Film: Once Upon A Time In The West
Director: Sergio Leone
Country: Italy
Released: December 1968
Runtime: 166 minutes
Genre: Western
Studio: Euro International Films / Paramount
Influenced: Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez, John Carpenter, George Lucas, Kelly Reichardt
Spaghetti westerns got their name for primarily being produced and directed by Italians, playing on the stereotype of pasta as a staple in Italian cuisine. The term was originally used in a somewhat derogatory manner by critics and purists who felt these films were a cheap imitation of American westerns, however Sergio Leone got his own back by making the best western of all time, Once Upon A Time In The West. Leone started with his "dollars trilogy" of A Fistful of Dollars (1964) – a loose adaptation of Akira Kurosawa's Yojimbo that helped to establish Clint Eastwood as a major star – For A Few Dollars More (1965) and The Good, The Bad & The Ugly (1966), perhaps his most famous film and again featuring Eastwood as the "Man with No Name".
Leone was ready to give up on westerns after The Good, The Bad & The Ugly but was persuaded by Henry Fonda to give it another go. He employed fellow Italian directors Bernardo Bertolucci and Dario Argento to develop the film's story, and all three reportedly watched a vast number of classic westerns during the development process, using them as both inspiration and a source of tropes to subvert. Leone also collaborated with screenwriter Sergio Donati to hone the script and help create a movie of epic proportions, one that would reflect on the changing times and also the death of the Old West. As a production team, their intent was to both honour the traditional western and create something that deconstructed and reinterpreted the genre, a key factor contributing to the depth and richness of Once Upon A Time In The West, making it the western of all westerns.
Another factor of course in the film's magnificence is the score. Ennio Morricone is arguably the greatest film composer in cinema history and this is arguably his crowning achievement. The score is woven into the fabric of the film, to the extent that it was composed before the film was shot, and Leone often played Morricone's music on set to help set the mood for the scenes. This close integration of music and visuals helps to create an immersive cinematic experience, and it's hard for me to think of a finer piece of cinematic music than the theme for Jill McBain (Claudia Cardinale), with its wordless vocals by Italian singer Edda Dell'Orso. Each of the main characters has their own distinctive theme, used throughout the film to underscore their actions and emotional states, a technique borrowed from opera.
Once Upon A Time In The West grapples with themes of transformation, revenge and the encroachment of civilisation on the wilderness. The film's story revolves around the construction of a railroad, a symbol of the new, industrial age encroaching upon the lawless frontier of the Old West. Each of the main characters embodies different aspects of this theme: Jill personifies the civilising influence of women, Harmonica (Charles Bronson) represents the dying breed of the lone gunslinger, while Frank (Henry Fonda) is a ruthless killer willing to serve the highest bidder. The character of Frank is introduced in a shocking scene where he murders a child, firmly establishing his role as the villain and subverting audience expectations of Fonda, who typically played heroes on screen.
Also of note is Leone's innovative cinematic style, including the use of extreme close-ups juxtaposed with vast landscape shots, a technique that has since become a staple of the western genre. These were paired with meticulous sound design, which focused on natural and environmental sounds, creating a unique sense of immersion. My one small criticism of the film is that some of the sound effects are poorly done, like the scene where Brett McBain punches his son or when Frank hits Harmonica (leading to Bruce Lee martial arts style effects). But this is a small quibble, what's left in the memory are the classic moments such as the opening scene, which is a masterclass in suspense-building and silence, and the final duel between Harmonica and Frank, when the reason for Harmonica's quest for revenge is finally revealed, in a series of flashbacks that add emotional weight to their confrontation.
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