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''Compañeros'' ( 'Let's go killing, comrades!') is a 1970 Italian/Spanish/French
international co-production A co-production is a joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint vent ...
Zapata Western
buddy comedy The buddy film is a subgenre of adventure and comedy film in which two people go on an adventure, mission, or road trip. The two typically are males with contrasting personalities. The contrast is sometimes accentuated by an ethnic difference be ...
film directed by
Sergio Corbucci Sergio Corbucci (; 6 December 1926 – 1 December 1990) was an Italian film director, screenwriter and Film producer, producer. He was one of the main exponents of the Spaghetti Western genre during the 1960s and 1970s, with his most notable work ...
. The film stars
Franco Nero Francesco Clemente Giuseppe Sparanero (born 23 November 1941), known professionally as Franco Nero, is an Italian actor. His breakthrough role was as the title character in the Spaghetti Western film '' Django'' (1966), which made him a pop cul ...
,
Tomas Milian Tomás Quintín Rodríguez-Varona Milián Salinas de la Fé y Álvarez de la Campa (3 March 1933 – 22 March 2017) was a Cuban-born actor with American and Italian citizenship, known for the emotional intensity and humor he brought to starring ...
,
Jack Palance Walter Jack Palance ( ; born Volodymyr Palahniuk, , ''Volodymyr Ivanovych Palahniuk''; February 18, 1919 – November 10, 2006) was an American screen and stage actor, known to film audiences for playing tough guys and villains. He was nominat ...
and
Fernando Rey Fernando Casado Arambillet (20 September 1917 – 9 March 1994), best known as Fernando Rey, was a Spanish film, theatre, and television actor, who worked in both Europe and the United States. A suave, international actor best known for hi ...
. The soundtrack for the film was written by
Ennio Morricone Ennio Morricone ( , ; 10 November 19286 July 2020) was an Italian composer, Orchestration, orchestrator, conductor, trumpeter, and pianist who wrote music in a wide range of styles. With more than 400 film score, scores for cinema and televisi ...
.


Plot

During the Mexican Revolution, a peasant named El Vasco starts a revolt in his town of San Bernardino by killing the army colonel in charge. Rebel leader and self-appointed General Mongo soon arrives on the scene and hires El Vasco for his revolutionary gang. However, Mongo is more interested in gaining fortune for himself than for his country. Yodlaf Peterson, a Swedish mercenary arrives in
Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
to sell guns to General Mongo. The safe containing the money is locked and only Professor Xantos knows the combination. Xantos is the leader of a student counter-revolution that opposes violence, and is held in a prison by the United States army just across the border in Yuma, after he tried to find funding from the US and did not agree to give the monopoly of his country's entire oil wealth in return. El Vasco dislikes the suit-wearing Peterson and calls him a "penguin", but at the suggestion of General Mongo, the two reluctantly join forces and set out to capture Xantos. Their task is made harder by the American army and a wooden-armed American named John, who wants to exact revenge on Peterson, his former business partner. Peterson had left John to die after he was crucified, and his pet hawk had to peck his right hand off to save him. In order to maximize their personal gain and to support Xantos' rebel fighters, El Vasco and Peterson have to doublecross Mongo. They receive help from Lola, the leader of Xantos' rebel group, who El Vasco falls for, and her group of young revolutionaries. After evading the Mexican army and crossing the border, El Vasco makes contact with a local prostitute he used to know who helps him and Peterson infiltrate the US Army camp and together the two men free Xantos by setting off a series of fires, and escape with Xantos in an old army truck, but one of the truck's wheels becomes unhinged and the three men end up swimming across the Rio Grande river to safety back in Mexico. On foot, El Vasco, Peterson and Xantos encounter a Mexican army checkpoint and attempt to disguise themselves as robed monks carrying a coffin, with Xantos inside it, past the Mexican soldiers, but their cover is blown when John and his posse expose their identities forcing them to run with both the Mexican army and John's men in chase. Eventually, El Vasco, Peterson and Xantos are safely reunited with Xantos' followers, known as the Xantistas, hiding out in a cave, led by Lola, Xantos' daughter. But Mongo captures several of the Xantistas and threatens to execute them if Xantos does not surrender. El Vasco and Peterson team up with Lola and the surviving Xantistas to launch a climactic attack on San Bernardino. They defeat Mongo's army in a gun battle, and Mongo himself is killed by El Vasco. Afterwards, when El Vasco brings Xantos to the bank vault to have him open the safe, the safe is revealed not to hold any gold, silver, or cash, only the "true wealth" of the community which includes a few ears of corn. As Peterson prepares to leave town, John reappears and mortally wounds Xantos and prepares to kill El Vasco, only for Peterson to turn the tables on his enemy by blowing up the train car containing all of the arms and ammunition that Peterson arrived in, along with John. When news arrives that a large ''Federale'' counter-revolutionary army is marching onto San Bernardino, Peterson decides to leave aware that the Xantistas are outnumbered and outgunned, but El Vasco urges him to stay and fight. Peterson declines and rides away, but at the last minute, after seeing the huge Mexican army advancing in the distance and unwilling to allow the Xantistas be all killed by the Mexican army, Peterson rides back into town to join the revolutionaries in the imminent battle.


Cast


Release

''Compañeros'' was released in Italy in December 1970. The film grossed a total of 1,451,782,000
Italian lire The lira ( , ; : lire, , ) was the currency of Italy between 1861 and 2002. It was introduced by the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy in 1807 at par with the French franc, and was subsequently adopted by the different states that would eventually fo ...
domestically in on its release in Italy. It was released in West Germany in 1971. It was released by
Blue Underground Blue Underground is an American company specializing in releasing remastered editions of cult, horror, and exploitation movies on DVD. It was founded in 2002 by filmmaker William Lustig. It was originally formed as a shell company to oversee ...
on
Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...
in an edition that includes both the longer Italian 119 minute and edited 115 minute U.S. release versions.


References


Sources

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External links

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Compañeros
' at
Variety Distribution Variety Distribution is an Italian-based film distribution company. It distributes Italian films worldwide, produced from the 1930s onward. History Variety Distribution (formerly Variety Film and Variety Communications) has been in the film ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Companeros 1970 films Films directed by Sergio Corbucci Films shot in Madrid Italian Western (genre) films 1970s Italian-language films Spaghetti Western films 1970 Western (genre) films Films scored by Ennio Morricone Mexican Revolution films Italian buddy films Films shot in Almería Films about mercenaries 1970s Italian films