Retro Film Review: Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)

The author of this review remembers many instances when he had awaited films with great expectations, but few match the circumstances leading to the first viewing of Once Upon a Time in the West, 1968 spaghetti western directed by Sergio Leone. It could be said that I've been conditioned for this film since I was born. Numerous television shows in former Yugoslavia were using Morricone's score, and later, when I began reading film reviews, I couldn't avoid noticing all the critics and film scholars lauding Leone's film as one of the undisputed masterpiece of film making. However, opportunities to watch this film were scarce. There weren't any videos and man had to rely on cinema theatres and two channels of state television. The big day came after I had first encountered the wonderful world of satellite television. One of the local technical enthusiasts had founded television station and began to carry foreign satellite programs, including one that aired movies 24 hours a day. Those were indeed good days for young filmophile, but few were so eagerly anticipated as the day when the film channel had to air Once Upon a Time in the West. Unfortunately, this was also the day when the local television station for some strange reason decided to carry another film channel, thus depriving me of opportunity to watch Leone's film. I had to wait a year before the opportunity finally arrived and allowed me to watch the film on the Italian commercial channel, mutilated by commercials and with atrocious picture quality. I had to wait an extra year before being able to watch this film on video in all of its well deserved glory. Yet, after so much waiting and so much anticipation, Once Upon a Time in the West was something of a disappointment to me.

The plot of the film is set in American Southwest during the last decades of 19th Century, in a time when that barren and untamed land began to change due to the arrival of European immigrants and their civilisation. One of those immigrants is Brett McBain (played by Frank Wolff), stubborn Irishman who had built farmhouse in the middle of worthless desert and who awaits the arrival of a new wife. When McBain's wife Jill (played by Claudia Cardinale) arrives to the farm she sees funeral instead of welcoming party – McBain and his children were massacred by gang of killers led by vicious gunslinger Frank (played by Henry Fonda) and hired by ruthless railroad tycoon Morton (played by Gabrielle Ferzetti). Against advice and better judgment, young widow decides to stay on the farm, assuming that the place must have something valuable in it. Because of it she is to become next target of Frank's assassins, but two men come to her rescue, each for different motives. Cheyenne (played by Jason Robards) is a local outlaw whose gang was falsely accused of massacre, while mysterious and deadly gunslinger Harmonica (played by Charles Bronson) has some personal scores to settle with Frank.

Once Upon a Time in the West is often referenced as the last of Leone's "spaghetti" westerns (although Leone made western- like Duck, You Sucker three years later) while some reserve this seemingly derogatory term for his three previous films, better known as Man With No Name or Dollars trilogy. This could be explained with some major differences between this and the Trilogy. Those differences are something more than mere absence of legendary Clint Eastwood's character. Sergio Leone in his script again paints revisionist and utterly unflattering picture of Old American West – the conquest was fueled by greed rather noble ideals, and the untamed spaces usually brought the worst in man rather than noble and heroic. Yet, this script is co-authored by Dario Argento and Bernardo Bertollucci - two men who would later become Italian cinema giants of their own - and it puts this revisionist picture in the broader socio economic context, allowing Leone to make his observations from even more explicitly Marxist point of view. The tone of the film is more somber, darker and sometimes even depressing and that explains why this film is less popular than its more entertaining predecessors.

In previous three films Leone showed Old West and violent and depraved, but the victims of violence and depravity – bandits, gunslingers and bounty hunters - were only a shade less or more violent and depraved than the perpetrators. Here the list of victims includes other representatives of society, including the whole social groups - Indians whose land was stolen by the white men and blacks who are forced to re-live their slave experience by working at the railroad for low wages. Finally, innocent children are also the victims and this is the reason why this film is so serious and dark that the dark humour and irony never reach Tarantinoesque levels of the previous films. Leone's revisionism of the Old West is also symbolised in the railroad - while the old Westerns celebrate this new invention as the symbol of civilisation and progress, in Leone's eyes the railroad is the product of capitalist greed. Leone took great interest in American history and his knowledge of the subject shows very well in Once Upon a Time in the West. Capitalism found its purest (and most virulent) form in late 19th Century USA, embodied in notorious "robber barons" very much like the one depicted in the film. In the same time, for less fortunate Americans, arrival of railroads, telegraphs and other symbols of civilisation meant the end of an illusion – with "iron snakes" connecting Pacific and Atlantic new lands with greener pastures far west ceased to exist and their inhabitants had to reconcile with poverty and class oppression. Through the medium of a classic western plot Once Upon a Time in the West paints this complete and very depressing picture of the dying days of Old West.

Leone's revisionist views of Old West reflect itself in the form as well as the content. The best example is the beginning, which confronts the myth and reality. First time we see guns in action, the scene resemble classic westerns, with a hero in white hat killing three villains in a ritualistic, near chivalrous gunfight (inspired by the similar scene in High Noon) that seems to follow old Hollywood gunslinger's code of honour. In the very next scene there isn't any honour - entire family is massacred by cowardly assassins who hide in the bush. After this shock the tone of the film is completely different. Even when Leone follows old Hollywood conventions, audience watches those scenes from warped perspective.

Leone deconstructs the Old West also through the characterisation. While there are obvious heroes and villains in this film, all of them are painted through the different shades of grey and all of their actions could be explained through rather selfish motives. Frank kills for money, Harmonica protects the young widow because of a strictly personal vendetta, Cheyenne joins his cause in order to clear his name, while Jill wants the life of wealth and luxury, either through marriage or through inheriting deceased husband's property. Leone's characterisation is greatly enhanced by truly superb acting. There are many character actors - both American and Italian - who shine in their roles, but few films had such a great ensemble. Charles Bronson arguably plays the role of his life as an avenging angel with mysterious agenda, while Jason Robards makes memorable performance as a dangerous, deadly but very human rogue who sees good sides in things normal law-abiding people usually wouldn't do. Henry Fonda is also great in the role of a nasty villain and this role is even more complex than it looks at first sight - Frank, despite his vicious cunningness, is unable to adapt to the rules of a new, civilised world and throughout whole film we see how Fonda and Leone gradually reveal this fatal weakness. Fonda is so good in this role that even the newer audiences - those who weren't accustomed to heroic Fonda characters from the days of Old Hollywood – could appreciate this performance without being shocked by having their favourite film do-gooder as the incarnation of almost archetypal evil.

The best part for the film was reserved for Claudia Cardinale, Italian actress who was given something very rare in Leone's opus - well-rounded and strong female role. Cardinale is not only stunningly beautiful in this film (and her beauty stands in the sharp contrast with the ugliness of other characters and desert surroundings) but also displays great acting talent making her character the most memorable of them all. Jill's character is full of contradictions, but those contradictions are quite plausible in the context of the story. She looks like an ideal woman for any man, yet it is quite natural for her to betray men. She is, as a woman, the weakest character of them all, yet she is the strongest, because she knows how to turn that weakness into strength. She is as morally ambivalent as the rest of the characters, yet she is superior to them all, because she is more capable for sacrifices and compromises and thus better adapted for the new world symbolised in railroad. The ending closes the full circle and allows Leone to again pitch Western myth and reality against each other. While Jill starts new life revolved around railroad, two of protagonists are reduced to archetypes that clash in another ritualistic, yet utterly pointless gun duel.

In Once Upon a Time in the West, same as in his previous films, Leone again displays superb directorial skills. Each of the scenes is elaborately staged, extreme close-ups are excellent substitute for dialogue and Ennio Morricone again shows enormous talents as a film music composer. His score for Once Upon a Time in the West is among his best, with three major characters having their very recognisable themes. Yet, all of Leone's and Morricone's mastery can't hide the fact that this film is not an undisputed masterpiece. There are some flaws in this film. First of them could be easily spotted by younger viewers, those accustomed to MTV style of filmmaking. The opening scene lasts for some 14 minutes and in it almost nothing happens (except one of the longest credit sequences in the history of film). For Leone this looked like a good idea to build suspense, but the author of this review believes that Leone went too far. Younger viewers would be seriously tempted to walk out of theatres or stop watching on TV (or simply use fast-forward buttons while watching it on video or DVD), thus depriving themselves of real cinematic treasure once the pace increases in the rest of the film. Another flaw is a somewhat serious plot hole somewhere in the middle of film. This plot hole could be spotted only after repeated viewings, but it is there nevertheless. Because of that Once Upon a Time in the West is slightly disappointing, at least for those who expected perfection worthy of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Yet, there are so many great things about this film that we could only yearn for more disappointments of such calibre.

RATING: 8/10 (+++)

(Note: The text in its original form was posted in Usenet newsgroup rec.arts.movies.reviews on October 31st 2002)

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Movie URL: https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/335-c-era-una-volta-il-west?language=en-US
Critic: AAA