LEMONADE JOE (1967) - KAREL FIALA - WESTERN SATIRE - RARE DVD

Lemonade Joe starts as a spoof of silent Westerns, but it quickly becomes clear that Director Lipsky was a fan of Hollywood in general, as well as the newer crop of Westerns in the early 60s, and his satirical pistol fans out to take down these and many more subjects. From sepiatone to blue/white to color and back and forth; shifting angles and odd shots that presage some of Leone's spaghetti-western work (was he a fan of Lipsky?); mocking various cinematic cliches; and simultaneously deriding and celebrating many facets of the Bourgeois Capitalist West that some Czechs in 1964 clearly had much affection for, even before they were sucked into the USSR nightmare. The Puritan ethos juxtaposed with the frontier mentality, the patent medicine craze morphing into icons like Koka Kola, and so many more ironies are examined with tongue in cheek. No preaching, just amusement, and the fine musical score and visual sophistication hold it all together.

The whole film gives off an aura of love for all the things it satirizes, and that attention to detail as well as the one culture's eye for another's absurdities combine to make a truly unique movie that's a treat to watch.

ORIGINAL CZECH SOUND WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES!

THE BEST WESTERNS SATIRE EVER!

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