{"id":41532,"date":"2018-11-17T02:00:40","date_gmt":"2018-11-17T09:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=41532"},"modified":"2021-06-22T23:19:26","modified_gmt":"2021-06-23T06:19:26","slug":"china-9-liberty-37","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=41532","title":{"rendered":"China 9, Liberty 37 (1978)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Outlaws-Banner.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Outlaws-Banner-128x85.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"128\" height=\"85\" class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-41543\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Outlaws-Banner-128x85.jpg 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Outlaws-Banner-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Outlaws-Banner.jpg 475w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 128px) 100vw, 128px\" \/><\/a><em>Hello, CMBA members! I\u2019m happy to be participating in the Classic Movie Blog Association\u2019s Fall \u201cOutlaws\u201d blogathon. If you\u2019re new to my site, please click <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?page_id=120\">here<\/a> to read more. Welcome!<\/em><br \/>\n<br ><\/br><br \/>\n<strong>&#8220;I am a gunfighter; you are a woman between husbands.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/China-9-Liberty-37-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/China-9-Liberty-37-Poster-220x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"220\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-41545\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/China-9-Liberty-37-Poster-220x300.jpg 220w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/China-9-Liberty-37-Poster-94x128.jpg 94w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/China-9-Liberty-37-Poster.jpg 733w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 220px) 100vw, 220px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nA gunslinger (Fabio Testi) is rescued from hanging by agreeing to kill a man (Warren Oates) who refuses to sell his land to a railroad company. When Testi befriends Oates and has an affair with his wife (Jenny Agutter), his original plans quickly go awry &#8212; and soon Oates and his brothers are seeking revenge against both Agutter and Testi.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Infidelity<\/li>\n<li>Jenny Agutter Films<\/li>\n<li>Monte Hellman Films<\/li>\n<li>Outlaws<\/li>\n<li>Revenge<\/li>\n<li>Strong Females<\/li>\n<li>Warren Oates Films<\/li>\n<li>Westerns<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Response to Peary\u2019s Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nRoger Corman-protege Monte Hellman is best known for helming cult favorites <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=51496\"><em>Two-Lane Blacktop<\/em> (1971)<\/a> and <em>Cockfighter<\/em> (1974), as well as two &#8220;existential&#8221; westerns &#8212; <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=73222\"><em>Ride in the Whirlwind<\/em> (1966)<\/a> and <em>The Shooting<\/em> (1966) &#8212; and this unusually titled outing, made more than a decade later. As Peary writes in his brief review of <em>China 9, Liberty 37<\/em> (the title &#8220;refers to [a] signpost located between the towns of China and Liberty&#8221;), while it&#8217;s &#8220;not on [the] level of his earlier&#8221; westerns, it&#8217;s &#8220;still a fairly interesting, unusual entry in the genre&#8221;, with a &#8220;dusty, gritty feel&#8221; to it akin to &#8220;Italian westerns and the westerns of Sam Peckinpah (who has a bit part)&#8221;. He points out that &#8220;the epic lovemaking between Testi and Agutter in a river and in a hotel room is noteworthy; except for Anthony Mann&#8217;s <em>Man of the West<\/em>, sex has had no place in the conservative western genre&#8221; &#8212; and he adds that &#8220;certainly this is the only western in which sex is what drives the lead characters&#8221;. <\/p>\n<p>I selected this western for inclusion in <a href=\"http:\/\/clamba.blogspot.com\/2018\/10\/outlaws-2018-fall-cmba-blogathon.html\">CMBA&#8217;s Fall Outlaws Blogathon<\/a> because of the unusual shifting of who, exactly, the &#8220;outlaws&#8221; are as the film progresses. While hired-man Testi is the obvious first candidate, the railroad company requesting Oates&#8217;s murder is implicated as well: &#8220;outlaws&#8221; in this western landscape are clearly operating within a powerful web of industrial corruption. <\/p>\n<p><strong>[SPOILERS ALERT]<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Once Oates discover&#8217;s Agutter&#8217;s affair with Testi and turns violent, Agutter believes she&#8217;s killed him in self-defense, and becomes an outlaw alongside her lover. However, when one of Oates&#8217;s brothers (Paco Benlloch) runs into the pair and learns what happened to Oates, he is naturally perturbed, and becomes involved in a prolonged kerfuffle that results in his death. When his corpse is delivered to the recovering Oates&#8217;s homestead, the plot has thickened considerably: Oates is now out to avenge not only his wife&#8217;s infidelity but the killing of his brother. With Agutter clearly penitent (one scene shows her mourning in a church), and honorable Testi returning the money he&#8217;s been given for killing Oates  &#8212; he believes Oates&#8217;s &#8220;murder&#8221; was actually committed by Agutter &#8212; it becomes even more difficult to sort out who the &#8220;outlaws&#8221; actually are here. <\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, another of Oates&#8217;s brothers (Gianrico Tondinelli) attempts to rape Agutter, but is stopped by Oates himself, who nonetheless says, &#8220;Go ahead, boy; that&#8217;s what whores are for&#8221;. Soon the original baddies &#8212; men representing the railroad company &#8212; set out to kill both Testi (who has not lived up to his agreement) and Oates (who they still want murdered). Testi&#8217;s life is saved by a prostitute-with-a-heart-of-gold (and a convenient penchant for sharpshooting), and he&#8217;s ultimately able to protect Oates from the killers who have amassed on his property and are waiting to ambush him. Testi&#8217;s final showdown with Oates &#8212; and the evolving relationship between Oates and Agutter, who appear to be trying to better understand one another and start afresh &#8212; is testament to the film&#8217;s refusal to categorize individuals (or &#8220;outlaws&#8221;) as either good or bad; humanity is far more complex than that. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Giuseppe Rotunno&#8217;s cinematography (shot in Spain and Italy)<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/China-9-Liberty-37-Cinematography.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/China-9-Liberty-37-Cinematography.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"306\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-41536\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/China-9-Liberty-37-Cinematography.png 720w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/China-9-Liberty-37-Cinematography-128x54.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/China-9-Liberty-37-Cinematography-300x128.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/China-9-Liberty-37-Cinematography2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/China-9-Liberty-37-Cinematography2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"306\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-41537\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/China-9-Liberty-37-Cinematography2.png 720w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/China-9-Liberty-37-Cinematography2-128x54.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/China-9-Liberty-37-Cinematography2-300x128.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/China-9-Liberty-37-Cinematography3.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/China-9-Liberty-37-Cinematography3.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"306\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-41535\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/China-9-Liberty-37-Cinematography3.png 720w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/China-9-Liberty-37-Cinematography3-128x54.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/China-9-Liberty-37-Cinematography3-300x128.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Pino Donaggio&#8217;s eclectic score\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nNo, but it&#8217;s recommended as an enjoyable outing by an accomplished director. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0077327\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1984\/11\/30\/movies\/film-china-9-liberty-37-at-thalia.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/whodoesblog.blogspot.com\/2014\/05\/china-9-liberty-37-1978-review.html\">But Then Again, Who Does? review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hello, CMBA members! I\u2019m happy to be participating in the Classic Movie Blog Association\u2019s Fall \u201cOutlaws\u201d blogathon. If you\u2019re new to my site, please click here to read more. Welcome! &#8220;I am a gunfighter; you are a woman between husbands.&#8221; Synopsis: A gunslinger (Fabio Testi) is rescued from hanging by agreeing to kill a man (Warren Oates) who refuses to sell his land to a railroad company. When Testi befriends Oates and has an affair with his wife (Jenny Agutter),&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=41532\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41532","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-responses-to-peary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41532","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=41532"}],"version-history":[{"count":25,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41532\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":73249,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41532\/revisions\/73249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=41532"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=41532"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=41532"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}