Revolver (1973)

Watching Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds recently, part of the fun was picking out the director's musical choices for his soundtrack. I recognized a good amount of the tracks, including many from Ennio Morricone, but one really caught my attention for the first time, Morricone's 'Un Amico.' It's used perfectly in Tarantino's WWII movie so I investigated and found out it was originally used in a 1973 Italian thriller called Revolver.

It's a movie from director Sergio Sollima who made no bones about getting his political beliefs into his movies. Some work better than others, The Big Gundown is a classic, because sometimes the political preaching can get to be a little much, especially in westerns where that element is unnecessary to add to a story's depth or lack of. I liked Revolver because Sollima's feelings are mostly left out of it, and what's there is actually a worthwhile commentary on society.

The problem isn't with the political undertones, but the pacing of the first hour. It's the type of movie that throws everything at you with seemingly unrelated storylines and lets the plot develop. That's fine in itself in some cases, but the story is so muddled at times with Revolver I was never quite sure what was going on for the first 60 minutes. The story rights itself when things are explained and makes that last half of the movie much better and much more enjoyable.

Coming home one day, prison warden Vito Cipriani (Oliver Reed) finds his wife (Agostina Belli) is gone from their apartment. The phone rings, and a mysterious voice at the other end says she's been kidnapped, and the only way he'll get her back is to free a prisoner, Milo Ruiz (Fabio Testi), from his jail. Vito struggles with what to do but ultimately decides to do it. The only problem? When he frees Milo, the criminal has no idea who would want to help him out of prison.

In another storyline that seems to have no link, a higher-up politician is murdered while leaving his office by an assasin on a motorcycle. It's not long before the police find him, kill him and destroy the motorcycle and have a friend of the killer, folk singer Al Niko (Daniel Beretta), identify what's left of the body. Of course, the stories do connect at the movie's midpoint, and it generally works. Some unexplained scenes now make sense, and the unfolding of the rest of the plot comes together.

The somewhat political message of the movie is that society has ways of guarding itself against danger, laws, police, government, but that sometimes all it takes is for one man to take a revolver and right a wrong. Reed's Vito is put in this situation when faced with a decision on trading Testi's Milo in exchange for his wife in a prisoner exchange. He knows Testi will most likely be killed so as a warden and former police officer can he rationalize one life for another? That question certainly makes for an interesting resolution.

While other characters bounce in and out of the story, it's Reed and Testi that carry the movie. On the DVD, an interview with Sollima talks about how you can throw just about everything else away. It's a movie about a good guy, Reed, who's not so good, and a bad guy, Testi, who's not so bad. Known as much for his drinking ability as his acting career, Reed is an incredible presence here, a brooding, intense, driven man who will stop at nothing to get his wife back safely. Testi, often known for his looks more than anything, provides a strong balance as the criminal thrown into the middle of a situation he has little to no control over. All other things aside, the movie is about these two men and their unlikely partnership, a buddy movie on steroids if you will.

Other nice touches include the French and Italian shooting locations, and a gritty style Sollima had by then become known for. Here's the opening, which features 'Un Amico' with lyrics which isn't as effective as the song itself. The rest of the Morricone score isn't his best and seems too similar to some other scores he'd done. But the main track is a keeper and is used perfectly in the opening and especially in the final scene. While it may have been difficult getting there at times, the ending is worthwhile to say the least.

Good casting and an intriguing storyline but it takes too long getting there. Worth a watch but don't expect a classic. Here's the DVD interviews in two parts, one and two, with Sollima and Testi interviewed. SPOILER ALERT though, don't watch the interviews if you don't want the ending ruined.

Revolver <----trailer (1973): ** 1/2 /****