The bounty killer (Merton) called ''Mannaja'' for his inseparable ax, arrives at the mining town of Lawless Suttonville in order to turn in to the sheriff a bandit that he'd captured, Burt Craven (Donald O'Brien), and to cash in on the reward. He also has another purpose: to avenge the death of his father, who was killed by Theo Woller (John Steiner) the lieutenant of Mayor McGowan (Philippe Leroy), when Mannaja was just a boy. Craven informs Mannaja that the sheriff doesn't exist anymore and that the wealthy McGowan, who had ordered Woller to murder his father, had become extremely powerful and was keeping the city under his law. Mannaja decides to set the bandit free and begins to create contrasts between Woller and McGowan. The lieutenant tries to kill Mannaja, but only succeeds in wounding him, and with the help of some saloon dancers, Mannaja recovers. Woller, enraged by his failed attempt to kill Mannaja, turns against McGowan and arranges with his daughter to fake her kidnapping in order to blackmail McGowan for money. The mayor then asks Woller to help finding his daughter. At one point, Mannaja finds himself helping the paraplegic mayor to fight Woller, but he is imprisoned again, this time buried up to his neck and left for dead. Mannaja escapes, thanks to the help of Craven, the bandit whom he had freed, so in the end, Mannaja will have the chance to get revenge against Woller and his gang. The score that the De Angelis brothers composed for this movie is really unbeatable in the genre. With remarkable skill, the two Maestros succeeded in giving the movie a soul, highlighting with great capability the various situations that in the movie are plentiful. Thanks to the listening experience of the music, the viewer gets so involved in the story that he forget being in the theater. The movie is a real standout in the genre, full of great and entertaining scenes in which we find strong influences by Western theater and thrillers. Mannaja (1977), also known as A Man Called Blade, features original symbols and emotional scenes that give viewers the feeling of a horror and adventure movie, especially in the opening scene and in the cave. Mannaja is reminiscent of another spaghetti western, Keoma (1976), and like other movies of that kind is pretty brutal, featuring lots of violent scenes. It was even banned in Sweden. The movie is indeed full of violence, as if someone did it in order to satisfy a personal need for revenge
Note: Josh Mitchell is credited as supervisor of the English liner notes but his text has been changed by the distributor before. |
