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| Locandina | Italian Poster( X1) | Italian Poster( X4) |
| English Title | Blood and Guns / Long Live the Revolution |
| Director | Gulio Petroni |
| Screenplay | Gulio Petroni , Franco Solinas , Ivan Della Mea |
| Photogarphy | Francisco Marin |
| Music | Ennio Morricone |
| Cast | Tomas Milian , Orson Welles , Jhon Steiner
, Luciano Casamonica , Jose Torres |
| Tepepa Review |
According to the recently published Western All'italiana, the final image ofthis film was cut from many prints. The image concerned was that of thefilm's now dead lead character outlined against the sunset, an heroic spirit. That this should have proven to be contentious is hardly surprising. Is the eponymous lead (Tomas Milian) a hero or not? Guilio Petroni's contribution to the political spaghetti western presents an enormous moral problem. Here's Jesus Maria Moran, known as Tepepa leading the peasants against a sell-out government. The treacherous English doctor Henry Price (John Steiner) is out for his blood and a sadistic soldier (Orsen Welles, no less) presides over an oppressive dictatorship. It should be clear-cut, in the way of so many political spaghettis, but this time it isn't because Tepepa has innocent blood on his hands. The film opens with Tepepa about to be shot by Welles' soldiers. The execution is thwarted by Price who apparently rescues Tepepa only to announce his intention to kill the man himself. Accidents prevent or delay this, and Price finds himself forced to live amongst Tepepa's revolutionaries, lending a professional hand as a doctor. Gradually the two characters seem to become, if not friends, at least men who respect each other. Whatever grudge Price has against Tepepa seems less clear cut- 'I have reasonable doubt', Price concedes finally leaving Tepepa unharmed. Once in the city, Price is accosted by Welles who proceeds to dispel the reasonable doubt and show just what Price's problem with Tepepa is. Using an elaborate- and ingenious- framework of flashbacks based on witnesstestimonies, Price and we are shown Tepepa's dark side- his rape of an aristocratic woman who commits suicide in shame. The offence seems to intentionally echo the psychotic El Indio's crime from For A Few Dollars More. Tepepa's ugly little secret is laid bare and, since the woman was Price's fiance, the basis for his revenge becomes clear. The film's moral position becomes opaque, however and stays that way. Does this revolting crime cancel out Tepepa's conscientious other deeds or not. Petroni and head writer Franco Solinas keep it ambivalent- dangerously so, to my mind.. Price joins Welles for an assault on Tepepa's headquarters. The attack fails and Welles is killed. Tepepa, however is also wounded and obliged to put his life in the hands of Price. In an extraordinary scene Price attempts to give medical assistance to Tepepa whilst the latter attempts to excuse his crime, apologising, dismissing -'what is one woman to the Revolution. It seems as so Price's Hippocratic oath will triumph over his need for revenge until Tepepa laughs dismissively 'imagine you killing me over a senorita', Seconds later a scalpel has done its lethal work. With Tepepa dead, Price attempts to leave the Mexicans, but dies at the hands of a child he's befriended. The child understands hero worship (despite Tepepa having killed his father as a traitor). Evidently he neither knows or cares much about crimes against women. The film ends then with the contentious ghostly hero mentioned above and the question remains: is Tepepa a hero or not? What makes this question so maddening is that Solinas and Petroni seem either not to know the answer- presenting an ambivalent narrative for the sake of it, or subscribe to the affirmative. Certainly for much of the film Tepepa is portrayed by Milian as a likeable, intelligent and even moral human being. It's to Milian's special credit that we can see how seductive a leader he is. But he's a rapist and rapists shouldn't be seductive. If Solinas and Petroni believe Tepepa's crime is indeed slight compared to the revolution then this is very deficient morality. I wish I could sure they understood this. If this sounds as if Tepepa is a bad film then that isn't my intention. Tepepa is made with a careful style, weaving intricate plot details through the flashback method already mentioned, It's an intricate film in fact, balancing character with well staged action and flashes of comedy-particularly centred around Price who hates Mexico and testily reminds the locals at every opportunity. Steiner's playing is good as is that of Welles (though this film was made at a stage in his career often forgotten by biographers). The Morricone score is an understated, guitar intensive piece of work (However, the song Al Messico Che Vorrei featured on the soundtrack CD does not appear in my copy of the film). Tepepa, in a technical sense is a good film. In a moral sense I'm not so sure |
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Sun, 17 Jan 1999 09:27:44