‘I Want Him Dead’ or — More Visually Interesting Than Leone?!
I sat down to watch Paolo Bianchini’s ‘I Want Him Dead’ (1968) last night with my expectations set somewhere between low and zero as nothing about this bluntly titled Spanish/Italian western was initially promising anything special. So I was somewhat surprised, and delighted, to find myself sitting back as the end credits rolled thinking to myself “Now that was pretty damned impressive!”
When ex-Confederate scout Clayton’s (Craig Hill) sister is brutally raped and murdered he sets out to kill the man responsible — the villainously monikered Jack Blood. Yet when it transpires that Blood is working for ruthless arms dealer Charles Melleck, who has a dastardly plan to sabotage an upcoming Civil War peace talk in order to artificially extend the conflict and, consequently, his profits, Clayton is soon faced with fighting for something other than revenge.
What’s great about this plot is that it allows some form of growth for our hero and for him to be after something other than gold, retribution or a settling of scores. Not only that but it also means ‘I Want Him Dead’ feels like a Euro-western with a point to make about the influence of private business on the military/industrial complex, so it’s not just a decently gripping tale but one with something to say. In short, this is a compelling, if sometimes messy, narrative that soon hooks you in.
Yet what’s most arresting about ‘I Want Him Dead’ is Bianchini’s excellent eye with the director and cinematographer Ricardo Andreu pulling off some truly incredible shots, especially in terms of depth of field and the use of distance to really burst the screen wide open, sometimes to epic levels.
A great example of this is a shot roughly 36 minutes in of tiny men on tiny horses riding along in the distance whilst right up close to the camera is Clayton’s giant hip with his hand hovering over his massive pistol, and all this is set against a blazing blue sky as thunderous music blares out. It’s amazing.
Another cool example is when Clayton and Aloma (Lea Massari) ride out from a valley and onto the plains, the shot starting with the dark, shadow-veiled mountains behind them before following them out into the dazzling light of a bright, white sky which completely fills the screen, and this extreme shift of contrasts from dark to bright, this strong and consistent use of space and light, along with a load of visual invention, results in Bianchini’s film being a genuinely exhilarating and stimulating experience.
Another bonus is Lea Massari who is great as Aloma and her character and performance really help give the film a decent female presence, something other Euro-westerns either struggle with or don’t even possess at all.
I don’t want to oversell ‘I Want Him Dead’ and if you’re not overly familiar with the Spaghetti Western genre then you might watch it and wonder why I’m making such as fuss about it. But if you’re a fan of these flicks and fancy something a little different and executed with an impressive and unique visual flair then this is really worth checking out.
In fact, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen the often-used region of Almeria look so pretty, and that includes the Leone movies.
