Ferdinando Baldi
Last week, Italian director Ferdinando Baldi died at the age of 80. I don't know much about it, and I don't know much about him - but what I do know is that the few films of his that I've watched have formed a very enjoyable part of my ongoing love affair with Italian cult cinema, in particular the spaghetti western.
Despite the fact that I watch a ridiculous number of spaghetti westerns, I've actually covered a comparably small number of them here in the blog pages of the Freakpit. Nevertheless, of the ones I have covered, Baldi has already featured so I guess that minor distinction can count for something.
BLINDMAN is the film I've already enthused about here and, it could be argued, might be his most notable. It's certainly one of the few spaghetti westerns that has a very distinct identity of its own. See my previous entry on the subject for more about this movie.
THE FORGOTTEN PISTOLERO is closer to being a standard spaghetti western, but is still more enjoyable than a great deal of the other films of this genre, aided by a lovely score courtesy of Roberto Pregadio and some memorable casting (the always wonderful Luciano Rossi and the stunningly lovely Pilar Velazquez).
VIVA DJANGO, while arguably not an official sequel to Sergio Corbucci's seminal spaghetti western, took on board some elements of the earlier film and moulded them into a solid piece of entertainment. Rossi again features along with Horst Frank, Italian cult cinema favourite George Eastman and, in the lead, Terence Hill. Hill would later become more well known for his parts in comedic spaghetti westerns (such as the TRINITY series) but this rare outing into more serious territory gave him one of his better roles in the genre.
Finally, I should mention the other film of Baldi's that I've seen, TEXAS ADIOS. This was one of the earliest spaghetti westerns I saw (probably beaten only by the more famous Leone films and a couple of DJANGO movies) and helped form my love of the genre. Granted, it may have seemed fresher then before I'd had a chance to see just how formulaic a genre the spaghetti western was, but that doesn't stop it being enjoyable now and is a fun showcase for guys like Franco Nero and Luigi Pistilli to show why they were so suited to these movies. It also featured cinematography by Enzo Barboni (aka E.B. Clutcher), as did VIVA DJANGO, who would go on to find fame in the genre himself, directing several TRINITY films.
I don't pretend that this is a particularly useful obituary and it certainly isn't a representative overview of the man's career; but I felt I should add something here since the chances are that his death won't be big news over here. But for the films above, and I'm sure the pleasure he gave plenty of other viewers, I salute him all the same.
Despite the fact that I watch a ridiculous number of spaghetti westerns, I've actually covered a comparably small number of them here in the blog pages of the Freakpit. Nevertheless, of the ones I have covered, Baldi has already featured so I guess that minor distinction can count for something.
BLINDMAN is the film I've already enthused about here and, it could be argued, might be his most notable. It's certainly one of the few spaghetti westerns that has a very distinct identity of its own. See my previous entry on the subject for more about this movie.
THE FORGOTTEN PISTOLERO is closer to being a standard spaghetti western, but is still more enjoyable than a great deal of the other films of this genre, aided by a lovely score courtesy of Roberto Pregadio and some memorable casting (the always wonderful Luciano Rossi and the stunningly lovely Pilar Velazquez).
VIVA DJANGO, while arguably not an official sequel to Sergio Corbucci's seminal spaghetti western, took on board some elements of the earlier film and moulded them into a solid piece of entertainment. Rossi again features along with Horst Frank, Italian cult cinema favourite George Eastman and, in the lead, Terence Hill. Hill would later become more well known for his parts in comedic spaghetti westerns (such as the TRINITY series) but this rare outing into more serious territory gave him one of his better roles in the genre.
Finally, I should mention the other film of Baldi's that I've seen, TEXAS ADIOS. This was one of the earliest spaghetti westerns I saw (probably beaten only by the more famous Leone films and a couple of DJANGO movies) and helped form my love of the genre. Granted, it may have seemed fresher then before I'd had a chance to see just how formulaic a genre the spaghetti western was, but that doesn't stop it being enjoyable now and is a fun showcase for guys like Franco Nero and Luigi Pistilli to show why they were so suited to these movies. It also featured cinematography by Enzo Barboni (aka E.B. Clutcher), as did VIVA DJANGO, who would go on to find fame in the genre himself, directing several TRINITY films.
I don't pretend that this is a particularly useful obituary and it certainly isn't a representative overview of the man's career; but I felt I should add something here since the chances are that his death won't be big news over here. But for the films above, and I'm sure the pleasure he gave plenty of other viewers, I salute him all the same.
Labels: Eurocult, Ferdinando Baldi, spaghetti westerns
posted by Alan at 9:06 pm
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