The Great Silence aka Il grande silenzio (1968)

[DJIMBO]

i''''m thinking of buying this film i here the soundtrack is good but how does it rate as a film?

opinion seems to be split here, indio.

Personally i think its the best non-leone spaghetti western, which perhaps isnt saying alot, lol! But i love it. Its better than Big Gundown, Keoma and infinitely better than Django.

It depends what u like really, its very pessimistic, its clearly Marxist, tho it has a funny sheriff. Morricone''s music is great, and the landscapes are wonderful. And the lead actors are great too. The dialogues a bit dodge but overall its far better than ur average spaghetti.

i recommend it, and i think u can now buy it in the UK, tho i got my copy from canadia. 

[visitor]

I love Morricone''s score.
The setting is fantastic.
Good/great photograpy.
Fine to excellent cast.

Highly overrated movie.

It''s most known for its downer ending, but since  the ending makes no sense whatsoever as far as the character of Silence is concerned, it spoils the movie.
It''s the reverse of the "Hollywood" tacked on happy endings of the old days.

"Let''s kill him for shock value!"

"Good. Then I don''t have to worry about a sequel!"

This is proven by the "outtake" happy ending finale with written dialogue spoken by the actors. Though this scene was never dubbed(as all Italian films were recorded silently) it was obviously well thought out, staged and shot. The claim that it was for the North African audience seem hollow to me.

[cigar joe]

My only complaint is the "outlaws" are never really explained, it makes no sense in that respect. Why are there bounties on their heads?

[DJIMBO]

i dont think its a great film, i just think its a good film. And i think credit to Corbucci for trying something different and not reverting to the cheesy rubbish in Django. Isnt that what cinema is all supposed to be about, trying something different??

[indio]

ok thanks i think i will buy it . it seems to have a lot of the elements that i like. i don''t really like happy endings although i didn''t know the end so thank you!!
my personal favorite non leone is Keoma.

[Cusser]

I got my Great Silence DVD from Ebay, but later found that my local mall video store had two new DVDs of it for sale (Arizona). 

[cigar joe]

Indio if you like Keoma you''ll like this, also check out McCabe & Mrs. Miller.

It sort runs like this TGS influenced M&MM and later Joe Kidd, then M&MM influenced Keoma. If you get all three (4 if you get JK) you''ll have a nice little triptych.

[indio]

Thanks Joe.

[redyred]

My only complaint is the "outlaws" are never really explained, it makes no sense in that respect. Why are there bounties on their heads?

I think that''s deliberately not revealed - for example Kinski says something like "... if they were acquitted then everyone would be free to do... er, whatever you call it". The way I see it Corbucci''s point is that they have been labelled "outlaws", and for the purposes of the film they need not be anything else.

In an interview Alex Cox says (in passing, as if it''s obvious) that they''re mormons, although I can''t see any evidence for that.

[cigar joe]

Basically this film was made for Italo/ European audience so I don''t think it mattered much to Corbucci to go into a whole explanation of WHY.  To an American audience (like me) that part matters more because we look for some kind of link to something that may have really happened.

The Spaghetti West is another dimension a twilight zone parallel universe, a place where things just are, distances and time are bent, place names are thrown in wierd juxtapositions. Its a tight compact little world where everthing especially the small things are exagerated.

Its almost as if the great lot of SW directors or their audiences had no clue that the whole vastness of American West  approximately 2,000 by 2,000 miles could not posssibly fit in a country the size of Spain or Italy though the films usually don''t express these great distances.

ie., in Corbucci''s "Companeros" Ft. Yuma is in Texas, this wouldn''t  mean anything to a Euro audience.

[indio]

i just watched this film... wow much better than i thought it was going to be. i loved the fact it was in the snow, what a great soundtrack.
the ending was a shocker, but i watched ''the happy ending on the dvd'' and thought it so lame, really cheesey, better as it is. top stuff.

[cigar joe]

There''s more out there if your game, lots of  good SW''s to choose from that most never heard of.

[The Smoker]

Find myself quite drawn to movies set in snowy sparse surroundings.

The Thing (Carpenter 1982)
Sword of Doom
Fargo
Doctor Zhivago
Fearless Vampire Killers
Empire Strikes Back
Samurai Assassin
The Great Silence

[indio]

great snow fight scene in sword of doom! the film lost its way towards the end.

[dave jenkins]

great snow fight scene in sword of doom! the film lost its way towards the end.

Wrong, wrong, wrong. The ending of SoD is perfect.