1:00:04
A machete. It's interesting.
1:00:06
In Yojimbo, Sanjuro wears
his sword strapped to his waist.
1:00:11
It's a sword-fighting movie, and the
violence is about a rather languid hero,
1:00:16
who has moments of violence
with spectacular swordplay,
1:00:20
then sheaths his sword and walks off.
1:00:22
This is, I think, a reference to Yojimbo,
1:00:24
with Eastwood's use of the machete.
1:00:31
This had an X certificate
when it came out,
1:00:34
because the violence really came
as something of a shock.
1:00:37
Perhaps not the violence. The brutality.
1:00:39
The sense of the enjoyment of physical
punishment which comes through,
1:00:44
is true of all Leone's films,
and is still controversial to some extent.
1:00:48
You've got the style,
the production design,
1:00:51
the music, these distinctive features,
1:00:54
but you've also got this lingering
on moments of brutality,
1:00:58
which, even in this first Western, it would
become more extreme later, is present.
1:01:03
And as the film builds up, so upping
the ante on brutality becomes important.
1:01:41
"I knew someone
like you and no one helped."
1:01:43
The only moment in the film
where any motivation
1:01:46
is attributed to the Eastwood character.
1:01:49
Up to now, he's been
on the take, from the Rojos,
1:01:52
from the Baxters,
set one against the other.
1:01:54
But here, he's actually doing a moral act.
1:01:57
He's protecting the Holy Family and
sending them back across the border