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A Fistful of Dynamite is a 1971 film by Sergio Leone (original Italian title: Giù la testa; also known as Duck, You Sucker and Once Upon a Time … The Revolution). Its plot is centered on two individuals, a poor Mexican bandit (played by Rod Steiger) and an ex-IRA revolutionary (James Coburn), who meet during the turbulent Mexican Revolution. The movie was written by Luciano Vincenzoni, Sergio Donati, and Sergio Leone. Peter Bogdanovich was the original intended director, but the film ended up in Leone's hands. Because of this switch, some fans of the film contend that A Fistful of Dynamite is actually two films in one (the first part dealing with Mesa Verde whereas the second deals with the revolution). Compared to Leone's previous film, Once Upon a Time in the West, A Fistful of Dynamite didn't gain much popularity. One reason for this could be Leone's insistence on using the Duck, You Sucker title, which gave potential movie-goers the impression that the film was a comic western (Duck, You Sucker is a fairly direct translation from the Italian title, Giù la testa). A close relative of Lawrence of Arabia in terms of scenery, A Fistful of Dynamite boasts awesome color cinematography and beautiful, rich shots of the desert landscape. Arguably, A Fistful of Dynamite contains more social commentary than any other Leone film. The film opens with a quote from Mao Zedong about the nature of revolutions and class struggle. Throughout the course of the film Leone delves deep into the class differences that shaped Mexico during its bloody revolution. The main villain, Gunter Ruiz (Antoine Saint-John), is presented as a Nazi-like tank commander, complete with an armored car. Throughout the movie there are numerous scenes of execution of revolutionaries by Mexican Federales. These touches were intended by Leone - who grew up in Benito Mussolini's Italy during World War II - to represent a parallel with fascism. The movie was also, despite Leone's left-wing sympathies, meant as a sort of criticism of other left-wing "revolutionary" film makers such as Jean-Luc Godard, and the recent spate of so-called "Zapata Westerns" which had hijacked the Spaghetti Western genre. For this, the film suffered a great many edits and cuts. To date, many versions of the film have been released, each one offering previously unseen material. Running times of the film range from 121 minutes (1972 version), 138 min. (1989), and 154 min. (1994) to more recent and more complete versions of 160 and 162 minutes (the latter version being available only in Italian). Much to the disappointment of fans, a number of the aforementioned versions have omitted pivotal scenes, most notably that of the final flashback (some films only list the shortened flashback, if at all). A Fistful of Dynamite features a number of Leone trademarks, including close-ups on eyes and mouths and a hauntingly beautiful soundtrack by Ennio Morricone.
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