Review of Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) by Willard M — 02 Feb 2012

*** This review may contain spoilers ***.

"My weapons might look simple to you, Mr. Morton, but they can still shoot holes big enough for our little problems.".

Leone gets a budget that's proportional to his expertise, and now we want to complain about length. Shoot, the more the merrier, in my case. It could be speculated that Al Mulock would have postponed his unfortunate suicide for a chance to survive the first showdown. But at 164 minutes, this is hardly overkill.

"Get the costume! We need the costume!".

Dario Argento, one of my personal favorites, takes writing credit alongside the usual suspects; Bernardo Bertolucci and Sergio Leone. Call it the good, bad, and ugly of Italian screenwriters. Ennio Morriccone returns for the soundtrack, and once again composes a masterpiece. The cinematographer was the man who masterminded the spinning graveyard scene that enthralled us at the end of "The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly", so expect this one to up the ante. The actors, though, is where the credibility of Leone's previous work is really evident. Henry Fonda plays a villain named Frank, need I say more? Well, yes I need, because that tasty, zesty widow is quite easily one of my top picks for hottest women to lead a role in a film, Claudia Cardinale. So hot, in fact, that I have to admit I didn't know whether to cheer or cry for her during the softcore sex scene. I mean, for real, John Landis of all people has credits in the film. As a stunt double.

Well enough credit-talk, let's get to the plot. If money is indeed the root of all evil, it must have been intentional that for once, after the "Fistful Of Dollars" series, that the green bill doesn't enter much into the scene of the film. These guys are just plain bad. Most of the fighting goes on over an empty, unwanted plot of land. Prospects can be almost as important as respect, the story seems to tell us. No, really. We see money only a handful of times in the duration of the film. It's probably used most effectively here, when it's refused. But as the body count rises, and rises, and rises, it reminds us that where there is a serious power struggle, emotions fly just as often as bullets. Revenge, it must be, yet we don't ever truly know why.

So, if we accept that Frank is indeed one of the toughest sons of a gun in film making history, which he is, then it only leads to reason that lone gunners won't stand a chance. Enter Jason Robarbs, and the resulting factor of breaking typecast will bring a smile to your face. It sure better. Because the heroic Harmonica, played by Charles Bronson, couldn't play a harmonica to save his life. But who is going to deny a protagonist who doesn't stop smiling while being tied to a train and smacked around by an angry, angry man with a gun.

In another turn of events, Leone finally writes a piece where the ending will leave you reeling back when you see who the final profiteer is. Well I suppose that's the way these types of triangles work.

If you don't like westerns in general, don't expect that this will change your mind that much. It probably will, anyway, because the epic proportions of the storyline are undeniable. But as usual in Sergio Leone's films, you might have no idea why there are so many people getting shot until about midway through the film. Remember, this is an intelligent western from an intelligent man. It's his prerogative to create something sort of like a good Italian spaghetti bowl; lots of long strands, that when twisted around each other just right, make for a delicious bite.

"He not only plays. He can shoot too.".

"Once Upon A Time In The West" (1968) 10/10.