The names Sergio Leone and Spaghetti Westerns have become practically one and the same. Most filmmakers who end up making period piece films credit Mr. Leone for their inspiration. The films he worked on were that influential. Despite him having only eight head director credits, Leone had written scripts and operated as assistant director to many other pictures. The three films that would make him a household name were A Fistful of Dollars (1964), For a Few Dollars More (1965) and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966). The last official western though Leone would end with, was this movie even though he tried getting Clint Eastwood to appear in it somewhere, one last time. Instead, he got a different lead star but it propelled them to stardom all the same.
Jill McBain, an heiress to a man’s fortune (Claudia Cardinale) discovers she’s a widow when her family is gunned down by Frank (Henry Fonda) a deadly mercenary. Hoping to keep himself away from the law, Frank frames Cheyenne the bandit (Jason Robards). At the same time, searching for Frank is an unnamed gunman who plays the harmonica (Charles Bronson) who has his own mysterious intentions. The script was written by frequent partner Sergio Donati and Sergio Leone himself. Rarely are there times where a screenplay ties up all loose ends for characters with little to no question. It’s not easy to do and sometimes things are left ambiguous. But for this feature the Sergio duo made sure to the audience saw each character cross paths in a way that felt natural as well as explaining the backstory. This can be difficult seeing that Leone also directed this feature as mentioned before.
What’s nice to see though are characters who are fleshed out and have charisma to them. The acting is performed very well and immerses the audience in the setting. The dialog feels appropriate and uses only words that felt like they came from that time period. Even for a rated PG-13 film, the curses are not what one would typically hear…if any for that matter. Being that the story revolves around Jill McBain, Claudia Cardinale portrays her character with strength that perhaps was not seen very often. Especially for the time period of the film, but also the story. It’s also a much more serious character opposed to her role as the princess in The Pink Panther (1963). Playing another serious character is Henry Fonda as Frank. Seen mostly as good guy characters, it was quite a shock to discover Fonda playing the antagonist, and a pretty heartless one at that.
Jason Robards as Cheyenne the bandit is a peculiar character as he gets caught in the mess, but doesn’t play to either side. If anything, he’s kind of there for comic relief but not all the way. It’s strange though because there is one thing about his character that comes about which doesn’t add up and can’t be explained in this review. There’s railroad baron by the name of Mr. Morton (Gabriele Ferzetti) who also gets tangled up in these various characters. He too plays to neither side really and comes across as a slightly sympathetic character. Lastly though is the harmonica player played by Charles Bronson. While Bronson had been in films before, this was one of his later pictures that brought him to the forefront of tough men. Bronson’s performance is stoic yet charming simultaneously. That’s scarce in most of those roles. The only thing that works against this movie at times is its pacing.
The film lavishes taking in the scenery and set designs which are well crafted. To some, it feels like a drawn out setup. The intro credits alone take ten minutes to get through. It may just seem excessive. That’s not a discredit to Tonino Delli Colli as the cinematographer. Having worked on many projects, Delli Colli captures lots of details and makes them jaw dropping. His last picture famously was Life Is Beautiful (1997). Finally, the film score composed by another frequent Leone extension Ennio Morricone is nothing to scoff at either. Morricone created themes for many characters, more specifically Jill and Bronson’s role. There’s even guitar that kicks in elevating the tension to unheard of heights considering the time period this movie was made. Way before 1980s rock. Well done.
If extended long shots and meticulous world building is something seen as boring, best to stay away. But that’s the only real thing seen as an issue. The music is flawless for the time, the cinematography is magnificent including the set design and the actors are great in their roles.
Points Earned --> 8:10
No comments:
Post a Comment