Country: ITALY/WEST GERMANY
AKA:
Chacun Pour Soi
Every Man for Himself
Sam Cooper's Gold
The Goldseekers
It’s
always a pleasure to discover a hidden gem, but unfortunately it is an
increasingly rare occurrence nowadays. This is especially so in a cycle as
dense and derivative as the Euro-Western. But my interest in the Euro-Western
was recently piqued again by the purchase of an excellent book called Any Gun Can Play, written by Kevin
Grant, and published by FAB Press in 2011. If hidden cinematic gems are rare,
then well written books on film are like goldust. The Ruthless Four (one of many titles it was released under) is one
such discovery, and the analogy with gold is appropriate, for the film charts
the damaging and corrosive effect, this particular precious metal can have on
human beings. There are certain themes and concerns that are endemic in the
Euro Western, and one theme this cycle returns to time and again is greed. This
theme is of course also present in both traditional American westerns, and the
revisionist westerns that followed in the wake of A Fistful of Dollars (1964). But the difference lies in the way
that this theme is presented. The traditional western always seeks to emphasise
the positive aspects of its principal themes, and greed exists as part of a
cross-current of themes that ultimately serve a redemptive plot. In many
European examples greed is the entire raison d’être of the film, with
screenplays often allowing no room for anything else, as they explore its
acidic effect.
