Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
Sergio Leone’s Violent, Operatic Fairy Tale
Three men arrive at a desolate railroad station. They lock the gnarled stationmaster in the station and settle down to wait for a train.
At one end of the platform Knuckles (the uncredited Al Mulock) runs his fingers through the water at a trough. Knuckles looks down the track. He sits on the trough then begins to crack his knuckles, one by one.
The second man, Stony (Woody Strode) stands in the shade of a water tank at the opposite end of the platform. He fans his face with his wide-brimmed hat. A drop of water hits him on top of his baldhead. He looks up, stays in place, then puts on his hat.
In the center of the station, the third man, Snaky (Jack Elam), sits with his head back against the station wall. A fly buzzes and lands on his face. He looks down trying to see it on his left cheek. He tries to blow it away. The fly moves onto his chin, then his lips. He keeps trying to blow it away.
Under the water tank, water drips onto Stony’s hat.
Snaky swats the fly away with his hand. It lands on the side of the bench. Snaky slowly pulls out his gun, and swiftly traps the fly in the barrel.
The train approaches the station. Stony slowly takes off his hat, carefully lowers it, and sips the water from the brim. Snaky shakes the fly out of his gun. Knuckles looks round. Stony cocks his gun. The train arrives.
The three men watch. A package is thrown out of a truck. They wait. The train begins to pull out the three men begin to walk away.
A piercing plaintive notes note from a harmonica sounds out. The three men turn round. As the train moves away, across the track, they see a passenger, with bags in both hands.
Harmonica (Charles Bronson) asks for Frank. “Frank sent us,” says Snaky.
“You bring a horse for me?” asks Harmonica.
Stony smiles at Snaky, who laughs as he says “Looks like we’re shy one horse.”
Harmonica shakes his head. “You brought two too many.”
On one side of the track the three gunmen; on the other Harmonica.
Snaky draws. Harmonica fans his gun and Knuckles and Snaky go down. As Stony falls slowly he gets in a shot and Harmonica goes down.
The ten-minute opening sequence of Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in the West is typical of the movie. Small details seen in excruciating detail, accompanied by natural sounds—the creak of a door, the grating sound of chalk on a board, the squeaking of a mill, the drip of water into a hat, the buzz of a fly, the sounds of a train—then suddenly burst of violence and four men are shot.
Immediately after this opening sequence, through which the credits appear, Leone cuts to the McBain farm. Brett McBain (Frank Wolff) and his two sons and daughter are preparing for the arrival of McBain’s new bride, when they are gunned down by a group of men wearing long dusters. One of the men asks Frank, their leader, what to do about the youngest son. Frank’s response is to kill the boy—this coldest of cold-blooded killers is played by the blue-eyed Henry Fonda.
Soon, Jill (Claudia Cardinale), McBain’s bride and, now, widow, arrives. And the plot begins to unfold. It involves a dying railroad tycoon (Gabriele Ferzetti), for whom Frank and his gang work and who is trying to get control of McBain’s land. Then there is Cheyenne (Jason Robards), an outlaw, and the mysterious Harmonica—both of these men, for there own reasons, decide to help Jill when she attempts to keep the McBain land.
An uncut version of Once Upon a Time in the West is now available on DVD. The movie was shot on locations in Spain and in Arizona and Utah, with one beautiful sequence filmed in Monument Valley. The magnificent photography in Techniscope and Technicolor is by Tonnio Delli Colli. The music is by the great Ennio Morricone—unusually, the movie’s main themes were composed and recorded before filming began, so that Leone directed the action with the music already in his mind. The result is a most extraordinary Western—full of languorous detail punctuated by explosions of violence.
Leone said his “films are for grown ups but they remain fairy tales and they have the impact of fairy tales.” Then he added, “The fusion of realistic settings and fantasy story can give a film a sense of myth, of legend”—Once upon a time...in the West.
—John Bloomfield (20 September, 2005)
Three men arrive at a desolate railroad station. They lock the gnarled stationmaster in the station and settle down to wait for a train.
At one end of the platform Knuckles (the uncredited Al Mulock) runs his fingers through the water at a trough. Knuckles looks down the track. He sits on the trough then begins to crack his knuckles, one by one.
The second man, Stony (Woody Strode) stands in the shade of a water tank at the opposite end of the platform. He fans his face with his wide-brimmed hat. A drop of water hits him on top of his baldhead. He looks up, stays in place, then puts on his hat.
In the center of the station, the third man, Snaky (Jack Elam), sits with his head back against the station wall. A fly buzzes and lands on his face. He looks down trying to see it on his left cheek. He tries to blow it away. The fly moves onto his chin, then his lips. He keeps trying to blow it away.
Under the water tank, water drips onto Stony’s hat.
Snaky swats the fly away with his hand. It lands on the side of the bench. Snaky slowly pulls out his gun, and swiftly traps the fly in the barrel.
The train approaches the station. Stony slowly takes off his hat, carefully lowers it, and sips the water from the brim. Snaky shakes the fly out of his gun. Knuckles looks round. Stony cocks his gun. The train arrives.
The three men watch. A package is thrown out of a truck. They wait. The train begins to pull out the three men begin to walk away.
A piercing plaintive notes note from a harmonica sounds out. The three men turn round. As the train moves away, across the track, they see a passenger, with bags in both hands.
Harmonica (Charles Bronson) asks for Frank. “Frank sent us,” says Snaky.
“You bring a horse for me?” asks Harmonica.
Stony smiles at Snaky, who laughs as he says “Looks like we’re shy one horse.”
Harmonica shakes his head. “You brought two too many.”
On one side of the track the three gunmen; on the other Harmonica.
Snaky draws. Harmonica fans his gun and Knuckles and Snaky go down. As Stony falls slowly he gets in a shot and Harmonica goes down.
The ten-minute opening sequence of Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in the West is typical of the movie. Small details seen in excruciating detail, accompanied by natural sounds—the creak of a door, the grating sound of chalk on a board, the squeaking of a mill, the drip of water into a hat, the buzz of a fly, the sounds of a train—then suddenly burst of violence and four men are shot.
Immediately after this opening sequence, through which the credits appear, Leone cuts to the McBain farm. Brett McBain (Frank Wolff) and his two sons and daughter are preparing for the arrival of McBain’s new bride, when they are gunned down by a group of men wearing long dusters. One of the men asks Frank, their leader, what to do about the youngest son. Frank’s response is to kill the boy—this coldest of cold-blooded killers is played by the blue-eyed Henry Fonda.
Soon, Jill (Claudia Cardinale), McBain’s bride and, now, widow, arrives. And the plot begins to unfold. It involves a dying railroad tycoon (Gabriele Ferzetti), for whom Frank and his gang work and who is trying to get control of McBain’s land. Then there is Cheyenne (Jason Robards), an outlaw, and the mysterious Harmonica—both of these men, for there own reasons, decide to help Jill when she attempts to keep the McBain land.
An uncut version of Once Upon a Time in the West is now available on DVD. The movie was shot on locations in Spain and in Arizona and Utah, with one beautiful sequence filmed in Monument Valley. The magnificent photography in Techniscope and Technicolor is by Tonnio Delli Colli. The music is by the great Ennio Morricone—unusually, the movie’s main themes were composed and recorded before filming began, so that Leone directed the action with the music already in his mind. The result is a most extraordinary Western—full of languorous detail punctuated by explosions of violence.
Leone said his “films are for grown ups but they remain fairy tales and they have the impact of fairy tales.” Then he added, “The fusion of realistic settings and fantasy story can give a film a sense of myth, of legend”—Once upon a time...in the West.
—John Bloomfield (20 September, 2005)
posted by John Bloomfield at 2:01 PM
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