Sure, “Sinola” can’t really keep up with genre landmarks like “For a Fistful of Dollars,” “Two Glorious Scoundrels” or “Merciless” — which is why the Western, released in 1972, has probably fallen into obscurity . However, its star Clint Eastwood is, as usual, great as a morally ambiguous ex-bounty hunter in a largely gripping, atmospherically coherent story.
“Sinola” can be seen today, March 17, 2024 at 8:15 PM on arte. There will be a repeat on March 22 at 2:15 PM. The Western cannot currently be seen as a stream from any provider – neither in the flat rate program nor for a fee. However, online retailers such as Amazon have Blu-ray and DVD available as an alternative:
In addition to Clint Eastwood, you can also expect Hollywood warhorses such as Robert Duvall (“The Godfather”), John Saxon (“The Man with the Death Claw”), Dick Van Patten (“Spaceballs”) and Don Stroud (“Coogan’s Big Bluff” ). The most relevant female roles are taken by Stella Garcia (“An Eye for an Eye”) and Lynne Marta from “Footloose”.
“Sinola” on arte: that is the story
Joe Kidd (Eastwood) is a washed-up gunslinger and former bounty hunter who lives on a small ranch near the town of Sinola in the US-Mexico border region in the early 20th century. The rugged loner has been through a lot in his life, has ended up in prison several times and has also suffered several bullets. That is why he is now doing his best not to get involved in the arguments of others.
His attitude is tested when the US government wants to deny a group of small farmers of Mexican descent the rightful claim to their ancestral land and summarily expropriate them. Their charismatic leader Louis Chama (Saxon) is of course a thorn in the side of greedy landowner Frank Harlan (Duvall). He’s after the farms. Harlan tries to hire Kidd to get rid of Chama. Although he refuses, he ultimately finds himself stuck between the two fronts…
Where does the locomotive come from?
A western directed by the brilliant John Sturges (“The Magnificent Seven”, “Breaking the Chains”), written by Elmore Leonard (“Jackie Brown”, “Out Of Sight”), starring Clint Eastwood and Robert Duvall as the bad guy. be a classic, right? Yet ‘Sinola’ has been forgotten over the years. Not because it’s bad, but because it’s just good and not really great.
The reasons are several. For example, Eastwood suffered from a persistent respiratory infection at the beginning of production, while Sturges, on the other hand, was reportedly very addicted to alcohol, which probably prevented him from really concentrating on the film at times. This is also why scenes may have crept in that almost seem clichéd and ordinary compared to his otherwise masterful work. Yet there’s still more than enough to see here to please fans of the genre and those involved. The long shots of the landscapes are epic, the heated atmosphere is very consistent and Robert Duvall is downright brilliant as the icy villain. In addition, Eastwood comes across as incredibly cool, especially at the end of the story.
Speaking of the ending, the film’s finale is a real curiosity, which of course we don’t want to completely spoil here. Exactly this: the plan was actually to have a fairly conventional resolution to the story until Robert Daley, the film’s producer, came to visit the set. During a conversation about the genre that was more or less independent of ‘Sinola’, he jokingly said that he would like to see a locomotive crash into a crowded salon. Leonard, Sturges and Eastwood not only found the idea funny, but were downright enthusiastic about its originality. So they spontaneously fulfilled the wish of Daley, who was amazed when he saw the finished film for the first time…
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