Review of A Bullet for the General

An American (Lou Castel) teams up with a Mexican revolutionary (Gian Maria Volonte) to sell arms across Mexico. Watchable spaghetti western with a political and social subtext, which is somewhat unusual for the genre. Unfortunately, the plot isn't always particularly coherent which may be due to the fact that the film is said to exist in several versions (135/117/97/77 minutes!) (I saw the 117 minute version). Castel may be an assassin for the American government whose ultimate job is to kill Volonte. However, this aspect of the film isn't well explored or clear. The film contains plenty of action but virtually no one on one gunfights. The end is surprising and unusual and at the very least it's cool to see Volonte in another fine western (after Fistful of Dollars (1964) and For a Few Dollars More (1965)). Klaus Kinski also has a role as Volonte's brother.