone inspired westerns. Tinto Brass disowned the film due to outside interference from the producers so you have to wonder how much of the films mediocrity came from the producers wanting another Dollars inspired picture. For that reason It is a real shame that Brass never made another western as I feel with his creative visual flair, a decent script, and a strong cast he'd of been more than capable of delivering a great Spaghetti. Unfortunately, this remains his one and only attempt at the genre & is one which is probably better best forgotten. 

Rating: ★★½

Attraction

Attraction

Genre: Experimental / Art-House / Avant-garde

Original title: Nerosubianco

AKA: Black On White / The Artful Penetration of Barbara

Director: Tinto Brass

Year: 1969

A motion picture for the stoned age

This bizarre piece of pop-art surrealism is an early work of Tinto Brass, best known for two infamous films in Caligula & Salon Kitty. It stars Anita Sanders (the 10th victim) as a married women who is followed around London by a black man who she has sexual fantasies about played by Terry Carter, best known for blaxploitation pictures such as Abby & Foxy Brown. That there is pretty much the plot (& I use that term loosely) for this 80 minute attack on the senses.

Attraction is the sort of film you could project on a screen at a night club and it would create a great atmosphere with its weird trippy nonsensical nature and strange scenes which are ever changing with its fast editing. The film is absolutely loaded with subtext of the big themes of the late 60s such as sex, drugs, freedom, the hippy movement, racism & paranoia. You get an almost commentary at times from what I'd guess was the previous generation looking down on these young adults with their fresh ideals. The mere thought of a women having sex with a black men in 69 would probably of upset many people.

For a man who once famously stated "I put two balls and a big cock between the legs of the Italian cinema!" the nudity shown during this film for the most part is always shown in a very un-erotic way which came as a surprise. Tinto's own political beliefs are on show when a love making scene is stopped by a man with a prohibited sign. We are then treated to nasty & gruesome war footage of people being slaughtered & tortured. It is a clear attack on the very idea of censorship & how the joy of love making is completely inoffensive, especially when compared to the brutality that we see on the news on a daily basis. 

The soundtrack is provided by organ heavy psychedelic rock band, Freedom, who were made up of two  ex-Procol Harum. The bands sound falls somewhere between early Pink Floyd & The Small Faces with their music soundtracking a large portion of this picture. These groovy tunes really helped me stay onboard with the picture. At times it felt like I was watching a psychedelic video made for their music rather than their music soundtracking an art-house flick. The band follow Anita Sanders around London as she fantasises about the black stranger. Because of this the band perform in all kinds of locations from shop windows, on top of buses, massage houses & even in trees. 

Despite its short 80 minute running time the pictures whimsical nature and insanely fast editing means that it begins to overload the senses and the films ideals begin to drag a little. I feel something like this would of benefited from being shortened to around the hour mark to keep its ideas constantly fresh.

A film like his could easily (& maybe should) be a pretentious mess, but looking back as someone fascinated by every aspect of the 60s from its music, to its fashion & its political themes it remained engaging for the most part & visually it was a treat for the senses throughout. 

Rating: ★★★½