A young man forgoes pacifism in order to shoot people in the face.
“Requiescant” makes me wonder why Lou Castel didn’t become a bigger Spaghetti Western star. After Confederates murder his family, he’s taken into a religious foster family that trains him to become a preacher. But, the ways of the gun stay with him as he ages. After foiling an attempted murder, the legend of the gun-toting preacher begins to fill the land. Pier Paolo Pasolini stopped making amazing movies for a moment to star as a fellow renegade priest.
I can tell that Alex Cox is a big fan of the film, as I can detect notes of “Walker” throughout the film. That being said, it’s very anti-Leone as much as it sets the tone for what Leone would have done in his post Dollars trilogy film work. The film enjoys the sadistic side of violence without turning into the Spaghetti Western parody of the 1970s. Honestly, it’s so open to new viewers that I could see using this film as an entry point to those that want to learn more about Spaghetti Westerns.
The Blu-Ray comes with a new 2K restoration and the English dub/original Italian audio track in PCM mono. The special features range from archive interviews, featurettes and a few new interviews. The A/V Quality is strong for a film of its age. But, I would expect as much from Arrow. In the end, it’s well worth a purchase.
RELEASE DATE: 11/17/2015