West and Soda
West and soda (also known as The West Way Out) is a 1965 traditionally animated Italian feature film directed by Bruno Bozzetto. It is a parody of the traditional American Western.[1]
| West and Soda | |
|---|---|
 2006 DVD cover | |
| Directed by | Bruno Bozzetto |
| Produced by | Bruno Bozzetto |
| Written by | Bruno Bozzetto Sergio Crivellaro (dialogue) Attilio Giovannini |
| Starring | Nando Gazzolo Vittoria Febbi Carlo Romano |
| Music by | Giampiero Boneschi |
| Cinematography | Luciano Marzetti Roberto Scarpa |
Release date |
|
Running time | 86 min |
| Country | Italy |
| Language | Italian |
In an interview, Bozzetto claimed to have invented the Spaghetti Western genre with this film, an achievement usually attributed to Sergio Leone with his A Fistful of Dollars which was released the year before, but whose development started later and was faster than the traditionally animated West and Soda.[2]
Plot
The plot of the film follows the traditional stranger arriving in a small western town. The stranger finds a pretty woman holding out from selling her uniquely green land to the local big shot, who is harassing her in hope of seducing her/buying her land. There is an ongoing mystery about how the stranger got a hold of the gold nugget he possesses, though at the end of the film it is revealed that he found it in a soap box (it is fake).
Cast
- Nando Gazzolo as Johnny
- Vittoria Febbi as Clementine
- Carlo Romano as The Big Bad Guy
- Luigi Pavese as Ursus
- Willy Moser as Slim
- Lydia Simoneschi as Esmeralda
- Ferruccio Amendola as The Big Bad Guy's Horse
DVD
A PAL R2 DVD of the film has been released in Italy. It contains 40 minutes of extra material, including interviews, a completely restored version of the film as well as English subtitles.
References
- Bendazzi, Giannalberto (23 October 2015). Animation: A World History. ISBN 9781317519911. Retrieved 20 March 2016.
- Iondini, Massimo (3 October 2015). "Bozzetto: "Così ho inventato lo spaghetti western"" [Bozzetto: «So I invented spaghetti western»]. Avvenire (in Italian). Milan. Retrieved 1 October 2019.