I won't go into the story, but it's true, I never tire of this movie---At first i thought Charles Bronson wouldn't be able to keep up with acting heavyweights Henry Fonda and Jason Robards, but Bronson's physical abilities, combined with his minimalist close-ups practically steal the show---His goodness came through in the close-ups toward the movie's end, I thought it was Charles Bronson's greatest screen work.
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mattywoh13 November 2019
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chuck-hickl4 February 2019To watch this again after so many years and after so much has changed in movie making, what a joy. The intro scene itself is a work of cinematic genius. Too bad most these days don't have the patience or appreciation for the plot making and cinematography these days. If you appreciate excellent camera work, scene making and soundtrack working together, I can't imagine you would be disappointed in this movie.
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In the annals of western film lore, there are good and bad films. This is one of the finest. Because "Once Upon A Time in The West" is such a remarkable film, it is hard to define what makes it so memorable. The story centers on a beautiful former prostitute called Jill McBain (Claudia Cardinale) who arrives to assume the role of wife to a stubborn, crazy, red-headed Irishman with a dream. Waiting, instead is tragedy and 'Mr. Morton' who is a powerful, but ailing land grabbing baron (Gabriele Ferzetti) who desires to crush everything and everyone who stands in his way to reach the Pacific ocean with his railroad. To help him is an equally ruthless gunfighter named Frank (Henry Fonda; the success of this movie owes much to Fonda who plays a very convincing heavy) who has been removing obstacles for years and now targets the McBain family for death and that includes Jill. Unfortunately for Frank, he has accrued many enemies over the years with one particular, mysterious and deadly Harmonica playing stranger seeking revenge. Frank arranges for three of his best and fastest gun hands to meet and eliminate the stranger at the train-station. Joining the instrument playing stranger is an unpredictable, half-breed, renegade, who is a notorious gunfighter called 'Cheyenne.' ( Jason Robards ) The entire film is a triumph to the superb direction of Sergio Leone, who christens each major character with their own theme song. Each theme was created by Ennio Morricone and when the character makes an entrance, the theme prepares the audience for mood change, drama, action, and lifelong memories. Special guest appearances, by Woody Strode, Jack Elam, Keenan Wynn and Lionel Stander add to the classic nature of this excellent story. ****
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TheDragonTrader24 April 2019In full silence, three mysterious men in long trench coats wait in a remote train station. Their faces have anticipation written all over them, even while the most interesting things they can find to do are toying with a fly, drinking water from a hat and cracking their fingers. A dog runs past. The windmill squeaks. The ticket vendor is locked away. The heath bounces off the wooden platform. The men sweat.
Are you bored yet? Then this movie is probably not for you.
But are you dying to know what the three men are waiting for? Does a light anxiety creep onto you whilst reading that description? Can't you wait for the tension to resolve? Then this movie is all you ever wanted.
The almost lawless world where outlaws and bandits roam the country with ease that is the setting of the story, is shown by Tonino Delli Colli (director of photography) in all its splendorous grandeur and it's uncountable little details. The set pieces, the costumes and the real life locations in Arizona and Utah make everything believable. And together with the characters and figurants, everything creates a vibrant and utterly believable Western civilisation.
Charles Bronson plays the man with the harmonica: a lone wolf looking for something that he chooses not to reveal to anyone until he gets it. A character with no name roaming the endless fields under the sun, announcing his presence at all times with the same melody he plays on his harmonica that echo's in an unsettling way. Bronson does this brilliantly, with a face that overflows with held back emotions and a determination that is downright scary.
In a tavern the man meets Manuel 'Cheyenne' Gutiérrez (Jason Robards), a bandit that recently escaped being hung by the neck, re-joining his band of outlaws. With already greying hair, he takes on the situation that arises in the area, trying his part to be the hero that saves the day. Robards portrays a character that, by only one look at him, we can see how the years have shaped him. His performance is outstanding; we want to grab a drink with Cheyenne, but we also get the feeling that being on your guard around him wouldn't be an overrated luxury.
The 'damsel in distress' (although she isn't in the original meaning of the word) Jill McBain (played by Claudia Cardinale) turns into a toy of Fate itself. Without any warning she gets involved in something quite over her head, but she handles it masterfully; she refuses to return to New Orleans with her tail between her legs and stays to face the difficulties put before her. Cardinale playing Jill is both an erotic marvel and a woman you wouldn't want to cross.
They are all opposed by Frank (Henry Fonda): the local gang leader with a heart of stone and a business proposal at the ready at all times. With his ruthless blue eyes and his gun at the ready he keeps the town quiet. Fonda gives you the creeps with just one gaze at the camera and every sentence leaves the bitter taste of malfeasance.
And finally, Gabriele Ferzetti finishes the line of main characters with his deliciously sickening portrayal of the crippled railroad baron Morton. A character that you'd like to slap in the face, but one you feel pity for as well. Outstandingly brought!
The soundtrack is composed by the never beaten maestro of film scoring himself: Ennio Morricone. His genius lies in the creation of themes and melodies that will haunt your dreams forever for better or worse. The melancholic main theme that is brought with a heavenly choir draws tears from your eyes after hearing only a couple of chords. The theme of the man with the harmonica is as unsettling as it is epic and Cheyennes' theme creates the lighter counter points in the movie. Morricone uses these motifs ingeniously, hinting at plot points, character motifs and feelings and giving you a sense of the world the movie takes place in. If I could give twelve out of ten stars for the score, I'd do it.
Sergio Leone was a masterful director, no need to prove that. He manages to turn even a scene of seven minutes, where three men are merely waiting for a train, into an epic storyline. Two hours and three quarters the tension builds and then resolves... partially, always building towards the end. And that finale! That finale! That finale chilled me to the bone! Throughout the film, question after question is raised, and when one question is answered, another one pops up. So when all pieces of the puzzle fall into place to the score of Ennio Morricone, how can one not be moved by it?
For Leone, there was no better way to reach the top of the Western genre.
And for us, there never will be a film that is more Western than 'Once Upon a Time in the West'. -
bgkerfant-0966425 September 2019It's hard to believe this movie is from 1968. Very modern way of filming for the time. Sergio Leone gave time to each scene... something that new directors seem afraid to do... Great story about the last days of an era. Amazing music and the originality of linking a specific melody to each main character. And all these close-up to character's eyes... Just a wonderful movie.
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This is my fav film. It is more like watching a piece of art. The look is fantastic. The director does a perfect job. The acting is wonderful. The story is not the strongest ever but it should be watched to experience it. If your a film lover you can't fail but admire this film.Charles Bronson is the perfect broody loner. Henry Fonda surprises everyone by giving a strong performance as a bad guy. The close up of his eyes is stunning. The camera work and close ups have never been done better. The music is as good as anything you will find in a movie. Throw in the scenes when you first see Henry Fonda. The scene at the railway station which the water dripping on the hat. The sound of the spinning water tower. To me the closet movie to ART i have ever seen and i have seen a lot of films.
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This one only gets better with each viewing. Leone's masterful storytelling and Morricone's crazy, beautiful, epic soundtrack; desperate, haunted faces which look like the barren landscapes the story is set in and a plot that unfolds with impeccable pacing to culminate in THE ultimate western finale.
As in Leone's previous films, music isn't just used to add to the atmosphere but is essential to the story, or perhaps even more: Morricone's main musical theme plays the actual role of a (or rather: the) protagonist in the film.
Anyone who thought that the so called "Spaghetti westerns" were nothing but cheap, violent B-movies had to reconsider after seeing this film. It doesn't get any better than this: this is movie history; iconic, classic, unforgettable, epic. For this film, I just run out of superlatives.
My vote: 10 out of 10
Favorite films: http://www.IMDb.com/list/mkjOKvqlSBs/
Lesser-known Masterpieces: http://www.imdb.com/list/ls070242495/
Favorite Low-Budget and B-movies: http://www.imdb.com/list/ls054808375/
Favorite TV-Shows reviewed: http://www.imdb.com/list/ls075552387/ -
I can't quite find the words to even come close to describing the pure brilliance of this movie. When this movie was made, the western genre was dominated by the big hollywood studios. The western was taken by these studios and transformed into an opportunity to portray classic superheroes like John Wayne and Burt Lancaster in their fight against all sorts of smalltime crooks and outlaws in smalltime stories and smalltime towns. It was a genuine effort to portray 'Americanism', the American Way, along with a romanticised view of the west as 'Frontier country' where good always triumphed over bad and where the life was hard but honest. It was the American Way.
And then came this film. The title, 'Once Upon A Time In The West' must have seemed to mean nothing more than 'just another western' to the unexpecting viewers at the time. Oh boy were they wrong. With this movie, Sergio Leone singlehandedly redefined the western genre and no American western would ever match the brilliant spirit in which it was made. While the story is basically the same as in any other western, it is the WAY in which it is presented that so clearly distances this western from others. Whereas other westerns are simply stories that are designed to entertain, this movie is an emotional masterpiece that will move your heart. Sergio Leone takes the ordinary western and replaces words with looks, and conversations with feelings and emotions. With his brutal but honest portrayal of the sheer hardness of life and death in those times he thoroughly destroys the old romantic idea of the west as a 'generally-hunky-dory-kind-of-scene with the occasional bad guy and indian' and replaces it with an eerie, dark, hot and dry place where life is cheap and only the strongest will survive.
I cannot adequately convey in words the way in which Sergio Leone deepens and defines the characters by pure means of visual persuasion. It starts with the three gunman in the beginning of the movie, waiting for some reason at a train station for someone or something that obviously is going to be on the next train. No explanation, no conversation; not a word is said. Even the stationmaster is ushered into captivity without a single audible threat. Then comes the waiting... Any other director would have skipped directly to the moment of arrival, but Sergio Leone takes minutes of boredom and translates it into a visual feast, deepening the characters that are portrayed and making them more human, more real to the viewer, while at the same time encompassing us with a deep dark sense of foreboding. This way in which the story is not just augmented but in times completely replaced by the sheer visual drama, is perfected by the absolute fantastic music, directed by Ennio Morricone. Who needs words and explanations when the combined forces of cinematic mastery and heart-tearing music are not just able to carry the story, but pick it up and push it up to such heights of excellence that it has no equal in it's genre?
Another great feat that adds to the power of this movie is the minimalistic way of portrayal of the characters as real, emotional people. Not a single word is said that isn't required for the understanding of the story, yet the characters feel more true than those in movies where whole conversations are added merely to explain their motives. Instead of words, the camera focuses on the characters...so that you can simply read the emotion off their faces. Often no explanation is given other than than a mere facial expression. No superheroes or supercriminals, just real, desire-laden, traumatised, obsessed people that act upon motives inherently understood by the viewer.
All in all this is without a single doubt in my mind the greatest western of all times, and even though Sergio Leone has made many more mindblowing, heart-shattering westerns like this one, like 'A Fistful of Dynamite', 'The Good The Bad and The Ugly', and 'For a Few Dollars More', none could equal 'Once Upon A Time In The West' in sheer magnitude of perfection. Western has never been the same since....
I only wish I'd have been there in 1969 when the movie was new and see it, for the first time with fresh innocent eyes and an unexpecting mind..just like 2001: A Space Odyssey (also of 1969, a year of legends).
A tip for those who have never seen this movie: Bribe, beg, borrow, or steal yourself into possession of a Videobeam and Hifi-audio equipment if you can't find a cinema that is showing this movie. Turn the audio up WAY HIGH (never mind the neighbors) and prepare never to be the same again.........
I (obviously) gave this movie a 10 because no matter how hard I try I can't find anything less than perfect about it. -
jsmith-7466129 June 2019The slower pace is what makes this movie unique. The attention given to detail in terms of facial expressions, scenery, symbolism, and an operatic type musical score is what sets this move apart from other westerns. After seeing John Wick 3, I can honestly say that I long for less action and more substance. There is something to be said about the old ways. If you haven't seen this movie, give it a shot. It will be worth the 2 hours and 45 minutes.
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Sadako-Toyboy26 July 1999Thank god that I'm a Bronson fan. This was my first Leone movie, and dumb kid that I was, I actually watched it thinking I was in for a typical Bronson "vehicle"! Looking back I'm thankful, because if it wasn't for his involvement, I would never have discovered the beauty and majesty that is Once Upon a Time in the West.
I absolutely love this movie. It's probably my all time favourite, certainly one of the few that I can watch OVER and OVER again without losing interest. I love the way Leone creates intrigue and mystery around what is a relatively thin plot. He can make even the smallest twist of fate seem like an epic turn of events, with that amazing sense of revelation that he generates out of old hackneyed situations (something Argento has since picked up). Leone proves in this film that he could seemingly take anyone, even peripheral characters, and give them screen charisma without using dialogue as a crutch.
OUATITW features the most tense two man stand-offs ever, with some serious deja-vu in the direction of his "Dollars" trilogy. In fact, it does feel like those three movies were warm ups, practice sessions in the build up to OUATITW. Here though, he perfected everything; despite the long running time, it's all focused, and without a single irrelevant scene. For me, the two hours plus just fly by, I wish it would never end. Leone was without question at his artistic peak when he made this, that's not to say that he went downhill from then on, but I honestly don't think he ever did another film where everything came together so perfectly.
The cast is flawless. Fonda eclipsed every good guy he ever did in one fell swoop, truly chilling. Robards is a great comic character, the lovable rogue with an edge. And Cardinale is more than just (incredible) window dressing; she switches between passionate, angry, delicate and sentimental at all the right moments.
Which leaves the hero; I'm a huge Eastwood fan, but I honestly don't believe he could have done the role justice. His "man with no name" was a cool, sly character with hidden complexities. Eastwood always does these layered personalities, with some kind of mental baggage. Bronson, on the other hand, mostly does himself; simple, uncomplicated figures with only one state of mind, that's why he's put in so many revenge flicks. Plus, he looks like he's been seriously wronged at some point in his life, Eastwood doesn't have that quality. Bronson is the genuine hard-as-nails article. You can readily imagine that, had he been born decades earlier and been put in the same situation, he would resolve the problem in much the same way as his character in the movie (sometimes I affectionately refer to this movie as Deathwish part 0- could Harmonica be the great granddaddy of Paul Kersey?).
Of course the other great contribution is the music. I still think that the main theme is one of the most breathtaking pieces of music I have ever heard. It affects me deeply whenever I hear it, regardless of the mood I'm in. Maybe I should listen to more opera or something, I don't know, but that's the way I feel. And the individual character themes are just so well integrated into the film, it's unbelievable. Leone replaces words with music, and it conveys so much more in return. Bronson just plays that melancholy tune on the harmonica instead of answering people back, it consistently cracks me up.
High Noon, Naked Spur, Shane, The Searchers, etc. are all classics of the genre, but I really don't think it's possible to compare those "traditional" westerns with OUATITW. For me, it exists on a plane of it's own, it's the kind of film experience that you let wash over you, a waking dream. I recommend this movie to anyone, if you're on the right wavelength you'll be greatly rewarded. -
robinhio84_4 October 2022In two lines: it's a classic italian produced Western movie that is all about build up and great decors.
Story Summary: the story is a bit convoluted, but it centres around a widow and three cowboy mystery figures. Think, good, bad, ugly, but with a few more side characters.
Analysis: the movie will probably remain a classic, because the execution is quite well done. The story however is quite average, but packed up in an interesting watch due to good acting accompanied with a great musical score and great decors.
Dialogue: 8/10 intriguing and well done Acting: dramatic, many close face shots (seems India soap operas have taken inspiration here). The actors are a bit simple and bot fully fleshed out. So while there performances are good, none is ultimately relatable. It's just a fictional film/story to watch.
Visuals (Decor): 10/10 insanely well done Costume & Make up: 9/10 also here no comments. Why not a 10, coz there is nothing that really stands put. It just all works really well together.
Music: 8/10 In this directors productions music always plays a big parts and flows in and out of the story. The music is ambient and specifically gets a main role around tge harmonica sections. Sometimes the timing and choice of music ard not perfect like when Jill arrives at her new house...
Story: 5/10 very average (no spoilers though)
Anything else (originals story, liberties etc: the story is a poduct of its time. Jill is getting a bigger role and was cast as a vamp. Nothing wrong with that, but she is overall reduced to a woman who literally solves things with lying and sleeping with man. Not really a great representation, especially coz it doesn't come across as a survival mechanism, even though ithid is mentioned in the movie. Classic movie that hasn't aged as well. Also of the weirdest scenes was why Harmonica had to undress upon meeting her at home. It was very unpleasant especially coz there was no implied reason to do it and it didn't lead to any development in the story.
Overall assessment: the movie is ok and has some memorable scenes, but it is lacking dept to truly shine for new viewers today that don't have the same nostalgia.
End Word: very good film for Western lovers and people who appreciate good (old) cinema, however non movie buffs can skip this movie. -
Jeremy_Urquhart30 September 2017I won't claim to have the ability to say anything new about this movie. It's been around for nearly fifty years, and is widely regarded as not just one the best Spaghetti Westerns of all time, but one of the best Westerns full stop. And it's not hard to see why: an incredible soundtrack, strong performances from the entire main cast, some surprisingly good humour and funny one-liners, a few tense sequences, a well-told story that doesn't rely on excessive dialogue or exposition, and consistently amazing cinematography and direction throughout. At least half the frames in this movie would probably make good paintings- no exaggeration.
It's probably the marriage of the great visuals and soundtrack that make Once Upon a Time in the West work as well as it does. There's a good number of dramatic camera movements and interesting reveals that are tied up perfectly with the music- almost like some kind of singing-free musical at some points.
Sergio Leone was one of the greatest directors of all time. It's a real shame that he apparently never got the kind of recognition he gets nowadays while he was still alive. Out of all his films, there's a strong argument to be made for this one being the closest to perfect. Honestly, there's not a lot that could be changed to make it better. My biggest direct gripe is the way the title pops up at the very end of the film, and rotates in a full circle before it disappears. It looks really cheesy, and comes close to killing the mood the otherwise extremely strong ending creates. While we're on complaints, another minor one would be that I want to say the film feels a little too long- maybe about 10 to 15 minutes. But at the same time, I wouldn't really know what to cut. Every scene is so well-constructed and orchestrated, and there's always something interesting to look at or listen to or think about, so I'm not really sure what should be cut. It's a pretty weak complaint, I know. Like I said, this thing's close to perfect.
The Good The Bad and The Ugly might be a tiny bit more entertaining, and Once Upon a Time in America might have a slightly better soundtrack and stronger emotional moments (for me, personally), but it's still really hard to find much to complain about here. Absolutely recommended to any Western fan, and it gets a little better every time I watch it (four for me now, and counting). -
This was a unique western, one in which sometimes the action moves excruciatingly slow, which can either be fascinating or boring. Unfortunately for me, after spending big bucks for the DVD when it first came out, I found it more boring than fascinating. In my previous viewings, I always found it fascinating. Maybe I just had a bad day.
The movie is filled with gaps of silence while closeups of the main characters' faces are shown. That's director Sergio Leone's trademark, and I believe he does it more in this film than in any of his others. When you get closeups of chiseled faces like Henry Fonda's or Charles Bronson's, it quite interesting but most of the movie feels like slow motion. At 165 minutes, this movie takes a lot of patience. By the way, the closeups of Claudia Cardinale's face were with a soft lens, so the wrinkles didn't show. That's so typical of older films with the vain female stars. Cardinale looks cheap, anyway, with all that 1960s-type eye makeup.
At any rate, the action scenes are a decent and not bloody and the characters are quite real, meaning believable. I liked Fonda in here best even though I am not particularly a fan of his but his against-type villain role of "Frank" was excellent. I read where he said this was his favorite role. I'm glad to hear that. The best character in the film, though, was "Cheyenne," played by Jason Robards.
The opening credits - spaced out over 11 minutes (which was rare in "classic movie" days) - are considered by many as the most famous ever, in any genre. The music in this film is different, too. It's not as memorable as the score from "The Good, The Bad And The Ugly," however, done by the same composer, but it has its moments. Early in the film we see some shots of Monument Valley which are the prettiest I've ever seen. I wish there had been more of that.
Overall, this is a western in which patience is rewarded, I suppose. It certainly looks beautiful on DVD and the sound has been enhanced as well. Note: when this came out on disc, the rating of the film changed from PG to PG-13. -
Really not my kind of film. I thought my tastes were quite broad, but apparently not broad enough to encompass this one. The best writers and directors can make a point quickly and effectively without seeming to hurry. Sergio Leone, it seems, can't do that - at least, not in this movie. He takes his time over every scene, whether it has a point to make or not.
It takes ages to get started (whatever happened to grabbing the attention of the audience to make them want to find out more?!) and ages for anything to actually happen once it has started. The word "lean" cannot be applied here; I suppose the best phrase I can offer is "elegantly lumbering".
I saw the director's edition rather than the theatrical release, and as far as I could tell, the long scenes didn't achieve anything that ones half or even a tenth of the duration could have achieved (boredom aside).
Yes, there were some "pretty" camera angles. Yes, there were one or two clever lines of dialogue. But the impression I came away with was, I'm sorry to say, that the director put his self-indulgence firmly above the audience's entertainment. The music was noticeably repetitive; the sound-effects intrusive beyond the point of distraction; and the dialogue invariably too quiet.
I suppose I must be missing something given the absurdly high (IMHO) position of this film in the top 250. I really can't imagine what that might be! -
One of the great classics : a riveting, wildly immersive Western set against the historical backdrop of the expansion of the railroads. The Ennio Morricone music is rousing, the scenery is jaw-dropping and the various characters spring to colourful life.
This last fact owes much to the casting, which includes a bit of truly inspired counter-casting : actor Henry Fonda, used to playing pretty decent guys, takes on the sable-black persona of an amoral middle-aged mercenary fully capable of killing random children. It's a marvellously chilling performance - but wait for the ending of the movie, where a short flash-back shows the mercenary as a young man already much given to taunting and torturing. Fonda takes on a sick, twisted intensity that can only be described as diabolical.
Now this is a long and intense movie which requires attentive viewing, meaning that it is a good idea to create an intermission and watch it in two parts. But do watch it - it's excellent. -
Scott-810 April 1999There's two things that stand out to me always about this movie, and indeed about all of Sergio Leone's movies. One is his understanding of pacing events, and the other is using his actors/actresses to actually act. When you see Claudia Cardinale riding up to the ranch, all you see is her face, but you can tell instantly what she is looking at and everything she's feeling. You know Henry Fonda's the bad guy, but when he smiles faintly at the young boy, you feel there's something more to him, a personality and human qualities, even if he is evil. The final shoot-out itself is a masterpiece. The two protagonists say nothing, but as they face off the music lets you know the moment as come. As they stand ready the scene that's been hinted at throughout the movie plays out like a dream, revealing what the whole story was about. Then, without warning, they draw and fire. Just as in real life, it's over before you notice it. What today's movies lack is how quickly they cater to MTV video inspired nonstop action and endless clichés. The bad and good guy duke it it out, the violence is so extreme that no human could actually survive it, and always just when you think the bad guy is dead he gets back up for one last shot. How much I wish today's film makers would learn Leone's lesson about TIMING, and let suspense build rather than force it in. The music score, which had certain pieces and sections for various moods and to signify the main characters, is one of my favorites. Even if Clint Eastwood wasn't in it, Charles Bronson fills the role of the mysterious stranger and adds his own elements to the character. How I wish they still made movies like this
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alansabljakovic-3904430 October 2019The score is amazing and Henry Forda is magnficent. I can see why this is James Gunn's favorite movie. One of the best westerns packed with action and tension.
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secondtake5 November 2010Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
On the heels of "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly," is this equally sprawling and archetypal Western, this time with less obvious dubbing, and Henry Fonda as a kind of tie in to Hollywood's hero paradigm. It's indescribably beautiful, one of the most gorgeous Westerns ever photographed, indeed a model for good visual directing and cinematography in any genre. That alone makes the almost three hours a pure pleasure.
But it's not a fast movie in any other way. It can't be. It depends on lingering over delicious details, small ones, shot up close in startling detail and ever deadpan looks and steely eyes. Nothing is believable and it's not meant to be. It's not even a fable, quite, but more a celebration of being inside an incredible film, as strange as that sounds. Not that the scenes are not believable--even the very last shots of the makeshift town and the railroad being built is about as realistic as it gets. Great stuff.
Plot? You might, at times, wonder where the plot went. There are lots of bad guys, and you're not totally sure there's a protagonist, unless the one woman in the movie is the center of our concerns, even if she is clearly a bystander to it all. When it gets clear, in the last twenty minutes, it's again archetypal (and has echoes of the over the tops showdown in "Good Bad and Ugly"). A small bit of slow motion (not needed normally in a movie where everything is slow already) makes clear this is the key moment in the film, the thing that made the rest of it, with all its confusing and violent layers, sensible.
For my money, I'd love all this incredible visceral stuff, the sounds and sights, filled in with some kind of deeply felt conflict, not a purely dramatic one. I watch and am shocked, or swept away, or impressed, or dazzled, but I'm actually never moved, not from the heart. And there are plenty of aspects here that should really move us--including feeling for the woman's plight, rather than simply recognizing that it is, after all, quite a plight.
Still, another landmark Sergio Leone movie. -
mrmystery9929 April 2018This one only gets better with each viewing. Leone's masterful storytelling and Morricone's crazy, beautiful, epic soundtrack; desperate, haunted faces that look like the barren landscapes the story is set in and a plot that unfolds with impeccable pacing to culminate in THE ultimate western finale. As in Leone's previous films, music isn't just used to add to the atmosphere but is essential to the story, or perhaps even more: Morricone's main musical theme plays the actual role of a (or rather: the) protagonist in the film. Anyone who thought that the so called "Spaghetti Westerns" were nothing but cheap, violent B-movies had to reconsider after seeing this film. It doesn't get any better than this: this is movie history; iconic, classic, unforgettable, epic - for this film, I just run out of words.
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After the great success of the masterpiece "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" which perfectly finished the "Dollars" trilogy. Sergio Leone get bored with nothing to do, and decided to start another trilogy, the "America" trilogy with "Once upon a time in the West". That today is considered the best Western ever made in the history of cinema.
"Once upon a time in the West" begins when the farmer Brett McBain (Frank Wolff) and his sons are murdered in cold blood by the hands of the ruthless bounty-killer Frank (Henry Fonda) who puts the blame on the criminal Cheyenne (Jason Robards). Frank was hired by the legged-rail baron Morton (Gabrielle Ferzetti) to just scare away McBain and his family of their land, because she would be much valued with the advancement of the railroad. But on the same day Jill (Claudia Cardinale) arrives in town, coming from New Orleans, and when she finds out of the crime she reveals that she married Brett McBain weeks before in New Orleans and therefore the land still had a owner. On the same day, Jill meets a mysterious man who is known for Harmonica (Charles Bronson) because he always carries with himself a harmonica, and offers itself as a protector of Jill. And when the criminal Cheyenne knows that he is being unfairly prosecuted, he decides to join forces with Harmonica to help Jill keep the lands of her deceased husband. But a web of mystery and deceit circulates between the contradictory relationship of the characters.
When the film premiered at the time it was poorly received by critics and was a box office failure, only today that the critics and the public praised the film as not only the best Sergio Leone's movie, but also the best Western ever made. Well, not quite (in my opinion), but I understand why people praise him as such. The main complain of the critics to the film at the time, it was that the film was extreme slow. But this slowness is caused by some reasons.
The first one is that the film was completely different from all the Western films ever made, even from the "Dollars" trilogy because Leone gives the film a dramatic tone. What Leone tries to show in the story is the end of the Old West, the title shows that perfectly. The original translation from Italian to English was "Once upon a time THE West", that is, the end of the Old West. And that originally came in the time of the advance of the railways, and the grand corruption and death that she brought to the population. Leone shows that giving the film an excellent script (written by him and Sergio Donati), which gives the film a superb narrative with beautiful dialogs between the characters, but like any Leone's film, it never loses his great sense of humor.
The other reason is, as always. the magnificent direction of Leone, which once again shows advanced for its time. With its perfect close-ups on characters and enormous scenarios, making everything beautiful and epic. But there it comes the problem that prevents the film to even beat "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly". Leone was known for his quiet moments brilliantly filmed, and "Once upon a time" is full of them (but maybe too much). Without considering the first 10 minutes of the film (which is brilliant, putting us in the heat of the scene), but others seem to boring taking the power of narrative and our investment on them.
Another problem with the film is the relevance of the characters. Not that they are not superb and memorable (which they are): Jill is nothing more nor less than the representation of the women in the world of men in the Old West and its extreme strength and intelligence, along with an excellent performance from Cardinale; Cheyenne can be compared with Tuco from "The Good, The Bad and the Ugly", both characters are cruel bandits, but in several times they are shown to be simple human beings with their problems and their kind and innocent side; Frank is another cruel-badass villain that Leone built in his films, Frank is a bounty-killer who in previous films its showed that they are honored to their "job", do whoever they were told and paid for and nothing more. But Frank in the film betrays its own principles, and gets into the corrupt world of the railways; Harmonica is almost the same character that Clint Eastwood was in previous Leone films. Mysterious, don't talk much, and never shows his true motives (only at the most epic and badass moment of the film). All characters are fantastic, but thanks to the silent moments of Leone, their relevance and relationship fails in several moments in the history.
I don't agree that this is the best Western film ever made, but I understand why people consider it so. From a fabulous story that shows excellently the end of the era of legends with a flawless script, magnificent direction and unforgettable characters. All this makes "Once upon a time" not only one of the best Western films ever made, but a beautiful masterpiece of cinema and the beginning of another amazing trilogy!
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ptsj-music5 September 2016The opening scene in this masterpiece from Sergio Leone is alone worth the 10 points. I would add another 10 if I could. To think that the three main actors from another work by the great master, "The Good And The Bad And The Ugly", Clint Eastwood, Eddie Wallach and Lee Van Cleef, said NO to appear as the three bad guys in the film's beginning, is just hilarious. Any actor would die just to be in this film. But these three guys were all thinking to highly of themselves, and didn't consider such a "small role" to be a great honor. It's not hard to understand Leone's meta intention to ask the three heroes to appear like that, but perhaps we all should thank them for refusing, because how much more epic didn't Jack Elam, Woody Strode and Al Mulock become after acting in this famous scene. They are simply perfect for it. Even more incredible is that Mulock committed suicide with his costume still on, and this way actually died, if not for playing a part in the film. His reason will forever be untold.
One person getting too little credit is Leone's co-screenwriter, another Sergio by the surname Donati, who together with Dario Argento and Bernardo Bertolucci really must have inspired Leone to get at top level. Every single actor in the film are at their top level too and make appearances so perfect that the audience forget that this is fiction. Personally I have seen it again and again only to see the beautiful and great acting Claudia Cardinale appear. But I believe Charles Bronson got the part mainly because he had the perfect looks and the most amazing eyes. Also, Bronson pretending to play the harmonica is THE ONLY just a little annoying thing about the film, even though the character's name is Harmonica. I am certain that the master behind the fantastic music score, Ennio Morricone, had little or no saying in this, the one place where music and picture don't fit together. There are so many to mention and give the very best credits. Tonino Delli Colli, director of photography, has caught the actor's faces, in particular Henry Fonda's and Charles Bronson's, but also the grand landscape and every important and non important detail in such an amazing way, it's totally stunning, and all the way. Nino Baragli is the master of editing. The total is so well composed that it just can't be made better. We can smell the air, taste the dust and feel every part of the setting. This is not Spaghetti Western, this is Italian epic film art at its very, very best! -
johnnyboyz27 July 2008Leone's now iconic film stands out for two very distinct things for me, personally. That is, number one: the brilliant, brilliant soundtrack that adds feeling; raw emotion and atmosphere as well as number two: editing and shot composition which differs between long, wide angled long shots to the gritty close up of the face for certain reactions and objects for certain atmosphere. Many things have been said about how brilliant the film is and in terms of the genre, this genre film is usually considered one of if not the pinnacle itself of the Western. But whereas the typical American western might include John Wayne or some other such hard bodied American taking on a role of 'honest as they come guy' who gets caught up in the wrong place at the wrong time, Once Upon a Time in the West is a slower and less-obvious film that somewhat ignores these conventions. Therefore it is a shame that I liked it rather than loved it once it had ended.
The European influence grabs a hold of you right from the off in Once Upon a Time in the West. Afterwards I read a brief summary on the film stating it may well have the best opening to any film ever and that could well be the case. Leone's style here is to ignore the process of 'action, causes action, causes re-action, action, causes action...etc.' and show the guys who are a part of Frank's (Fonda) gang wait for a train to arrive rather than have the train arrive; have the gang arrive and then play out actions Leone pays attention to sound (windmill and the fly) and has tantalising long shots of the train track in the distance that announces to us that the train is not going to arrive anytime soon. Cut back to ground level and the guys are killing time before the train arrives we don't know why they're there and given it's a Western, they could be minutes away from death so the character's casualness and the build up through composition work really well.
Once Upon a Time in the West carries a certain elegance despite its dirty, gritty and slimy nature. Characters look rough, wear dirty clothes and spit more than they need to and the dusty desert locations in Spain and The States work so well that to see the film is to almost feel hot and bothered. From the opening, the film develops with the arrival of Harmonica (Bronson), a man with no name indeed bar the one he's given by a fellow character for spending so much time playing said instrument. As a character, Harmonica epitomises the strange, the mysterious - a man that does not, you feel, belong in the film but a man who has his reasons and a back-story but the European influence is there again in the sense Leone chooses not to show it until well into the film. As a character, Harmonica brings diegetic music to the film in the form of his harmonica, an object he will never forget the manner of which he came across it. When it is played, it echoes and sounds louder than usual giving the man a presence that is almost uncanny the music teeters on the brink of being within the film and not being within the film and certainly maintains a brooding and unnatural atmosphere.
But Leone does not limit his style to composition choice, locations and harmonica sounds. He broadens his arsenal so much so that at times, the objects are doing the speaking for the characters. Another character is introduced, she is Jill McBain (Cardinale) and she arrives, like Harmonica, into this town by train. The genius here is that a simple introduction of a character by train has been stretched out through having a prior tragic event happen in a preceding scene that will affect McBain how will she react? Then there is the brilliant cutting between her pocket watch and the station clock, creating a 'jump' in time between waiting there. Such a technique is rarely seen today and further acts as an example of Leone's ignoring of the 'action, causes action, etc.' method.
But even that is not the first time it happens since later on, a card game will happen in a train caboose which doubles up as the only urban inspired 'space' in the film amongst all the dusty and dirty rural settings. The game is accompanied by odd sounding train noises which could be read into as the noises going on inside the player's minds as the pot grows and the tension rises. Once Upon a Time in the West is a film that can bring pleasure to its viewer but it's really brining its director the most pleasure. At 165-odd minutes, Leone is clearly in love with his unfolding of a film rather than his telling of a story and his style does overtake a lot of what I would've liked to have seen, that is to say more of an interesting narrative and less of the style once it had been established he could do it. But it will remain a film studied and looked at for years to come. Like I said with the original Japanese Godzilla film, you get the impression if they'd known it was going to be looked at and studied so much in the future, they might've made sure it would have held up a little more. -
anaconda-406589 September 2016Once Upon A Time in the West (1968): Dir: Sergio Leone / Cast: Charles Bronson, Henry Fonda, Jason Robards, Claudia Cardinale, Gabriele Ferzetti: Epic western that refers to the passing of events that shape our future despite forgotten souls. Charles Bronson plays a nameless gunslinger who is identified by the harmonica that pierces the night. He seeks vengeance upon the ruthless Frank, played with calm cruel delivery by Henry Fonda. The setting is Flagstone and the place is Sweetwater, land where water exists for the steam locomotives. Gabriele Ferzetti plays a crippled tycoon who wants this land and sends Frank to scare off those living there. Instead Frank kills the owner and his children and pins the blame on bandit Cheyenne, played by Jason Robards. Claudia Cardinale plays the new owner. She is a prostitute and new wife of the deceased owner. Cardinale brings out her grit teeth anger and her willingness to face intimidation. At three hours director Sergio Leone, a veteran in the genre presents standoffs and numerous gun fights including one aboard a moving train. Bronson is silent and determined to right the past. Fonda dominates with careful progressive evil. Robards is the sinner seeking redemption. Ferzetti is disabled but deceitful and ruthless. Cardinale is the pretty flower growing in poisonous soil and she faces the west living within the tragedy left by greed. Score: 10 / Writing: 100% / Themes: 100% / Acting: 100% / Directing: 100% / Visual: 100%
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Og235225 January 2020Until Jill arrives on the train. Then it takes a dip, but still has some fantastic moments thereafter
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paul2001sw-18 January 2009Most westerns are actually about the death of the old, wild, west; and 'Once Upon a Time in the West', with its story centred on the coming of the railroad, is no exception. One thing that Sergio Leone has done in this movie is to make a truly cinematic film: it's hard to imagine how the script read, as so much of the meaning is conveyed in the facial expressions of the actors or by Enrico Morricone's score - there's a balletic quality to Leone's work. Unfortunately, I found the music intrusive, the exaggerated grimacing of the characters merely comic, and the plot contrived, difficult to follow and arbitrarily bloody; I don't believe that even in the wildest west, six people would be killed outside a bar and everyone inside would just carry on drinking as if nothing had happened. Personally, I prefer Robert Altman's treatment of a similar storyline in 'McCabe and Mrs. Miller', a film that uses rather fewer of the conventions of the western, but which seems closer to life as a result.