Death Knows No Time (1968) Poster

User Reviews

Review this title
3 Reviews
Sort by:
Filter by Rating:
7/10
Better than expected Paella Western with interesting script about revenge , robbing and a sentimental plot
ma-cortes12 August 2016
This is a semi-¨Zapata¨ Western plenty of Gunplay and revenge along with a fraternal story . Spaghetti and Chorizo Western , co-produced between Spain and Italy and starred by two ordinary Spaghetti actors as the Italian Guglielmo Spoletini as William Bogart and the Spanish Eduardo Fajardo dealing with a real and violent confrontation . This is not an ordinary oater outing , it's a Spaghetti with Paella Western crammed with action , shootouts , lots of violence and a thought-provoking as well as sensitive story . The film follows the American Western models but also in Spaghetti style . An Italian-Spanish co-production with outdoor sequences filmed in Colmenar Viejo , La Pedriza and Manzanares Del Real , Madrid , and , Almeria , of course . Concerning Martin Rojas (Guglielmo Spoletini as William Bogart) is a poor Mexican peasant whose home is destroyed by nasty American homesteaders ; after that , he and his unhappy partners (Fernando Sánchez Pollack) are forced to abandon their lands and flee to Mexico after they kill some cutthroats . Rojas and his bunch of Mexican people become bandits and helped by Trevor organize a big bank holdup run by a banker (Miguel Del Castillo) . Rojas , now nicknamed ¨El Lobo (Wolf) De Sierrablanca¨ forms a band of outlaws which raids the border , trying to gain back some of what they have lost , assaulting banks and robbing . But Rojas's spouse (Pilar Cansino) dies in childbirth . Soon after , Rojas is pursued by a sheriff (Sydney Chaplin) and a posse who goes into Mexican territory , being captured and condemned for 20 years in prison . Meanwhile , the sheriff and his wife (Agnes Spaak , top-billed in spite of a brief acting) adopt the kid . Ten years later , Rojas embarks on his vendetta and getaways from jail to see his little boy . And during his quest he carries the revenge in his heart after seeing his unknown son . An old colleague of his heists called Trevor (Eduardo Fajardo) is after a fortune in gold that Rojas had hidden . Rojas finds himself a danger when his son is kidnapped by Trevor . He gets stuck his son and both of whom escape and lost in the sunny desert . Rojas is looking for vengeance of his former partner who doublé-crossed him .

It's full of action , exaggerated characters , shootouts , loads of violence , but also displays an exciting and nicely developed screenplay , full of thrilling as well as interesting and sentimental events . It's a medium budget film with usual actors , good technicians, passable production values and acceptable results . A better than average Western regarding a revenge story , with plenty of violence ,shoot'em up , thrills and noisy action . Here the veteran director Klimovsky is inspired , though the ending is pretty predictable . The film relies heavily about the continuous relationship between the tired , unfortunate Mexican bandit and the little boy . "Death Knows No Time" or "Tierra Brava" or ¨Pagó Cara su Muerte¨ is an exciting western with breathtaking showdown between the protagonist , an unlucky countryman become a gunslinger who is forced to make a fundamental choice about his life , against his relentless enemies . William Bogart is fine , he ravages the screen, kills , shoots , hits and runs . Guglielmo Spoletini gives a surprising good acting . There is plenty of thrills and action in the movie , guaranteeing some shoot'em up or stunts every few minutes . The film blends violence , high body-count and it's fast moving and quite entertaining . Nice score by Carlo Savina , including an enjoyable leitmotif and catching song . There is a very odd implementation of shots in the camera work by fine cameraman Emilio Foriscot during some particular scenes as the film approaches its climax , as in the ending gunfights and the customary showdown conclusion .

The motion picture is produced by Eduardo Manzanos Brochero who started producing ¨Il Coyote¨ and ¨The Jiusticia De Coyote¨ by Joaquin Romero Marchent with Abel Salazar and Gloria Marin . After that , he produced with his company Copercines ¨Vengeance of Zorro¨ and ¨L'Ombra di Zorro¨ (1962) by Joaquin Marchent with Frank Latimore . Eduardo Manzanos built a Western town in Hoyo De Manzanares (Madrid) with sets by Cubero and Jose Luis Galicia , today sadly disappeared , called ¨Golden City¨ where filmed several Western as Welcome Padre Murray , Brandy , various Zorros and this one . He produced various films for Marchent brothers as Joaquin Romero Marchent : ¨Cabalgando Hacia Muerte¨ , ¨Three good men¨; and Rafael Marchent : ¨Quien Grita vengeance¨, ¨Two crosses in Danger Pass¨ ; and for Italian directors as ¨Sabor Odio¨ by Umberto Lenzi¨and ¨Winchester 1 between 1000¨ by Primo Zeglio .

This ¨Tortilla¨ or ¨Paella¨or ¨Gazpacho¨ Western being well directed by Leon Klimovsky . Leon was a craftsman who directed all kind of genres , as Terror for Paul Naschy : ¨Marshall of hell¨, ¨Rebellion of dead one¨ , ¨Orgy of vampires¨ , ¨Werewolf shadow¨, ¨Dr Jekill vs. the werewolf¨ , Warlike : ¨June 44 attack force Normandy¨ , ¨A bullet for Rommel¨ , ¨Bridge over Elba¨ and Western ¨¨Badland drifter¨ , ¨Reverend Colt¨ , ¨Torrejon city¨ , ¨Death knows no time¨ , ¨Two thousand dollars for Coyote¨ , ¨A dollar for Sartana¨ and "A Few Dollars for Django" which appears as director the Spanish/Argentinean Leon Klimovsky , but actually, for the most part of its filming by the disagreements arising with Klimovsky was realized by Enzo G. Castellari . Rating: 7 . Well worth watching .
8 out of 8 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
6/10
Decent, Unpretentious Spanish Western
rmahaney428 June 2009
Warning: Spoilers
In the film-zine Westerns Alla Italiana (No.1, Vol.2), Ken Petit writes "My theory concerning why these films are disliked so intensely by film critics is that by and large, the Western film, by its very nature, presents a working class outlook." That is very much the case with Tierra Brava. If you like euro-westerns, Spanish westerns in particular, you my find this "proletarian" b-western worth your time.

Martin Roja's home is destroyed while he an his neighbors, poor peasants, are forced to flee to Mexico after they kill a rancher and some of his men who were responsible. Rojas forms a band of bandits which raids the border, attempting to gain back some of what they have lost. Roja's wife dies in childbirth while the Sheriff's men close in and he gives himself up, overcome with grief. The Sheriff adopts the boy. Ten years later, Rojas escapes from prison to see his son. An old partner of his is after a fortune in gold that Rojas had hidden. Rojas finds himself a danger to his son as well as unable of providing what the sheriff can, so he is forced to make a choice. . .

Thematically, this movie is interesting. It has some of the elements of the political westerns that were being made in Italy at the time, but for the most part it feels like a fairly standard paella western; Martin Rojas is the usual doomed protagonist. In the beast Spanish westerns, violence is portrayed as an epidemic that leaps from person to person, perverting and destroying them. What starts as self-defense ends in blood-lust. This pessimistic view presumably arises from the experience of the Spanish Civil War and fascist Spain. It is quite different that the exuberant optimism of their Italian counterparts. Unlike For A Few Bullets More, Garringo, or Cutthroats Nine, Rojas maintains his humanity through his love for his son and wife. This humanizing element of the family connections that bind a person to the community is another important aspect of these movies. In For A Few Dollars More, Billy maintains his dignity as long as his mother is alive. In A Bullet Sandoval, it is the death of the protagonist's lover and infant that provokes his slide into brutality.

This movie is not as bleak as these others; the connection is not severed and Rojas is in this sense an uncharacteristic paella western hero - he is redeemed in the end.

Lately, the portrayal of race and racism in American, as seen from across the Atlantic, has really been striking me in these movies. In this movies, and Long Days of Vengeance (1967), notice how the only time that you see an African-American is in the prison scenes. Also, the prisoners are for the most part people of color. It would be interesting to know what this means - was it an intentional comment on the US or an imitation of prison scenes in American movies?

Guglielmo Spoletini does a decent job as Rojas. Eduardo Fajardo steals the show with an over-the-top performance as Roja's malignant former partner, Trevor. This is the sort of nutty, histrionic villain that fans expect from the genre.

Carlo Savina provides a solid score. His other euro-western scores include Bullet and the Flesh (1965) and Vengeance(1968).

Leon Klimovsky is best known to fans of "eurotrash" cinema for his horror movies like Vampire Night Orgy, however he did direct a number of westerns. I have only seen this one, Rattler Kid, and Fedra West. While those movies were dull both thematically and aesthetically, Tierra Brava is competently made and fairly interesting. At the beginning of the film the new federal marshal arrives to find the aftermath of a gun battle. This is an effective scene, with corpses splayed on the ground, on the floor of the bar, under the water in a horse trough. The torture scene and the sequences in the desert are also well done. Telling the story in flashback adds some additional interest as enigmatic scenes and dialog from the beginning of the film are explained at the end.

Cinematograhoer Emilio Foriscot shot a number of euro-cult movies, including the Sergio Martino directed giallos Lo strano vizio della Signora Wardh (1969) and La coda dello scorpione (1971). His westerns include Anda muchacho, spara! (1971) and Due croci a Danger Pass (1967).
7 out of 7 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
5/10
Something slightly different
Leofwine_draca22 January 2021
Warning: Spoilers
DEATH KNOWS NO TIME is something slightly different from the spaghetti western genre, filmed in Spain by none other than the mighty Leon Klimovsky, the man who went on to direct many excellent Paul Naschy films in the 1970s. This one has familiar plot ingredients and plenty of incident, but its main focus is on a father/son relationship as a Mexican bandit tries to retrieve his estranged son from those who've taken him away. It's neither the best nor the worst of its type and is quite by the numbers; it's clear that Klimovsky's best work was still ahead of him.
1 out of 2 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

See also

Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews


Recently Viewed