zedz - Cuncho has just seen his brother killed in front of him (to save his own life). He's got the guilt of leaving the villagers to their fate on his conscience. He's been tricked and used by Nino into helping assassinate the general - given all of these things, I don't think his final realisation is so unconvincing. As for Nino's motivations... perhaps Sausage's homosexual reading does have some merit in that regard.
The Mercenary will make my list, although I don't like it as much as Quien Sabe or Tepepa. Initially written by Solinas for Pontecorvo, who pulled out and the two of them went off to make Burn! instead (also called The Mercenary in Canada), Corbucci took over and the film was re-written by Vincenzoni (The Good the Bad & the Ugly, For a Few Dollars More, Gui la Testa!) and produced by Grimaldi on a fairly decent budget with partial funding from United Artists. In its final form, the film is a lot sillier than Quien Sabe, with an extremely convoluted plot, a film about revolutionary characters that never really convinces you of its own revolutionary intent - or any other intent really, other than to entertain and make money, although undoubtably achieving on both fronts (Quien Sabe had ironically demonstrated that there was big money to be made from this subject a the time!). It's most reminiscent of The Good, the Bad & the Ugly - not surprising, perhaps, given Vincenzoni's involvement - although Nero and Musabe don't share quite the same chemistry as Eastwood and Wallach. The happy ending rings somewhat false as well - and, boy, does Corbucci overuse that zoom lens! Still, there are some iconic scenes, like the arena duel between Musabe and Jack Palance, and great music from Morricone (ripped off in Kill Bill). Enough to keep me happy
The German DVD is very good btw, strong anamorphic 2.35:1 transfer, English audio with optional German subs, English subs on the accompanying documentary, and fairly cheap as well.
