The greatest Western ever made????????? (Once Upon a Time in the West (DVD))

Member Name: richkw

Product:	Once Upon a Time in the West (DVD)
Date:	12/07/05 (232 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Too many to list.

Disadvantages: Some scenes over long.

SORRY! THIS IS A DVD REVIEW NOT VHS> MY MISTAKE!

***BACKGROUND***

When Sergio Leone launched his now famous ‘Dollars’ trilogy in 1964 with ‘A Fist Full of Dollars’ he started a cult which spawned over 200 of the so called Spaghetti Westerns. However, Leone remained the man and, in most critics eyes, remained the master of the genre. The first ‘Dollars’ film was quickly followed by ‘For a Few Dollars More’ in 1965 and ‘The Good, The Bad and The Ugly’ in 1966, effectively launching the career of Clint Eastwood who starred in all three.

After the success of ‘The Good, The Bad and The Ugly’ and Eastwood’s decision to begin directing his own films, Leone moved away from the Old West and ventured into other areas such as the gang wars of the 1920s with ‘Once Upon a Time in America’. But the film world and the cinema goers wanted more Westerns from Leone and, in 1967, he reluctantly agreed to produce just one more. Leone turned to Sergio Donati for the screenplay, who had, uncredited, rewritten much of ‘The Good, The Bad and The Ugly’. The result was ‘Once Upon a Time in the West’.

Leone had wanted Henry Fonda for the roll of Colonel Mortimer in ‘For a Few Dollars More’, but Fonda’s agent turned the script down without passing it to the actor. This time round Fonda did get to read the script but declined it immediately. However, after the script had been re-translated from the original, an enthusiastic reaction from Eli Wallach and marathon screen of Leone’s previous Westerns, Fonda was finally won over and agreed to play the part of Frank. Leone obviously did a fine job of persuasion as it was the first time in Fonda’s career that he had been cast as a truly evil character and one of the few times in the latter part of his life when he agreed to accept second billing after Claudia Cardinale (Jill McBain). The other main characters were played by stage actor Jason Robards (Cheyenne) and Charles Bronson (Harmonica). Other lesser names to be cast included Gabrielle Ferzetti (Morton), Woody Strode, Jack Elam, Al Mulock and Lionel Stander.

Most of the indoor scenes were filmed in Rome’s Cinecitta Studio. For the bulk of the location shooting, Leone returned to his beloved Spain and more specifically Tabernas near Almeria and Estacion La Calahorra further near Guadix. Parts of the original film set can still be seen at both locations. See my previous review ‘Guide to Almeria’ dated 27/6/2005. As a nod of appreciation to previous Western greats, Leone also uses Monument Valley in Utah for some amazing panoramic scenes.

As with the ‘Dollars’ trilogy, the soundtrack was composed by Ennio Morricone and fits the film perfectly. Morricone’s score manages not only to compliment the epic nature of the film, but to actually enhance it.


***THE FILM***

At 159 minutes, be prepared for the long haul.

The film is set in the railroad building days of the late 1800s. The plot revolves around Harmonica’s (Bronson) search for Frank (Fonda), the killer of his brother, many years before, and is a relatively simple one. Starting with the arrival by train of Harmonica, who immediately despatches 3 of Frank’s hired killers. In the meantime, Frank is busy ‘removing small obstacles’ from the path of the rapidly expanding railroad. Basically this involves killing anything in its path including a highly emotive scene of Frank shooting dead a 9 year old boy who has just witnessed his own family, the McBains being slaughtered. When McBains beautiful widow, Jill (Claudia Cardinale), appears on the scene to claim her inheritance and to find the murderers she finds herself in the middle of a silent war between Frank, the killer, Cheyenne (Robards), who Frank has framed for the murders, and Harmonica who is bent on killing Frank. All the various set pieces are quite brilliantly linked together and climax with the inevitable showdown between Harmonica and Frank.

To go into further depth would spoil the film for many viewers. Suffice to say that Leone’s mastery of the Old West and his brilliance as a director have produced a superb film of epic proportions. Students of camerawork will appreciate the skill with which so many shots have been filmed. Chief amongst these is the famous camera panning shot as Jill arrives by train at the fledgling town of Flagstone – truly a remarkable feat of camerawork. Other memorable shots include Leone’s obsession with his characters eyes, particularly those of Fonda and Bronson during the final showdown.


***THE DVD***

The ‘Once Upon a Time in the West’ Special Collector’s Edition comprises 2 DVDs and a short leaflet on the history of the film. The first DVD contains the film which is a digitally remastered widescreen version enhanced for 16:9 screens. It also contains a Commentary Track with various pertinent interviews. Disk 2 contains various documentaries, interviews, cast profiles and the original trailer.

***FINAL OPINION***

Personally, I believe this film to be the finest Western ever made and only a director of Sergio Leone’s calibre could have achieved such a masterpiece. I’ve watched this film at least a dozen times and it hasn’t started to become tedious yet. However, bear in mind I am a Western film nut!

Summary: A film of epic proportions.