"THE REVOLUTION
IS NOT A SOCIAL DINNER,
A LITERARY EVENT,
A DRAWING OR AN EMBROIDERY;
IT CANNOT BE DONE WITH ...
ELEGANCE AND COURTESY.
THE REVOLUTION IS AN ACT OF VIOLENCE ..."
MAO TSE-TUNG
so, i attended the first showing on the first day of an 11 day season of screenings of sergio leone's overlooked and under-rated 1971 film a fistful of dynamite (it's called a motif, stupid) today at the astor thatre in chapel street, st kilda. it was a morally ambiguous affair, contemplatively examining the process of revolution from both personal and political perspectives. indeed, the protagonist juan has no motive at the start of the film beyond his loyalty to his family (whom he describes as his country) yet slowly is exposed to and develops a political agenda. he develops an unlikely bond with a former IRA terrorist and explosives expert sean (played by james coburn) who is similarly morally dubious/questionable in his motivations but ideaologically seems to be a revolutionary. violence begets itself throughout and many questions are raised; chief among them being what one does for the "cause" and what one does for oneself. all the hallmarks of leone's directorial style are evident and indeed the film is beautifully and poetically shot. as my companion and i noted, they don't make thoughtful and thought-provoking films like this any more, coloured, as it was, in shades of grey. wherein juan left with no home, family, country or cause stares at the camera and asks, "what about me?" consoled not at all by the prospect of being regarded as a "grand, great, glorious hero of the revolution" a realisation made perhaps too late by his companion.
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