Hello, Firstly,
I would like to compliment you on your work. I have been teaching
a course on the cinema of Leone for some time, and I always appreciate
good, scholarly treatments of his work. I found your insights quite
interesting, particularly the connections to the genre. Some time
ago I wrote a piece on the two America films outlining my view of
Leone's fairy-tale concepts. I used the work of Max Luthi as the
basis for my contentions. I also used a quote from Pete Hamill in
which Leone talked about the myth of America and how it was tied
to film. He also said that American had borrowed the myth and that
if they didn't continue to cherish it, Europeans would take it back,
or even reinvent it.
Hi James - thanks
for the comments. Yeah, I thought long and hard about labelling
'The Wild Bunch' romantic, since this seems an odd word to use about
a film famous for its bloodbaths. I stick with it though, due to
the film's inherent respect for the values of the 'Old West', which
is not really evident in much of Leone's work. Mostly, I was trying
to emphasise that I think Leone/Peckinpah comparisons are overblown
- very differing styles and themes.
Good and interesting
dissertation. Strange you see The Wild Bunch as romantic. Other
obvious influences of Leone are Tarantino and Woo and Kubrick's
Barry Lyndon.
