Le Gout De La Violence (aka The Taste Of Violence) (1961)

In an unnamed Central American country ruled by a dictator, a revolutionary leader (Robert Hossein) holds up a train and kidnaps the dictator's daughter (Giovanna Ralli) in order to trade her for captured revolutionaries. Directed by Robert Hossein (NUDE IN A WHITE CAR). A French western? Yes and a terrific one, too. The title is misleading, there's only a minimal amount of violence. Rather than show us massacres and killing, we see the aftermath of violence and its effect on the survivors. This is no spaghetti western. Shot beautifully in B&W wide screen (Dyaliscope, essentially a French form of CinemaScope) by Jacques Robin (TRAITEMENT DE CHOC), it contains some of the best use of wide screen anamorphic scope I've ever seen. It would be a crime to watch it in pan and scan or cropped to anything less than 2.35. Dialogue is kept to a minimum and director Hossein uses long takes and silence to achieve his bleak vision. Although taking place in Central America, it was filmed in what was then, Yugoslavia. If you're into westerns, you have to check this one out. With Mario Adorf, Madeleine Robinson and Hans H. Neubert.