Lang's most bizarre and challenging Western almost defies criticism,
and is certainly like no other film in the genre. The tone is high camp,
but the film never slips into self-parody or burlesque. Rather, the
absurdist humour successfully counters the cruelty and nihilism
which threaten to take over. Ultimately, indeed, thanks largely to
Dietrich's touching performance as a former saloon singer entering
middle age, it's a rather moving film: a revenge tragedy which
emphasises, as so often with Lang, the human cost of the desire for
vengeance.
