inri222

I saw this film last night for the first time and thought it was really good. It took the western and completely flipped it on it's head. The film is very political in the way it defends the outcast and criticizes those in power. It makes the west not a place of heroics but instead very grim, bleak and filled with savagery that is perpetrated by whites and not Indians. That is just one of the many touches by Corbucci that at the time made this film different. The film takes place in the snow instead of the hot plains, the lead female is black, there is an interracial affair, the main character uses a Mauser instead of a revolver and the ending is one hell of a downer. Technique wise the overall film has some sloppiness in the way it was made but overall I found it to be one of the top 10 westerns I have seen.
Anyone else a fan of this film?

Ky-Fi

I'm a big spaghetti western fan, and I like a number of Corbucci's films, but The Great Silence was just a little TOO grim and depressing for me. I agree with your points that he was pushing a lot of boundaries in this film, though.

If you're into the genre enough to get this book:

http://www.amazon.com/Any-Gun-Can-Pl...y+gun+can+play

..it's well worth it, and they talk quite a bit about the political context and themes in this movie.

islandclaws

Dat Morricone score.

inri222

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/TiquNvyFe4U" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Mondo Kane

Just imagine if the alternate ending was used!

inri222

rocket1312

I borrowed this from Netflix almost a decade ago and the dubbing just drove me crazy. I can't recall what it was about it, but the bottom line is that I only made through about 15 minutes before sending it back. I think my intention was to find a dvd that had the original Italian track, but I never did. I really need to revisit.

inri222

Don't know if the Italian track would be any better. The cast is made up of French, Italian, German, Spanish and American actors. In the movie they are speaking English but the English audio is post-synched by different actors. If viewed in Italian, the movements of their mouths as compared to the aodio would be more noticable. The Italian audio track is only available on the import DVD.

rocket1312

Oh don't get me wrong, I'm very familiar with how these things are produced. My problems with the English dub had nothing to do with the sync. It's been a long time, but I think it was the voices themselves that bothered me. For example, I can't watch the original Django with the English dub. I just don't like the voices on the track, so I always watch it with the Italian dub. On the other hand, I could never watch the dollars trilogy in anything other than English. Like I said, I need to give it another chance.

inri222

Yeah, I hear you. That happens to me with some Argento films but I got used to it.

Ky-Fi

Yeah, Nero's dubbed English voice in Django (and Texas, Adios) is kind of annoying, especially since I thought his real voice worked fine in Keoma.

SethDLH

This is in my top 3 spaghetti westerns of all time. Which automatically puts it in my top 3 westerns of all time haha

Mondo Kane

As for the dubbing issues, I'm assuming the native Italian movie-goers got much more used to looking at dubbed mouths a lot more quickly than us Westerners. From playful stuff (Steve Reeves as Hercules) to acclaimed stuff (Anthony Quinn in La Strada), the box-office returns indicate that they could handle watching lead characters dubbed in Italian. Now as for the english dubs, well, I still perfer the spaghetti western-voices compared to Kung Fu voices (Even contemporary kung fu dubs are laughable)

(Back to il grande silenzio)
Even though spaghettis aren't known a lot for their realism, this film gets points for the sequence when the sherrif's rifle freezes in the cold. My dad said that this actually happened to a buddy of his when they went elk hunting.

inri222

http://www.fistfulofpasta.com/index....reatsilencelen

The Great Silence (1968)
***WARNING: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS***

THE GREAT SILENCE is Sergio Corbucci's magnum opus and is generally regarded as the best 'non-Sergio Leone' Spaghetti Western ever made. In fact, many armchair critics believe that this film is on par with ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST and the 'DOLLARS TRILOGY'. Today, it is such a revered and celebrated film that it is difficult to imagine that it did rather modestly at the Italian box office upon its initial release. Notwithstanding, it did do better in France and Germany, the respective home countries of the film's two leading stars, Jean-Louis Trintignant and Klaus Kinski. For those in DVD region 1, this film is available on DVD under the Fantoma label, complete with special features and an alternate ending.

THE PLOT
In late 1890's Utah during the Great Blizzard, a gunman named "Silence" is hired by a vengeful widower to kill the bounty hunters who killed her husband. Silence also helps out the starving outlaws (exiled Mormons perhaps?) who live up in the mountains and have to steal in order to survive. The new but competent Sheriff is unaccustomed to the territory's harsh winter, and quickly finds out that things work a little differently in the town of Snow Hill. The bounty hunters derive plenty of pleasure from their good paying jobs as "legalized killers". The outlaws just want amnesty and a decent meal. The most cordial and civilized citizens are the saloon girls. One especially ruthless bounty hunter in particular, Loco, is seemingly immune to any legal consequences due to his association with the town's corrupt magistrate.

The plot flows nicely and lacks the sometimes overly episodic nature that is typical of the Spaghetti Western genre. Right away, you can feel that the always politically adamant Corbucci is trying to parlay a message to the audience, that is, the law givers and law upholders can often be more morally destitute than those who break the law. Corbucci was always fond of making social statements and shaping political allegory in his movies, and THE GREAT SILENCE is a leading example of that.

THE PLAYERS
The film boasts an all-star international cast. In his lone western role, French art house icon Trintignant is terrific as Silence, the mute gunfighter with a tragic past and even more tragic future. Having no spoken lines in the film, Trintignant is forced to use facial expressions to "communicate", and performs admirably. German icon Klaus Kinski co-stars as Loco, the bounty hunting antagonist in what is probably his most notable leading role outside of his collaborations with Werner Herzog. American Frank Wolff, best known as Claudia Cardinale's ill-fated husband in ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST, is also good as the by-the-book Sheriff who seems to have taken an amusing liking to the middle-aged saloon hostess. Spaghetti Western regulars Luigi Pistilli and Mario Brega make an appearance, as well as blaxploitation diva Vonetta McGee, as the widow and eventual love interest of Silence. Trintignant, Kinski, McGee, and Wolff share excellent chemistry, and the interactions between the four characters are eloquent enough. The relationship between Kinski and Trintignant is initially one of detached rivalry, only to balloon into full-blown bloodshed. Trintignant and McGee both come together through shared pain and loneliness. Wolff and Kinski barely tolerate each other, and only their respective professionalism keeps them from displaying openly their mutual contempt, until Kinski's deviousness finally get the better of the relationship.

THE MOVIE
There are several reasons why this film is held in such high regard. One of them is ORIGINALITY. The Spaghetti Western genre is filled with films that are derivative to say the least, often virtual clones of other films. Originality is an attribute seldom seen in this genre. By contrast, THE GREAT SILENCE is bursting at the seams with things that are so different from what you have seen in other westerns before or since: The snowy landscape rather than the smoldering heat of the southwest; the use of the Mauser Broomhandle as the weapon of choice rather than the familiar Colt Peacemaker; the shockingly negative ending in which the bad guys actually come out on top(!); the casting of an African American as the leading lady, the leading protagonist who is mute, and Silence's unique way of provoking adversaries into drawing first, and shooting off their thumbs. Perhaps the most interesting example of originality is the interesting reversal of roles, where the bounty hunters are the bad guys and the outlaws are the good guys. Corbucci takes the usual Spaghetti Western conventions and turns them on their head.

Ennio Morricone's haunting score is simply spellbinding, and only adds to the already dark, lonely, and desolate atmosphere of the film. The main theme is very reminiscent of Paul Mauriat's "Love is Blue". The scenery of the snowy landscape is impressive. You also have to admire the resourcefulness of the filmmakers. Apparently, in the scenes that were shot in locations where there was no snow, they used lots of shaving cream, and shot the scenes at night to conceal the absence of real snow. The well done action scenes omit the ridiculousness that you often see in typical films of the genre (except for the alternative ending of course). Does the film have any weaknesses? Well, for those viewers such as I who prefer more upbeat and lighthearted Spaghettis Westerns, you might find this one to be a bit on the depressing side. It's not exactly the best choice of movie to watch if you happen to be having a bad day, and the ending is bound to worsen your mood even more. The dialogue is comic-bookish at times. McGee's famous line: "Because wherever he goes, the silence of death follows." Do people actually talk like that in real life?

CONCLUSION
Even with such classic films like DJANGO and COMPANEROS under his belt, THE GREAT SILENCE, more so than any of his other films, was responsible for Sergio Corbucci's lofty status as the second most illustrious Spaghetti Western director of all time. The reader may find it surprising that the author of this review actually not that big of a fan of this film. I prefer "happier" movies. Nevertheless, I do acknowledge that this film is indeed a masterpiece. Great performances and casting, nicely executed action sequences, a dark, haunting, eerie atmosphere, and refreshing originality all combine to make this film mandatory viewing for anyone and everyone who dares to call himself a Spaghetti Western fan.

Ash Ketchum

I just purchased a previously unseen Sergio Corbucci film from Warner Archive: THE SLAVE (1962), starring Steve Reeves as the son of Spartacus. I'm planning to watch it for the B Movie Challenge now underway over on DVD Talk.

Not a big fan of THE GREAT SILENCE. I prefer my Spaghetti westerns covered in dust, not snow.

inri222

Turning the Western on its head: Simple subversion in Sergio Corbucci’s The Great Silence (1968)

http://offscreen.com/view/great_silence

inri222

Film Movement will be releasing a newly remastered 50th anniversary BluRay edition of Sergio Corbucci’s spaghetti western classic THE GREAT SILENCE

The Great Silence at The Film Forum in NYC - Friday : March 30 - Thursday, April 5