Heads or Tails?
In this surreal western, Buffalo Bill’s (John C. Reilly) Wild West show arrives in Italy, and gunfire behind the scenes sends two outlaw lovers on the run.
Buffalo Bill (John C. Reilly) and his Wild West show have arrived in Italy! Among those coming to watch the spectacle are nobleman Rupè and his young, world-weary wife Rosa (played by Finnish-rooted Nadia Tereszkiewicz). The action kicks off when local cowherds, the butteri, challenge the American cowboys to a showdown — and the winner turns out to be Santino (Alessandro Borghi).
Behind the scenes of the show, Rosa takes her fate into her own hands: she grabs Santino, shoots her husband dead with a pistol, and the two flee together.
The outlaw lovers go on the run, and Santino quickly gains fame as a wanted folk hero for the murder of the wealthy Rupè. As revolutionary ballads praising Santino’s crime spread, Rosa becomes frustrated that all the credit for the killing goes to the man. As the journey continues, things take increasingly bizarre turns, and the film truly goes off the rails.
The director duo Alessio Rigo de Righi and Matteo Zoppis deliver a surreal spaghetti western that delighted Cannes audiences: Heads or Tails? finally lets the Italian wilderness play itself. John C. Reilly clearly enjoys himself as Buffalo Bill, who joins the chase in pursuit of a reward and serves as the story’s hilariously unreliable narrator.
Inari Ylinen
