Tuesday, June 09, 2009

The Great Silence

Continuing with my Spaghetti Western binge, I moved on to THE GREAT SILENCE, which, along with DJANGO, is probably Sergio Corbucci’s best-known film. The title has multiple meanings, starting with the fact that the hero, a gunfighter played by Jean-Louis Trintignant, is mute and is known only as Silence. He rides into a snowbound corner of Utah Territory where a community of outlaws is hiding out from a group of ruthless bounty hunters. Klaus Kinski, who could give Christopher Walken a run for his money in the Creepiest Actor Ever to Step in Front of a Camera race, plays the leader of the bounty hunters, who is known only as Loco, another instance of Corbucci giving a character a name that sums him up. Only I’m not sure Loco is really crazy. As Kinski plays him, he’s more like pure evil.

Silence is drawn into the clash between the outlaws and the bounty hunters when the widow of a man killed by Loco asks him to help her get revenge. The widow is played by American actress Vonetta McGee in her film debut. Another American in the cast is Frank Wolff, who made a lot of Spaghetti Westerns. (He was Brett McBain in ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST.) Wolff, looking a lot like Richard Boone in this one, plays an honest lawman who is also caught between the sympathetic outlaws (are they supposed to be Mormons? I don’t think it’s ever made clear) and Loco’s band of bounty killers.

As is fairly common in these films, there are some flashbacks that reveal how Silence became mute, but most of the story is a leisurely build-up to the final showdown between Silence and Loco. The acting is excellent all around. Kinski’s performance is actually a little understated. There’s not a lot of raving and scenery-chewing. Most of his evil comes through in his expressions. Trintignant is also fine as Silence, a part that has no dialogue whatsoever. And I really liked Wolff in this one. As in the other Corbucci films I’ve seen, the photography is great, and the snowbound landscapes are stunning. The Ennio Morricone score is okay, but not up to the level of his work for Sergio Leone.

All of which brings us to the famous – or infamous – ending of THE GREAT SILENCE. Well, it’s bleak, all right. But I’m going to part company here with what seems to be the consensus of opinions about this movie. While the ending is effective in that it’s a sucker punch the viewer doesn’t see coming, I also thought it felt forced. I felt like the so-called “happy ending” (which is also included on the DVD) was actually set up better by the earlier events in the film and made more sense. In order for the bleak ending to work, one plotline has to be left completely unresolved, and several characters have to act in ways opposite to how their characters have been established earlier in the film. I can’t get into specifics without spoiling the ending for those who haven’t seen the film, so I’ll just say that I understand why it’s famous, and I didn’t like it.

I liked the film overall, though. I’ve seen enough Corbucci movies now that some of his themes are becoming apparent, and they’ve all been interesting enough that I want to see more. Probably not right away, though. If you’re a fan of Spaghetti Westerns and haven’t seen THE GREAT SILENCE, you really owe it to yourself to do so.



16 comments:

Ed Gorman said...

Flat-out my favorite spaghetti western. A brave break of form. I'll split the difference with you on the ending, James. I think it's more a coda than an ending as such. The technical problem for the writer was that there was no way to effectively foreshadow it without spoiling his ending. It works well for me but I understand why you feel it's tacked-on.

pattinase (abbott) said...

Okay, if you were going to watch just one of these films, which one would it be. My netflix list has fallen under 150 so I am looking for titles.

James Reasoner said...

Patti,

If you're talking about Spaghetti Westerns in general, I'd go with ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST. Of the ones I've written about recently, I'd go with THE GREAT SILENCE. Whether I like the ending or not, it's a really interesting, well-made film.

Randy Johnson said...

Yes, definitely an odd ending. I'm yet torn about how I feel. The movie was indeed well made and the ending did what it was supposed to: surprise everyone.

Charles Gramlich said...

I have to say the trailer does not inspire a lot of confidence.

James Reasoner said...

No, the trailer's not very good and not really representative of the movie. But I just figured out how to embed videos in my blog posts, so it's practice on my part, too. (I'm always behind the curve on these things.)

pattinase (abbott) said...

I'd been thinking about that one (OUTW) because I saw the last scene on you tube recently. That's the one I'll try. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

You'll be pleased with Once Upon a Time in the West.
It's Epic, beautiful, passionate, and has one of the finest scores ever to grace a film.

John Hocking

James Reasoner said...

What John said about ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST. Be patient with the opening, though, as it's not like what you'll see in any other Western. There's a great payoff to it, though, the first of many in the film.

Juri said...

The Great Silence was in Finnish TV not long time ago, and it was late, so I couldn't stay up and watch it. I was also really discouraged to see that the film had been dubbed in Italian, which looked really stupid and made the film feel like they were somewhere in Northern Italy, like soldiers for Garibaldi or something.

If I had to choose a Spaghetti Western, it would have to be The Good, the Bad & the Ugly. Once Upon a Time in the West is just too grandiose for its content.

James: I can't remember whether you watched any films by Sergio Sollima. I see he's very much liked by the aficionados of the genre.

James Reasoner said...

Juri,

I haven't gotten to Sollima's films yet, but I will eventually. I like THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY a lot, too. That's one I need to watch again sometime soon.

Fred Blosser said...

Sadly, of Sollima's three Spaghettis, the one that's easiest to find on DVD (Netflix, Amazon) is the weakest -- RUN MAN RUN. THE BIG GUNDOWN and FACE TO FACE have had good, widescreen DVD releases in Germany, Italy, and Japan, but the formats aren't compatible with U.S.-only DVD players. However, a pan-and-scan version of THE BIG GUNDOWN sometimes runs on Encore Western, and with a little Googling, one can find an "unofficial" widescreen, U.S.-format DVD fan edition that was produced a few years ago by "Franco Cleef."

James Reasoner said...

Fred,

I have RUN MAN RUN on my Netflix list. Thanks for the tip on the unofficial version of THE BIG GUNDOWN. I'll check it out.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, if there was one spaghetti western that you had to point to as an equal to the Leone films, The Big Gundown would be it.
Franco Cleef's laborious re-construction of the film is something along the lines of a distinguished public service.

John Hocking

Juri said...

A friend of mine who takes these things very seriously has said very good things about Sollima's thriller Revolver from 1973.

Bruce said...

Juri - Revolver is really good plus it has Oliver Reed.

Patti - OUATIW you will never see Henry Fonda the same way again. Just a brutal bad guy in that film.