As I'm sure you've figured out , I like Westerns. Although, my dear reader, I don't know if you, knew that my favorite sub genre of the Western genre is the Spaghetti Western, mainly for the unflinching way that this particular sect of movies handles the true violence and degenerate nature of the real west, with that being said, I felt like a bad fan being that I had not seen one of the true classics of not only the sub genre, or even the genre... but instead cinema itself. Of course I'm talking about Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) directed by a true master Sergio Leone.
There is a lot going on in this movie (think Inglorious Basterds in a Stetson). But the movie can be boiled down to three main plots...
1) Frank (Henry Fonda) being hunted by Harmonica (Charles Bronson)
2) Cheyenne (Jason Robards) being accused of the murder of a child
3) Jill McBain (Claudia Cardinale) trying to hold onto her land, despite Frank wanting it.
With this much going on, I'm afraid, that there was a high potential for cinematic fat. True, Leone has The Dollars trilogy to support that his movies have all the fat content of an apple... but this movie is more along the lines of a burger, delicious... but not entirely healthy. I know I don't have a film degree or any credentials as a critic, but I feel like West has several scenes that border on unneeded, such as the opening scene on the homestead which continues for several minutes where the only important thing to happen is a fly buzzing around. There are other scenes later on that Leone allows the camera to linger too long, resulting in a movie that has some love handles, but is by no means obese.
The movie is classic Leone, the Monument valley filming location reflects the barren wastelands that the characters call souls, mixing arid desert with bleak horizons. As stated in my reviews of various other westerns I prefer the real desert feel to the panoramic vistas. As would be expected Morricone's score is gorgeous with the true highlight being "The Man with a Harmonica," mixing the haunting harmonica of... Harmonica with an anachronistic electric guitar to create one of the greatest "character" scores of all time.
In terms of the four Leone movies I've seen, this one certainly has the best acting with Bronson, Fonda, and Cardinale being specifically strong. I've seen Charles Bronson in a few movies, all tough guys, but Harmonica stands above the rest of his roles, mixing the revenge themes of Death Wish with the intensity of his role in The Magnificent Seven. But, I don't mean to discredit Fonda who plays the first villain I've seen him play. He plays the role of Frank with a level of sleaze I didn't expect him to be capable of, but I was wrong.
The movie is definitely a classic, changing the Western genre, but the movie seems to be too epic in scope for one movie... not really an insult, I know, but a critique all the same. Perhaps this movie could have been improved (only slightly though) by predating Kill Bill in dividing the movie into two volumes, but it didn't, and as such I can't bring myself to give it a perfect score. The movie receives my recommendation, yes, but a 10/10... no.
Dr. Brooklyn says: LIKE this movie (9.75/10)
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