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The Mercenary (film)
''The Mercenary'' ( it, Il mercenario), known in the United Kingdom, UK as ''A Professional Gun'', is a 1968 Zapata Western film directed by Sergio Corbucci. The film stars Franco Nero, Jack Palance, Tony Musante, Eduardo Fajardo and Giovanna Ralli, and features a musical score by Ennio Morricone, taking inspriration from his work in ''Guns for San Sebastian'', and Bruno Nicolai. Plot On the northern side of the Mexico–United States border, Sergei "Polack" Kowalski, a well-groomed, greedy mercenary, attends a circus performance where he recognizes the show's lead rodeo clown as Paco Roman. During the performance, Kowalski Flashback (narrative), reminisces on how he and Paco fought together as revolutionaries against the Mexican Government. Prior to the start of their partnership, Paco, a peon working in a silver mine owned by Elias Garcia, rebels against his boss and humiliates him and his two brothers, including Colonel Alfonso Garcia. He is soon captured, but saved from exe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sergio Corbucci
Sergio Corbucci (; 6 December 1926 – 1 December 1990) was an Italian film director, screenwriter and producer. He directed both very violent Spaghetti Westerns and bloodless Bud Spencer and Terence Hill action comedies. He is the older brother of screenwriter and film director Bruno Corbucci. Biography Early career Corbucci was born in Rome. He started his career by directing mostly low-budget sword and sandal movies. Among his first Spaghetti Westerns were the films ''Grand Canyon Massacre'' (1964), which he co-directed (under the pseudonym, Stanley Corbett) with Albert Band, as well as '' Minnesota Clay'' (1964), his first solo directed Spaghetti Western. Corbucci's first commercial success was with the cult Spaghetti Western '' Django'', starring Franco Nero, the leading man in many of his movies. He would later collaborate with Franco Nero on two other Spaghetti Westerns, ''Il Mercenario'' or '' The Mercenary'' (a.k.a. ''A Professional Gun'') (1968) - where Nero pla ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zapata Western
The Spaghetti Western is a broad subgenre of Western films produced in Europe. It emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's film-making style and international box-office success. The term was used by foreign critics because most of these Westerns were produced and directed by Italians. Leone's films and other core Spaghetti Westerns are often described as having eschewed, criticized, or even "demythologized" many of the conventions of traditional U.S. Westerns. This was partly intentional and partly the context of a different cultural background. Terminology According to veteran Spaghetti Western actor Aldo Sambrell, the phrase "Spaghetti Western" was coined by Spanish journalist Alfonso Sánchez in reference to the Italian food spaghetti. Spaghetti Westerns are also known as Italian Westerns or, primarily in Japan, Macaroni Westerns. In Italy, the genre is typically referred to as western all'italiana (Italian-style Western). Italo-Western is also used, espec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Duel
A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two people, with matched weapons, in accordance with agreed-upon Code duello, rules. During the 17th and 18th centuries (and earlier), duels were mostly single combats fought with swords (the rapier and later the small sword), but beginning in the late 18th century in England, duels were more commonly fought using pistols. Fencing and shooting continued to co-exist throughout the 19th century. The duel was based on a Code of conduct, code of honor. Duels were fought not so much to kill the opponent as to gain "satisfaction", that is, to restore one's honor by demonstrating a willingness to risk one's life for it, and as such the tradition of dueling was originally reserved for the male members of nobility; however, in the modern era, it extended to those of the upper classes generally. On occasion, duels with swords or pistols were fought between women. Legislation against dueling goes back to the medieval period. The Fourth Co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hotchkiss M1914 Machine Gun
The Mle 1914 Hotchkiss machine gun chambered for the 8mm Lebel cartridge became the standard machine gun of the French Army during the latter half of World War I. It was manufactured by the French arms company Hotchkiss et Cie, which had been established in the 1860s by American industrialist Benjamin B. Hotchkiss. The gas-actuated Hotchkiss system was first formulated in 1893 by Odkolek von Ujezda and improved into its final form by Hotchkiss armament engineers, American Laurence Benét and his French assistant Henri Mercié. The Mle 1914 was the last version of a series of nearly identical Hotchkiss designs : the Mle 1897, Mle 1900 and the Mle 1909. The Hotchkiss Mle 1914 became the French infantry standard in late 1917, replacing the unreliable St. Étienne Mle 1907. The American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) in France also purchased 7,000 Mle 1914 Hotchkiss machine guns in 8mm Lebel, and used them extensively at the front in 1917 and 1918. Hotchkiss heavy machine guns, some b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flamboyant
Flamboyant (from ) is a form of late Gothic architecture that developed in Europe in the Late Middle Ages and Renaissance, from around 1375 to the mid-16th century. It is characterized by double curves forming flame-like shapes in the bar-tracery, which give the style its name; by the multiplication of ornamental ribs in the vaults; and by the use of the arch in accolade. Ribs in Flamboyant tracery are recognizable by their flowing forms, which are influenced by the earlier curvilinear tracery of the Second Gothic (or Second Pointed) styles. Very tall and narrow pointed arches and gables, particularly double-curved ogee arches, are common in buildings of the Flamboyant style. In most regions of Europe, Late Gothic styles like Flamboyant replaced the earlier Rayonnant style and other early variations. The style was particularly popular in Continental Europe. In the 15th and 16th centuries, architects and masons in the Kingdom of France, the Crown of Castile, the Duchy o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Silver Mine
Silver mining is the extraction of silver from minerals, starting with mining. Because silver is often found in intimate combination with other metals, its extraction requires elaborate technologies. In 2008, ca.25,900 metric tons were consumed worldwide, most of which came from mining. Silver sources Silver-bearing ore typically contains very little silver, with much higher percentages of copper and lead. Specific minerals include argentite (Ag2 S), chlorargyrite ("horn silver," Ag Cl), polybasite (Ag, Cu)16Sb2S11), and proustite (Ag3AsS3). Silver mainly occurs as a contaminant in chalcopyrite and galena, important ores of copper and lead, respectively.Kassianidou, V. 2003. Early Extraction of Silver from Complex Polymetallic Ores, in Craddock, P.T. and Lang, J (eds) Mining and Metal production through the Ages. London, British Museum Press: 198–206 Some ores are actually mined explicitly for their silver value vs the silver being a byproduct of other metals. However s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peon
Peon (English , from the Spanish ''peón'' ) usually refers to a person subject to peonage: any form of wage labor, financial exploitation, coercive economic practice, or policy in which the victim or a laborer (peon) has little control over employment or economic conditions. Peon and peonage can refer to both the colonial period and post-colonial period of Latin America, as well as the period after the end of slavery in the United States, when " Black Codes" were passed to retain African-American freedmen as labor through other means. Usage In English, ''peon'' (doublet of ''pawn'') and ''peonage'' have meanings related to their Spanish etymology (foot soldier); a ''peon'' may be defined as a person with little authority, often assigned unskilled tasks; an underling or any person subjected to capricious or unreasonable oversight. In this sense, ''peon'' can be used in either a derogatory or self-effacing context. There are similar usages in contemporary cultures: * South Asian ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mexican Government
The Federal government of Mexico (alternately known as the Government of the Republic or ' or ') is the national government of the United Mexican States, the central government established by its constitution to share sovereignty over the republic with the governments of the 31 individual Mexican states, and to represent such governments before international bodies such as the United Nations. The Mexican federal government has three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial and functions per the Constitution of the United Mexican States, as enacted in 1917, and as amended. The executive power is exercised by the executive branch, which is headed by the president and his Cabinet, which, together, are independent of the legislature. Legislative power is vested upon the Congress of the Union, a bicameral legislature comprising the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. Judicial power is exercised by the judiciary, consisting of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation, the Co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flashback (narrative)
A flashback (sometimes called an analepsis) is an interjected scene that takes the narrative back in time from the current point in the story. Flashbacks are often used to recount events that happened before the story's primary sequence of events to fill in crucial backstory. In the opposite direction, a flashforward (or prolepsis) reveals events that will occur in the future. Both flashback and flashforward are used to cohere a story, develop a character, or add structure to the narrative. In literature, internal analepsis is a flashback to an earlier point in the narrative; external analepsis is a flashback to a time before the narrative started. In film, flashbacks depict the subjective experience of a character by showing a memory of a previous event and they are often used to "resolve an enigma". Flashbacks are important in film noir and melodrama films. In films and television, several camera techniques, editing approaches and special effects have evolved to alert the v ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rodeo Clown
A rodeo clown, bullfighter (in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand) or rodeo protection athlete, is a rodeo performer who works in bull riding competitions. Originally, the rodeo clown was a single job combining "bullfighting"—the protection of riders thrust from the bull, as well as being an individual who provided comic relief. Today, the job is split into two separate ones: bullfighters who protect the riders from the bull, and entertainers (barrelmen) who provides comic humor. However, in some parts of the world and at some small rodeos, the jobs of bull rider protection and comic remain combined. Tasks and skills The primary job of the rodeo bullfighter is to protect a fallen rider from the bull by distracting it and providing an alternative target for the bull to attack, whether the rider has been bucked off or has jumped off the animal. These individuals expose themselves to great danger in order to protect the riders. To this end, they wear bright ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mercenary
A mercenary, sometimes also known as a soldier of fortune or hired gun, is a private individual, particularly a soldier, that joins a military conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any other official military. Mercenaries fight for money or other forms of payment rather than for political interests. Beginning in the 20th century, mercenaries have increasingly come to be seen as less entitled to protections by rules of war than non-mercenaries. The Geneva Conventions declare that mercenaries are not recognized as legitimate combatants and do not have to be granted the same legal protections as captured service personnel of the armed forces. In practice, whether or not a person is a mercenary may be a matter of degree, as financial and political interests may overlap. Modern mercenary organizations are generally referred to as private military companies or PMCs. Laws of war Protocol Additional GC 1977 (APGC77) is a 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polack
In the contemporary English language, the noun ''Polack'' ( and ) is a derogatory, mainly North American, reference to a person of Polish descent or from Poland. It is an anglicisation of the Polish masculine noun ''Polak'', which denotes a person of Polish ethnicity and typically male gender. However, the English loanword is considered an ethnic slur. History According to ''Online Etymology Dictionary'' by Douglas Harper, ''Polack'' meant as "Polish immigrant, person of Polish descent" was used in American English until the late 19th century (1879) to describe a "Polish person" in a non-offensive way (1574). Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) based on the Unabridged Dictionary by Random House claims that the word originated between 1590 and 1600. For example, Shakespeare uses the term ''Polacks'' in his tragedy ''Hamlet'' to refer to opponents of Hamlet's father. A quote is given below: In an Irish-published edition of ''Hamlet'' by the ''Educational Company'', Patrick Murray ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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