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1968
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ONCE
UPON A TIME IN THE WEST
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STARRING:CLAUDIA
CARDINALE,CHARLES BRONSON,HENRY FONDA,JASON ROBARDS,GABRIELE FERZETTI,PAOLO
STOPPA,WOODY STRODE,JACK ELAM,KEENAN WYNN,FRANK WOLFF
STORY
BY DARIO ARGENTO,BERNARDO BERTOLUCCI & SERGIO LEONE
SCREENPLAY
BY SERGIO LEONE & SERGIO DONATI
PRODUCED
BY FULVIO MORSELLA
DIRECTED
BY SERGIO LEONE
GENRE:ACTION/DRAMA/WESTERN
RATED:AUSTRALIA:M/UK:15/USA:PG-13
RUNNING
TIME:165 MIN
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Jill
McBain (Claudia Cardinale) is a prostitute from New Orleans who travels
to the remote desert town of Sweetwater to join her new husband and
family. Upon her arrival she finds her family has been massacred by
a sadistic outlaw named Frank (Henry Fonda) and his gang who all work
for Morton (Gabriele Ferzetti), a railroad tycoon who will stop at
nothing and no one to build his dream of a railroad that reaches the
Pacific Ocean. Unknowing to Jill, she is now the owner of a cheap
yet well situated piece of land which could generate hundreds of thousands
of dollars in revenue which makes her a marked woman in the eyes of
Frank and Morton. Yet to her surprise she has allies; Cheyene (Jason
Robards) a notorious bandit who has been framed for the McBain murder
and a mysterious harmonica playing gunslinger (Charles Bronson) out
for revenge against Frank.
A sweet tale of revenge, Once Upon a Time in the West keeps
you on your toes, moving at a steady pace never showing its hand.
After the groundbreaking success of the "Dollars Trilogy"
starring Clint Eastwood, director Sergio Leone has created another
landmark operatic western. Leone uses many of his signature extreme
close-up shots, long periods of silence and short, frank bursts of
violence to establish a great sense of mood. The movie may be low
on dialogue but is high on imagery. Leone collaborates once again
with The Good, the Bad and The Ugly cinematographer
Tonini Delli Colli taking advantage of the big country locations of
Ameria, Andalucia, Spain and Arizona, USA. The impressive set design
by Rafael Ferri and colourful costumes by Antonella Pompei and Carlo
Simi (love the trench coat wearing gun slingers) successfully bring
the wild west to life.
Long time Leone collaborator, the legendary composer Ennio Morricone
once again creates another memorable score which (although a bit chirpy
in the wrong places) is very effective. The sound effects are way
too loud but work in the context of the spaghetti western.
All four leads give good performances. Italian bombshell Claudia Cardinale
is simply magnetic on the screen, the voluptuous beauty a welcome
distraction to the gritty environment produced on screen. In a surprising
casting choice, Henry Fonda is excellent as the cold blooded assassin.
It is fun watching an actor who has made a career out of playing wholesome,
honourable men playing the bad guy especially one such as this. Jason
Robards gives a wonderfully understated performance as the grizzly
bandit Cheyene, and future suburban vigilante Charles Bronson is also
very good as a mild tempered angel of death. |
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