Sergio Corbucci (December 6, 1927 – December 1, 1990) was an Italian film director. He is best known for his very violent yet intelligent spaghetti westerns. He was for a long time considered an exploitation director, but has now attained a vast following and is easily compared to Sam Peckinpah or Sergio Leone.
He is the older brother of screenwriter and film director Bruno Corbucci.
He started his career by directing mostly low-budget sword and sandal movies. His first commercial success was with the cult spaghetti western Django, starring Franco Nero, the leading man in many of his movies. After Django, Corbucci made many other spaghetti westerns, which made him the most successful Italian western director after Sergio Leone and one of Italy’s most productive directors. His most famous of these pictures was The Great Silence, a dark and gruesome western starring a mute action hero and a psychopathic bad guy. The film was banned in some countries… read more
Corbucci's grim images and pulp excesses (often executed simultaneously) are so impressive. Westerns like "Unforgiven" had to move away from the mythos and cool of the genre to tell affecting stories: "Django" is awash in blood and style, but the pathos of its haunted, coffin-dragging protagonist never leaves the spotlight. The whole film has a wonderfully authentic spaghetti western feel, but at the same time, remains as refreshing to me today as I'm sure it was to audiences back in '66.
Lo spaghetti western per eccellenza. Riscrive ogni regola che fino a quel punto era stata scritta, su come dirigere un classico western. Amplifica e ridonda tutto. Fu talmente un successo da creare diversi seguiti apocrifi. Con Django, Corbucci crea un'icona che, soltanto lo straniero senza nome creato da Leone, riuscirà ad essere al suo livello nella storia dello spaghetti western.
A former Union soldier, haunted by his past and dragging a coffin behind him, wanders into a small Western town that is under siege by two warring factions carrying out their own, smaller scale civil war. Started a spaghetti western trend with endless imitations, the original DJANGO remains a gloriously over the top opera of violence and redemption.
I was struck by the fact that in a hundred other movies, the showdown outside the saloon where Django reveals what he's got in his coffin would be the climax of the whole movie. Here, it's just the capper on the first act, and the story continues to loop around, taking care to eliminate all the alternative scenarios and highlight just how inevitable the final shootout in the cemetery really is.
With Spaghetti Westerns, commercial cinema provided a lively and genuine commentary on the growing radicalization of the Italian left.
A man from nowhere, wearing black, wades through the desert dragging a coffin tied up to his belt. As he approaches three stubborn vigilantes, preparing to execute a beautiful woman, he decides to… read review
In no way is Django a well made film, but it is amazing none the less. The plot is just way too cool to pass up: A man treking through the desert with a machine gun hidden in a coffin. In addition… read review
