Keoma

The spaghetti western genre is littered with half-assed attempts at resuscitating the same style and story that filmmakers like John Ford and Sergio Leone excelled at producing. In Enzo G. Castellari's "Keoma," the Franco Nero drama is much more interested in presenting the western genre as a myth not exactly worth dissecting, but observing and luxuriating in.

Such is why this violent drama from 1976 stands out from the rest of the pack. Instead of trying for a facsimile that would easily make money during the era in which spaghetti westerns dominated, the blood and bullets that fly in this film don't resolve or enlighten the audience to much of anything. In a very simplified view, "Keoma" is indicative of an era of filmmaking that refused to die.

Keoma (Nero) is a half-breed gunfighter and Civil War veteran horrified to find his hometown still riddled with violent racists and stricken with an outbreak of plague. Tensions are high among the inhabitants of the town, as gang leader Caldwell (Donald O'Brien) rules with hatred for anything but white men. Keoma's father (William Berger) and his friend, a freed slave named George (Woody Strode), gear up for a confrontation with Caldwell and his men.

For the past to truly die, there needs to be some bloodletting. That's what "Keoma" initially sets its sights on narratively, before going off in a bunch of other perplexing directions that don't generally serve the narrative. There's a kind of love story between Keoma and a pregnant woman (Olga Karnatos) that doesn't go much of anywhere, as the film becomes more and more preoccupied not with getting to the final confrontation but presiding over genre tropes like it's walking through a section of a museum.

Nero's Keoma is a man of very few words, and when he does actually speak the words don't exactly ring true. Much like the film, Keoma doesn't know what his purpose or primary motivations are, just that there has to be some kind of forward progression. This is why the film plays like a swan song for a genre that was waning in popularity at the time of this production. Luckily for this reviewer (and whoever watches this), you're in the hands of a filmmaker that's completely committed to filling every frame with information. Even in seemingly simple sequences like the intro, a swinging door acts as an indicator that a myth such as the western hero will always have a place in cinema, even if it doesn't show up in its purest form. It's like Castellari predicted that his own films would make a huge impact on mainstream Hollywood. Just look to Quentin Tarantino's films, and you'll see a career littered with callouts to Castellari's works.

With a stunning new 2K restoration, this Blu-ray release by Arrow Video is a must-own for a multitude of reasons. Between the enlightening booklet essays and the long list of thoroughly researched bonus features, this "Keoma" Blu-ray should be purchased by anyone with a fascination of the spaghetti western genre. Like Keoma himself, Castellari's films will never die because of institutions like Arrow. Rightfully so, I think. Special features include:

� New 2K restoration from the original 35mm camera negative
� Original English and Italian soundtracks, titles and credits
� Newly translated English subtitles for the Italian soundtrack
� New audio commentary by spaghetti western experts C. Courtney Joyner and Henry C. Parke
� Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust, a new interview with director Enzo G. Castellari
� Writing Keoma, a new interview with actor and writer Luigi Montefiori AKA George Eastman
� An Introduction to "Keoma" by Alex Cox, an archival featurette with the acclaimed director

"Keoma"
Blu-ray
$39.95
https://mvdb2b.com/s/Keoma/AV196