Ms .45 4K 1981

Seemingly a forgettable film in the oeuvre of one of the few truly independent (not pretentious “arthouse” snobs working for big money under the patronage of major film studios) directors in American cinema, Abel Ferrara, his second feature film after the rather curious ' The Killer with the Electric Drill, not counting his early short films.

Completely unoriginal for its time (and now perceived almost as a joke after all the Hollywood drivel like ‘Colombiana’), the plot is about a raped and robbed peasant girl who decides to chop off the heads of all the local bad guys and, along the way, bring light and goodness into the world, amen.

And it seems like everything is clear from the very first minutes, and it's terribly drawn out, even despite the meager running time, but the amazing cinematic drive and powerful energy compel the viewer, if not to watch all this beauty in one breath, then at least to be interested. Either it's all due to the meager budget by American standards, although despite the ridiculous figure, the visual component is very good and in terms of artistic inventiveness (and without any clip-like quality) it beats any expensive chewing gum, or it's all due to the director's talent, I'm inclined to believe the latter.

The peculiar final “dressing up” of the main character can be interpreted in more than one way, and this already elevates the film to a level somewhat higher than that of a solid exploitation flick. Here, a religious theme slips in—one of the main components of the Maestro's work.