A Bullet for the General

For mass audiences, Sergio Leone’s legitimization of the spaghetti western begins and ends with his Clint Eastwood Dollars trilogy; more specifically their final collaboration, The Good, The Bad and the Ugly, where Clint’s signature squint and poncho became enshrined in American pop culture. And yet Italian filmmakers found just as much inspiration in the character of Taco (played by Eli Wallach), an egomaniacal outlaw who served as both the film’s comic relief and a self-styled “man of the people,” embodying all the ambitions of the huddled masses.

A Bullet for the General doesn’t even register as a blip on the average western fan’s radar, and yet in many ways it’s a much more successful film than Leone’s bloated epic. The film is set during the Mexican revolution and stars Gian Maria Volonte as “El Chuncho” (the savage), a bandit who steals guns from the army and sells them back to the revolutionaries. During a well-choreographed train heist, he crosses paths with a soft-spoken gringo he nicknames “Nino” who joins their cause and seems all-too anxious to arrange a meeting with The General, one of the leaders of the revolution.

The fact that Chuncho really has no cause but his own is a major theme of the film, which works politics into its story much more adeptly than any spaghetti western before or since. And the scene in which Chuncho comes to that realization is as fascinating as any of the raids, shootouts and getaways that came before. But director Damiano Damiani never stops his film to pontificate. Bullet is a film constantly in motion, juggling multiple agendas and motivations, headed for a nihilistically happy ending that brings its main character full circle.

Volonte should look familiar; he had roles in both of Leone’s previous Dollars films. Ennio Morricone provides a rousing score, much more contemporary Hollywood than his famous “whistling” theme of the era. And bad boy Klaus Kinski (also a Dollars vet) takes on a sympathetic role this time as Chuncho’s brother, a religious zealot who kills without compunction for the revolution. The Eastwood role here is filled by Lou Castel, whose “non-performance” is subtly brilliant next to Volonte’s onscreen blowhard.

A Bullet for the General is a Blu-ray upgrade from Blue Underground, which had previously released the film as part of a boxed set. Besides the hi-def benefits you get the trailers, stills, and director interview ported over from the old edition and an entire bonus disc documentary on Gian Maria Volonte.