9/13/05 Quentin Tarantino Festival - Day 5 - Italian World War II Epic Night
Hello from Austin. I'm Micah and I just hit the midway point in one of the most eclectic film festivals around, QT6. Tonight Tarantino presented a doozy of a double feature of Italian World War II movies. My pre-festival movie tonight was Trinity is Still My Name, the superior sequel to My Name is Trinity. Sure it's not a war movie, but it got me in the mood for some great Italian cinema. But, as much as I want to get right to the films themselves, I've got something that I have to get out of the way...
Nicky Katt Update #3: For the last two days I've reported about the surprisingly intense/scary vibe thrown off by Nicky Katt. Yesterday I mentioned that Katt is apparently so badass that he doesn't even change clothes, showing up for Day 3 & 4 in the same jeans/long-sleeve t-shirt combo. I went looking for Katt tonight fully expecting a different outfit, but against all odds the man arrived wearing the same getup he'd been in for the past 2 nights. I'm not sure if he's not changing clothes, or if he has a Batman closet full of the same badass uniform, but if he makes it 4 days in a row I'm going to risk my neck and ask him about it. If I don't post tomorrow, tell the authorities to check in Katt's trunk.
With that out of the way, let's get on to the Dumb Distraction coverage of Italian WWII night!
Five For Hell (1969)
Directed by: Gianfranco Parolini
Starring: John Garko, Klaus Kinski, Margret Lee
Tarantino Introduction:
Tarantino began his introduction to this movie by talking about how a lot of Italian actors and directors moved from one popular genre to the next, starting with Sword & Sandal movies in the 60's, then to Spaghetti Westerns in the early to mid-70's, and then finally to World War II movies. It was the WWII genre more than any other that became the refuge for old Spaghetti Western veterans.
As Tarantino tells it, the WWII genre became huge in Italy right after The Dirty Dozen exploded in America (and later worldwide). As Tarantino puts is. "Italians only need one hit movie to make a genre!"
Quentin considers the director of this movie, Gianfranco Parolini, to be one of the most fun Spaghetti Western directors from that era. You could always count on his movies to feature snazzy gadgets and cool plots. Additionally, QT theorizes that Parolini must have been involved with the circus at some point, because almost all of his films feature some sort of acrobatics.
Five for Hell is no exception. Taranino chuckles as he explains that, sure enough, part of the mission in this movie involves an acrobatic guy. "They're going on this mission, and they've got their bombs, they've got their guns, they've got their maps... and they've got a tiny trampoline!"
Tarantino also hypes up Kinski's performance in this movie as an over-the-top ultra sleazy villain. "If you though he was great in the spaghetti westerns, just wait until he puts on a Nazi uniform! I'm sure Kinski was like... 'Enough with this spaghetti western shit, get me a fucking SS uniform!' He's just great."
Trailers:
March or Die - Cool looking war movie staring Terence Hill & Gene Hackman.
Force 10 From Navarrone - I haven't seen this film, but the cast is great: Robert Shaw, Harrison Ford, Franco Nero, Richard Kiel, Carl Weathers...
The Steel Bayonet
The Movie:
I'm not going to sugar-coat it... this was a pretty silly movie. It was very much a Dirty Dozen-esque 'Oddball Team Succeeds Against All Odds' type movie. Five men have been hand picked to infiltrate a German base and bring back Plan K, the contents of which describe in detail the German Army's plans to attack the American Army.
Each man has his own speciality. One is a cowardly demolitions expert, one's a safecracker, one's a sharpshooter, one is an acrobat, and the leader can toss a mean knuckleball. Yes, the main weapon for most of the movie is a wooden baseball with a lead core.
Very few people die in this movie, and you get the sense the that team of five would rather disarm the Germans than kill them. "All right you Krauts," one of the five yells at one point. "Everybody be good and no one gets hurt. Being good means being still." Of course when one of them moves, he gets a baseball to the head for his troubles.
Eventually the five make it to the German HQ, and the movie starts to get really interesting. In order to get inside the base, the acrobatic member must use the mini-trampoline to vault over the 20-foot electric fence. Once inside, the group must rendevous with their informant and abscond with Plan K before the Germans realize they're there. Of course, they get detected as they try to leave the base, leading to a pretty sweet extended battle between to Five and the Germans.
I was surprised that, despite the hype by Tarantino to the contrary, Kinski is amazing subdued in this role. He seems much more spoiled than evil, and seems more interesting in getting laid than getting the Americans. However, it's still Kinski, and he definately brings something intangible to this role that I really liked.
As I said, this isn't a serious WWII movie at all. Of course, any movie that presents a trampoline and a baseball as serious wartime threats isn't trying to be 'realistic.' Nevertheless the audience seemed to enjoy it, and it contrasted well against the next, more sobering film.
From Hell to Victory (1979)
Directed by: Umberto Lenzi
Starring: George Peppard, George Hamilton, Horst Buchholz
Tarantino Introduction:
Unlike Five for Hell, and unlike most of the Italian WWII epics, From Hell to Victory is not a Dirty Dozen imitator. Tarantino notes that most Italian WWII movies (like Five For Hell) tended to focus on smaller stories, and when they tried to do bigger stories, they stumbled. "No stumbling here. This movie is terrific, no qualifications. It's got great story, great characters, and a great gimmick."
Tarantino tells the audience that, had this movie been made in the early 60's when muscular WWII epics were totally in vogue, it would today be considered as fondly as movies like Battle of the Bulge and Where Eagles Dare. In fact, QT points out, you wouldn't have even had to change the cast if the movie were made in the 60's, as guys like Peppard and Buchholz were making huge waves back then.
Quentin describes this movie as one of the best 'hopping around the globe telling one story' movies he'd ever seen... a true epic. He also talked about how he was lucky enough to buy a print of this movie in the past few months, and bragged that it only set him back $50.
As he walked off the stage, he remembered to tell us that the only bad thing about the print was that it was missing one scene "at a crucial moment in the film." Lots of laughs at that. In order to keep us from wondering what was going on, QT told us that whenever we see the French female protagonist getting hassled by the Germans, the scene that is missing is Buchholz saving her. "You'll know which scene I'm talking about when you see it... no way you'll be confused."
Trailers:
Von Richthofen and Brown - A Roger Corman directed flying-ace movie starring John Phillip Law.
Damnation Alley - A post-apocalyptic film presented in 'SOUND 360' (patent pending).
Love at First Bite - Silly modern-day Dracula movie starring George Hamilton.
The Movie:
This may be my current favorite movie of the festival. It is definately the first one that caused me to break into chills. It is the story of 5 close-knit friends: a Frenchman, a Frenchwoman, a Brit, a German, and an American. The movie opens with the group dining at a cafe in France just before the beginning of the war. Anticipating the coming struggle, and realizing that they are all about to go their separate ways, the group vows to return to the cafe annually for a reunion, no matter what.
The film then begins to hop from one country to the next as we view the role of each of the characters during the war. The film is very methodical in presenting the struggles of each character. The movie has no overriding plot (apart from merely trying to survive WWII), instead focusing on the group dynamic as the five charcters cross paths over the years.
A great deal of the tension in this movie comes from the German character (Horst Buchholz), who is described late in the film by the American as "The right guy, but wrong side." Sure enought, the scene Tarantino described in his introduction was easily spotted. The Frenchwoman is getting harrassed by German guards. Suddenly Buchholz appears and the two lock eyes. Immediate jump to the two of them naked & rolling around in bed. Everyone laughs and Tarantino can be heard to yell "That's what I was talking about!"
Along with the fantastic storytelling, the main actors are all top-notch. I was particuarly surprised by George Hamilton in this movie. He is quite the badass in this film, getting all the best bits of dialogue. At one point he's talking to a young soldier who just killed a German. "Is that the first time you killed a man?" he asks the soldier. "Don't think about it... it gets easier."
As I said before, this is probably my favorite movie thus far. From Hell to Victory is a sweeping epic of a movie that deserves wider recognition than it is currently receiving. Of course, that's what these QT fests are all about, and what makes them so special.
With another relatively short double feature out of the way, a few of us hit the town to discuss what we'd seen. The highlight of the after-festival came at 6th Street around 1AM.
For those that haven't been here, 6th Street in Austin is a highly condensed collection of bars, music venues, and hole-in-the-wall restaurants. Accordingly, there is a large police presence.
Apparently this was lost on one dumbass in an SUV who slammed to a screeching halt at a red light, literally in the middle of 4 parked police cars. Needless to say we got a free viewing of a sobriety test, an arrest, and a SUV towing. Classic Austin. See you tomorrow for Italian Crime Films of the 70's Night!
- Micah
