"English film-maker Alex Cox comes riding into town with this jauntily odd and surreal western which he has indicated will be his swansong, shot on the rugged plains of Almeria in Spain and also Arizona. Cox himself is the star an elegant, dapper presence and his co-writer is veteran spaghetti western actor Gianni Garko. The story has obvious relevance to contemporary America, and a flash-forward makes some of this clear."
"Cox transplants some of this tale to the American old west of the late 19th century. He plays Strindler, a spindly and cadaverous fellow with elaborate courtly manners, a fastidious suit and bowler hat. Strindler sometimes claims to be a government official and sometimes an itinerant preacher. Having checked in at a fly-blown hotel, he exerts himself to make the acquaintance of the local notables, including the sheriff and mayor, to whom he sycophantically loses at cards."
Alex Cox films a jauntily odd, surreal Western on the plains of Almeria and Arizona, starring himself with co-writer Gianni Garko. The narrative transposes Nikolai Gogol's parable to the late nineteenth-century American West. Cox plays Strindler, a spindly, cadaverous conman in courtly manners, a fastidious suit and bowler hat. Strindler poses as official or itinerant preacher, ingratiates himself with local notables and loses at cards. He offers large sums for lists of dead Mexicans, planning to sell the names to government departments while framing the scheme as cleansing or redemption. The film connects historical greed to contemporary immigration anxieties.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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