As the stoic-looking, cigarillo-smoking pistolero who always hits the mark, Clint Eastwood (‘Mystic River’) is absolute in the Sergio Leone classics ‘For a Fistful of Dollars’, ‘For a Few Dollars More’ and ‘Two Glorious’. Scoundrels.” grew into an icon of the Italian western. With ‘A Stranger Without a Name’, Clint Eastwood’s second directorial effort after ‘Sadistico’, the icon took over the genre that once made his breakthrough possible in 1973 – and in a particularly cruel way.
Previously, ‘A Stranger Without a Name’ was even on the index for its nihilistic cruelties. The brutal western has now been restored, but still has a more than deserved FSK 18 rating. Currently, you can stream the 1970s sign for a fee on Amazon Prime Video.
That’s what ‘A Stranger Without a Name’ is about
An unnamed rider (Clint Eastwood) ends up in the small waterfront town of Lago. There he is initially viewed rather suspiciously by the residents, who gradually all turn out to be cowards. But when the stranger ensures that the local villains are left alone once and for all, the villagers are determined to convince him to stay.
A group of bandits are expected to arrive in town soon, just released from prison and looking for revenge for their years in prison. The scared residents of the town ask the stranger for help in the fight against the gangsters and in return he is given all the powers. After some hesitation, he finally agrees…
A dark madness of violence
Although “A Stranger Without a Name” is only Clint Eastwood’s second directorial work, he would never again be as brutal as in this case. As a ghost western, which Eastwood himself would take on again years later with the slightly better ‘Pale Rider’, we are dealing from the start with a man without an identity who emerges like a mirage from the glittering mist of the desert landscape. What he is looking for becomes clear after just a few minutes: violence.
Although at first glance it seems that Clint Eastwood’s Ghost Rider wants to save a completely helpless village community, his true motivation is pure selfishness. When he lets the revolver do the talking, it is not to help, but to satisfy his own urge (here mainly revenge, but often it is also pure sadism). In my opinion, this leads to a very atmospheric deconstruction of the romantic John Wayne Western, but also poses problems.
Inspired by Eastwood’s undeniable talent, “A Stranger Without a Name” progresses with a grimness that still surprises today. However, the image of women is bad because it continually reinforces an extremely dubious cult of masculinity. Clint Eastwood is not only extremely brutal with his shooting iron to shoot down a lot of villains. He is also a rapist who preys on women who fall hopelessly in love with him in this act of humiliation.
The viewing pleasure is of course limited to a certain extent, But as a deeply dark, thoroughly rustic violent Western, “A Stranger Without a Name” is ultimately compelling. Eastwood’s craftsmanship is not only simply too sublime for that (especially the finale, which is almost cast in surreal, frenzied visual compositions, is a real eye-catcher), but also in the determination to remove all the corrosive, immoral, harsh and disgusting of these (yet always somewhat) lawless time coming to the surface, impressive. A monster of a film that doesn’t sleep a wink.