Navajo Joe to screen at Venice 2007

Written by Joe D on July 1st, 2007

Sergio Corbucci’s masterpiece Navajo Joe or A Dollar A Head will screen at the 2007 Venice Film Festival. I’ve always loved this film, partially due to the incredible Ennio Morricone soundtrack, featuring the amazing Alessandro Alessandroni, Gianna Spagnulo, and The Cantori Moderni, Alessandroni’s choir. The screenplay is co-authored by Fernando De Leo who later went on to direct some of the best polizotto or crime films of the 70’s, like Il Boss and The Italian Connection and Milano Calibre 9. I also must applaud Burt Reynolds, he did all his own stunts and it is one of the most impressive physical performance’s of all time. To top it off the film has an ambiguous ending, unlike anything I can recall and subsequentially one of my favorites. The only other film ending that struck me in a similar way (although completely different) is Luis Bunuel’s Diary of a Chambermaid and that ending was not ambiguous but surreal, completely out of character with the rest of the film. On reflection the ending of Tristana falls into this classification as well.