The Mercenary

An Italian western set during the Mexican revolution. Kowalski is a Polish mercenary. He does not care whom he works for; he takes a job, takes his money, and leaves. A rising breaks out at a mine. A worker called Paco overthrows the owner and the mine passes to the workers. Kowalski had come there to escort a silver shipment. Now the situation has changed. Paco hires him. He does not know how to fight and Kowalski will teach him; the fee will be paid in silver. From there the film is a journey. A train, a town, a prison, a desert and an aircraft. Paco learns. To use weapons, to make a plan, to lead men; but whether he has a revolutionary idea is left permanently unclear. There is a third party as well. Curly is an elegantly dressed killer; he wears yellow gloves and is after Kowalski. What the narrative is interested in is not revolution but on whose behalf: the film never converts Kowalski and never settles Paco's transformation either. This belongs to the political vein of the Italian western. In these films, told through the Mexican revolution, a foreigner and a local usually work together and the real matter is what the local learns. The finale takes place in a bullring. Three men face each other in the arena and the scene is staged before a crowd. The music is by Ennio Morricone and Bruno Nicolai. Jack Palance plays the part entirely in his own manner and the character stands deliberately at a ridiculous point. Franco Nero, Tony Musante, Jack Palance and Giovanna Ralli are in the cast. Sergio Corbucci directed and co-wrote. Who it is for: anyone who likes Italian westerns and genre films with a political undertext. Who it is not for: anyone expecting a consistent tone; the narrative wanders constantly between comedy and hard violence.