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The Belle Starr Story

The Belle Starr Story

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Summary

A female gunslinger gets involved in a robbery that goes awry, and must rescue her partner in crime. Spaghetti Western, starring Elsa Martinelli and Robert Woods

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IMDB

Review

A star rating of 3 out of 5.

Sean McGeady

When first-time director Piero Cristofani was fired just days into production, fledgling auteur Lina Wertmüller stepped in to take the reins of this intriguing movie. The result is possibly the only spaghetti western ever directed by a woman. Elsa Martinelli plays the titular outlaw, whose destiny was forged in the fires of sexual assault. Belle dominates masculine spaces while wearing trousers, chomping cigars and betting big on cards. But the film is defined by the complex and violent eroticism that underscores her romantic rivalry with cowboy Larry Blackie (GeorgeEastman). Wertmüller takes care not to objectify her lead but turns her distinctly female lens on a male body during a salacious torture scene. The film has fun pumping bullets into male bravado, even if its radical nature is undermined by Belle's questionable efficacy as an outlaw. A circuitous story and flaws that'll be familiar to fans of cheaply made European westerns do it no favours either. But its subversiveness, the 1960s-meets-19th-century costumes and climactic heist scene make this a movie of tremendous value.

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5.3/10

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Credits

Cast

rolenameBelle StarrElsa MartinelliCole HarveyRobert WoodsLarry BlackieGeorge EastmanJessicaFrancesca RighiniPedroBruno Piergentili

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Crew

rolenameDirectorPiero CristofaniDirectorLina Wertmüller

Details

Languages

Italian

Guidance

Violence, sexual references

Formats

Colour

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