Share this @internewscast.com
Far International Films
Enzo Castellari’s 1976 classic, “Keoma,” currently available for free on Plex, Tubi, and Pluto TV, stands apart from the typical spaghetti Western. While it includes familiar genre elements, like Franco Nero’s tragic gunslinger, the film embraces a surreal and allegorical style. This unique approach was timely as the 1970s saw the genre’s waning popularity, following iconic releases like Sergio Corbucci’s “Django” and Sergio Leone’s Dollar Trilogy with Clint Eastwood. Looking back, “Keoma” is celebrated as a standout twilight Western, though upon its release, it stirred some controversy.
The film’s score by Guido and Maurizio De Angelis sparked much discussion. Featuring vocal tracks with English lyrics that narrate the story, the music divided audiences; some praised its originality, while others found it grating. Nero’s influence was clear, having requested a Leonard Cohen-style sound—obscure and melancholic—which the brothers certainly achieved. Controversial as it may be, the soundtrack effectively underscores the film’s exploration of themes like racism, identity, and redemption.
Castellari’s filmmaking techniques, including slow motion, extensive close-ups, and sweeping panning shots, drew criticism for being overused. Yet, these choices contributed to “Keoma” becoming a cult favorite, inspiring a generation of filmmakers, including Quentin Tarantino, who openly admires Castellari’s work. These elements helped craft one of the most distinctive Westerns to emerge from Italy.
Far International Films
The return of a mixed-race prodigal son
The film follows Keoma Shannon (Franco Nero), a half-Indian, half-white ex-Union soldier, as he returns to his war-ravaged hometown, plagued by a mysterious illness. He is shadowed by a mystical witch who insists she saved him during his tribe’s massacre. The town is now under the rule of the tyrant Caldwell (Donald O’Brien), who forces the sick into camps and restricts anyone from leaving unless they are near death. Keoma’s return pits him against his three racist brothers, William (William Berger), Lenny (Antonio Marsina), and Sam (Joshua Sinclair), who tormented him in childhood for his mixed heritage.
After saving a pregnant woman from Caldwell’s henchmen, Keoma encounters an old friend, George (Woody Strode), who now lives as the town’s homeless drunk. He tells him about the ruin Caldwell brought on them, and how his siblings became ruthless accomplices. After visiting his father (Orso Maria Guerrini), Keoma decides to confront his brothers and bring an end to Caldwell’s reign, no matter how much blood he has to spill to free his home and save the good people in it.
Underneath the disquieting plot, the dominant through line in “Keoma” is evidently the character’s search for identity. He wanders through his hometown like a lost child looking for pieces of himself. Via meticulously placed flashbacks, we slowly learn about his troubled upbringing, riddled with hate and trauma because of what he is. Only ever loved by his father and George (another outcast for being a Black man), he clings to those fractions of love, which prove potent enough to die for.
An unusually emotional reckoning for a Western
Far International Films
Although shot mainly in Italy and Spain like most spaghetti Westerns, the hopelessly dire and desolate atmosphere of “Keoma” makes the film seem like it takes place in a world of its own. Destruction, brutality, and greed are everywhere in this place, and Franco Nero (with his long hair, dishevelled beard, and rugged clothes) is more mysterious warrior than cowboy. It’s all by design: Enzo Castellari and Nero shared a vision for how the film should look before they even had a script to work from, putting an emphasis on evocative images over dialogue and trusting the viewer to translate them into powerful emotions.
The musical narration can be a bit on-the-nose at times, but it’s useful when it comes to piecing together the backstory and helps us understand Keoma’s feelings. Not that Nero needs assistance: After spending a decade on the screen as one of the most iconic faces of the genre, he’s at the height of his powers here. In complete control, he carefully flits between fierce, brooding, and utterly charismatic as the story demands, delivering a performance that surprisingly ends up playing more on the heartstrings than our other senses.
Sure, “Keoma” doesn’t hold back on action and brutality (its second half unleashes a plethora of gunfights and killings), but it’s the titular character’s emotional depth and relentless fight for freedom that stay with us the most in the end. His final line — “A man who’s free never dies,” famously borrowed from Nero’s friend, author Clair Huffaker — before he rides into the endless prairies of the Apennine Mountains leaves us with a sense of pathos, a beautiful yet defiant final moment in what is one of the most criminally underrated Westerns of its era.
