What Am I Doing in the Middle of a Revolution? (1972) Poster

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5/10
Sergio Corbucci's Zapata Spaghetti/Paella Western co-produced by Italy and Spain
ma-cortes7 July 2013
Sergio Corbucci's Western parody is packed with noisy action and silly humor . An Italian actor (Vittorio Gassman) and a priest (Paolo Villaggio) face Emilio Zapata's revolutionaries . It deals with lives of a group of artists (Victor Israel , Rosanna Yanni) and comics led by Guido Guidi (Gassman) along with a good priest in the hard times during Mexican Revolution . Both protagonists are involuntarily drawn into the revolution . This theme of constantly being dragged back to the reality of war continues through the picture . They are arrested by a revolutionary leader , fear a firing squad, and receive a reprieve from Carrasco (Leo Anchoriz) , but they arrange to escape . They subsequently are detained by General Herrero (Eduardo Fajardo , Corbucci's ordinary actor) manage a bargaining with him to pose as Italian leader Garibaldi in exchange for freedom . When they are running through the desert , the quirky couple finds baby, the son of Emilio Zapata . Never mind how they got into it ...wait 'till you see how they get out! .

¨What am I doing in middle of the revolution¨ is an amusing picture contains an entertaining plot , action Western , shootouts and bits of campy and refreshing humor . It's an improbable blending of standard Zapata Western , comedy with tongue-in-cheek and holds a combination of humor , pathos , comic book style action, and political commentary . This film belongs to the numerous group that are set during the Mexican revolution , called ¨Zapata Western¨ by setting the story in Mexico and fleshing out his characters with political awareness, like are the Italians: ¨ Duck you sucker¨, ¨The professional¨ ,¨Tetepa¨ and the Americans : ¨The wild bunch¨, ¨Villa rides ¨, and ¨The professionals¨. Sergio Corbucci's Che C'entriamo noi Con la Rivoluzione? (1972) is almost a parody of his Zapata-Spaghetti Westerns . Realized by Corbucci during the 1970s , when he made three more comic Western movies as the popularity of the genre began to die out . Of the three , only La Banda J.S.: Cronaca Criminale del Far West (1972) stands out as one of the best late series genre Westerns and ¨The White , the Yellow and the Black¨ resulted to be a flop . Delightful as well as satiric Western in which a stage actor played by Gassman steals the show using his wits , breaking all the rules and kicking virtually every cliché in the pants , as he relentlessly deceives, overacting , stooges , puts faces and grimaces . Amiable but sometimes lumbering Western satire goes on and on about the same premise , as a lot of minutes are superfluous ,it has half hour of excess , as it packs overblown jokes and antics and some moments turns out to be dull and tiring . Furthermore, there appears ordinary secondaries and familiar faces of Spaghetti/Paella Western as Eduardo Fajardo , Victor Israel , Lorenzo Robledo, Leo Anchóriz , Rosanna Yanni , Jose Canalejas , Simon Arriaga , Diana Sorel and many others . Commercial and catching musical score by the great Ennio Morricone , conducted by his usual collaborator Bruno Nicolai . Cameraman Alejandro Ulloa (Horror Express) makes great use of mountain locations which was entirely filmed in Spain .

Sergio Corbucci's direction is regularly crafted, here he's more cynical and humorous and less inclined toward violence and packs too much action , but especially this slapstick Western contains broad comedy . Corbucci films would set a new bold standard for on-screen violence and establish him as one of the most influential Italian directors of the Spaghetti Western and quickly became the more prolific filmmakers in the genre. The other Sergio made several Spaghetti classics , but it was his 1964 film Massacro in Grande Canyon that he began a new path to his career to direct more Spaghetti Westerns . ¨Django¨ brought an entirely new level of stylization with the genre , this ultra-violent masterpiece not only signaled a move toward an even grittier and more nihilistic brand of Western, but the picture established a lasting relationship between Corbucci and the film's star Franco Nero. Furthermore , important Westerns as ¨The great silence¨, ¨Hellbenders¨, ¨The specialist¨ , and Zapata Western as ¨The Mercenary¨, and ¨The Compañeros¨ . In addition Sergio directed other inferior S.W. as ¨Far West story¨ ,¨Johnny Oro¨, ¨The white the yellow an the black¨ and ¨Minnesota Clay¨ , first Spaghetti Western to be distributed in the United States under the director's own name . "What Am I Doing in the Middle of the Revolution" is an offbeat , muddle and uneven Western but will appeal to Corbucci aficionados . Rating : 5,5 , riotous Western spoof in which there's too much silly comedy and enough excitement
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7/10
Hilarious!
Gloede_The_Saint17 September 2009
What's the worst pairing possible? A judgemental and uber-holy, yet quite simpleminded priest and a actor with no character what so ever would at least be up there! And what would make it a whole lot crazier. Put them in the middle of the Mexican revolution. These two idiots creates quite a team and of course a whole lot of entertainment.

Non-sop action from beginning to end. Couldn't stop laughing. Almost closer to Corbucci's Spencer and Hill comedies than his gritty westerns. A very fun film indeed. Just as great as Companeros!

Most definitely a must see!

Rating 9/10.
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5/10
Lower tier Corbucci
DanTheMan2150AD16 March 2024
What Am I Doing in the Middle of the Revolution? Sees Sergio Corbucci try his hand at a spaghetti western comedy; one that ultimately feels tonally at odds with itself. The jokes come thick and fast making it nigh impossible to catch them all; yet the political aspects of the film's plot coupled with the significant amount of revolutionary killings and needless deaths that feel like they come from the darker aspects of his works, which don't blend well with the rest of the film. Corbucci's direction is swift but too unfocused, however, his ability to stage elaborate, well-filmed action sequences remains unphased and when combined with a decently melancholy Ennio Morricone score, it does give the film a bit of a leg up. I feel like watching What Am I Doing in the Middle of the Revolution? Didn't do me many favours as I haven't seen many of Corbucci's other works yet but the entire film is still watchable, spaghetti westerns have such an entertaining vibe to them, even the bad ones are worth seeking out.
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1/10
Hopeless
jeff_slater9 December 2002
I notice that the majority of the cast are missing from the list given here. If I was associated with this film, I would do all I could to suppress the fact too. The film is not bad enough to be 'good' it is just weak. It can occasionally to be seen on TCM. So if you want to cringe along with several fairly well known names (mainly from the UK), then try and catch it.
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