'Spaghetti Westerns' screened at Bentara Budaya

'Spaghetti Westerns' screened at Bentara Budaya

JAKARTA (JP): Before he rode off to become a big time
Hollywood star, Clint Eastwood put on his poncho and got down and
dirty with director Sergio Leone in several Westerns which were
filmed in, of all places, Italy.

Low budget they may have been, but the so-called "spaghetti
Westerns" were a success with fans.

A trilogy of Eastwood westerns will be shown at Bentara Budaya
Jakarta, Jl. Palmerah 17, Central Jakarta, opposite the
Kompas/Gramedia building, from Jan. 16 to Jan. 17. The showings
are open to the public at no charge.

Jan. 16

A Fistful of Dollars (1964/100 mins). Starring Eastwood, Gian
Maria Volonte, Marianne Koch, Pepe Calvo. Directed by Leone.

Based on Kurosawa's Yojimbo, it tells of a deadly feud between
two gangs, with Eastwood as the arch manipulator. Britain's
Time Out film guide said "all the classic Leone ingredients were
there -- the atonal score, the graphic violence, the horrendous
dubbing -- and the film's Stateside success changed the face of a
genre". (4 p.m.)

For a Few Dollars More (1965/130 mins). Starring Eastwood, Lee
Van Cleef, Gian Maria Volonte, Klaus Kinski, Maria Krup, Aldo
Sambrell, Mario Brega. Directed by Leone.

Eastwood and Van Cleef come together to fight a bandit with
crazy plans on his crazed mind. Time Out called it "not as
stylish as The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, but a significant step
forward from A Fistful of Dollars". (7 p.m.)

Jan. 17

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966/180 mins). Starring
Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, Aldo Giuffre, Mario Brega. Directed by
Leone.

The last in the trilogy of Westerns, and probably the most
famous (partly because of that distinctive title). "Hard to tell
who's good, bad or ugly in this bitterly cynical portrait of
America during the Civil War, with the three leads indulging in
ruthless violence and self help as they search for a fortune,"
Time Out said. (4 p.m.)

A Fistful of Dollars. 7 p.m.

Jan. 18

For a Few Dollars More. 4 p.m.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. 7 p.m. (brc)