CS Film Club II

It is Doomsday who will be preoccupied.

I watched the SHIT out of that back in the day.

On Tubi, the Beetlejuice cartoon is right next to your Goosebumps movie on the homepage.

I guess it's time for me to duck, you sucker.

Have any of you guys seen Duck, You Sucker? Great and underrated Leone movie.

Yup.

I've been a fan since high school. Encore Western aired the movie A LOT back then.

My Name is Nobody is another overlooked one.

Been raining all day. Stayed home and streamed PlutoTV. Watched some random Brady Bunch episodes. Pretty sure Carol Brady didn’t wear a bra in one of them. Then I caught the latter half of Duck You Sucker. Man, what a great movie. Love that it has a different flavor to Leone’s trademark western. It’s grittier. It’s aesthetically unique. The zooms and pans are a nice touch. Characters feel more grounded and have more emotional weight to them, but still retain the heightened nature of Leone’s work. The movie is totally worthy of a PG Cooper video essay, but we’ll never get one.

I think Duck You Sucker is excellent. It doesn't get as much attention as his other movies, but it's just as great.

It feels more raw too. Leone was trying to do something different and it shows which is one of the many things that really make it work. I need to give that flick another spin, it's been too long.

Duck, You Sucker

Duck, You Sucker, aka A Fistful of Dynamite, aka Once Upon a Time...the Revolution, aka Sergio Leone's forgotten Western epic. I do understand why Duck, You Sucker isn't held in the same high regard that films like The Good, the Bad and the Ugly or Once Upon a Time in the West are. The film isn't the perfect storm of epic set-pieces that the former is, nor does it feature the sheer virtuoistic filmmaking of the latter. Additionally, while the characters are pretty strong, there's nothing as iconic as the trio of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly or as interesting as the collection of personalities in Once Upon a Time in the West.

That all said, those two Westerns are two of the greatest ever made, and placing too much comparison on Duck, You Sucker isn't entirely fair. Taken on its own merits, Duck, You Sucker is a rock solid movie. Sergio Leone remains as capable as ever behind the camera, transforming the West into a near mythic battleground through sheer force of filmmaking. The way Leone characterizes Mexican bandits contrasted with the wealthy white travelers in the opening scene is a particular strong example of great filmmaking, with Leone able to craft clear tones and conflict through mostly shot selection, close-ups, and audio design. The performances are really good too, especially Rod Steiger. Also, while the film isn't as action heavy as some of Leone's other Westerns, the moments of violence here are very well-rendered and equal parts brutal and very exciting. The movie also has a pretty good sense of humour, perhaps best exemplified when Juan realizes the bank heist isn't working out the way he had planned.

All that said, I do think Leone stumbles here in a few places. The flashbacks echo those of Once Upon a Time in the West, but the saccharine melodrama of the flashbacks are so overdone through the slow-motion and bright lighting that it becomes downright comical. Some of Leone's other flourishes, like the bank sign hovering over John are just...weird. Finally, I think the film's pacing is a bit off. Leone's films tend to learn towards the hefty side and that really doesn't bother me usually, but here, I really do think the pacing could have been tighter.

I think one of the other elements that has kept Duck, You Sucker relatively obscure compared to Leone's other epics is the sheer pessimism on display. Leone always made movies about anti-heroes, but Juan is a straight up scumbag at points. Additionally, while films like Once Upon a Time in the West can be understood as a critique of Western violence, Duck, You Sucker goes even further, criticizing the very idea of fighting and dying for a cause. The film's central thesis seems to be that revolution is largely pointless, as the oppressed are ultimately the ones who have to give their lives and similar power structures as before are merely recreated. Even when the film feels like it's going to present an act of heroism and embrace the cause, Leone undercuts this with more brutality and random violence, leading to a gut punch ending that openly questions notions of patriotism and fighting for a cause.

A-

In war, the poor fight for the interests of other people. Obviously, there are exceptions to that, like WWII, which Leone himself live through, but this movie was made in 1972, during Vietnam.

I hadn't actually thought about Vietnam, but that connection makes a lot of sense and does add another layer of resonance. I remember you posting something about the movie and its themes of family over country in another thread.

Probably leaning Southern Comfort