The Great Silence

Black and brown horses trot through the white mountain terrain. On the stagecoach ride Loco with a lethal tongue, the sheriff with a disdain for Loco, and the gunslinger with no vocal cords.Our adventure is "The Great Silence" (1968), and it's my #6 movie of all time.Most of us remember the snow globes we loved to shake when we were kids, right? Think of a snow globe brought to life--and that's what "The Great Silence" looks like.However, let the viewer beware. Director Sergio Corbucci gives us a snow globe that's busted.I think of Ransom Stoddard (James Stewart) teaching kids and adults how to read and write in the John Ford classic, "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" (1962). There's no such hope in "The Great Silence" (1968).We're treated to the grandeur of God's creation--but we're also taken to the depths of human depravity.Quentin Tarantino says of Corbucci: "His West was the most violent, surreal, and pitiless landscape of any director in the history of the genre."I agree. I think the Michael Cimino epic "Heaven's Gate" (1980) comes very close--but "The Great Silence" (1968) is as bleak as they get."Heaven's Gate"--a great, underrated film--was considered the American flop of the century in 1980. "The Great Silence" wasn't shown in an American theater until the next century.British film director Alex Cox does a great DVD special feature, "Cox on Corbucci," and he's written a fun book on Italian Westerns, "10,000 Ways to Die" (2009). Cox says in the book, "'The Big Silence' is a unique work of art: it should have confirmed Corbucci's reputation, as a talent equal to Sergio Leone. But no one saw it."Cox himself first saw it in France, where he was a teenage exchange student. Cox--who prefers to translate the Italian title ("Il Grande Silenzio") as "The Big Silence"--calls Corbucci's film "probably the greatest of all Spaghetti Westerns."Jean-Louis Trintignant stars as Silence, the mute gunslinger who's been enlisted to fight for the people of Snow Hill. In a rare costarring role for a black woman in a Western, Vonetta McGee excels as Pauline Middleton, the young widow who vows revenge for the murder of her husband. Luigi Pistilli plays Henry Pollicut, the usurer who finances the oppression of the people, and Frank Wolff plays Sheriff Burnett, who's been sent by the governor of Utah to bring order to Snow Hill.The best performance is turned in by Klaus Kinski as Loco, the bounty hunter who leads the bad guys. Loco isn't easily rattled, and his countenance says, "Don't tread on me."I think of my favorite Western, Sergio Leone's "For a Few Dollars More" (1965). Leone's bounty hunters--The Man in Black (Lee Van Cleef) and The Man with No Name (Clint Eastwood)--kill for money and for justice. In "The Great Silence" (1968), Corbucci tells a different tale. The bounty hunters--Loco and his gang--kill for money and for the love of murder.Corbucci (born 1926) and Leone (born 1929) grew up under Mussolini's dictatorship. They were in their teens when Hitler occupied Italy in 1943. The Sergios' generation loved American Westerns when they were kids. When they started making their own movies in the 1960s, however, they thought most American Westerns were overly optimistic and too sentimental. Leone is credited with taking the Western in a darker direction. Corbucci took it further."The Great Silence" (1968, color) is the most visually gorgeous film I've ever seen. Others are certainly in a class with it: Orson Welles's "Citizen Kane" (1941, black and white); Howard Hawks's "Red River" (1948, black and white); John Ford's "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon" (1949, color); Alfred Hitchcock's "Vertigo" (1958, color); and Stanley Kubrick's "Barry Lyndon" (1975, color).In lamenting the decline of Corbucci's career in the 1970s, Cox says of "The Great Silence" (1968): "Corbucci had striven to be original, to try some radical new things. He had succeeded, quite remarkably."I couldn't agree more. I have to note two vital contributors: cinematographer Silvano Ippoliti, whose camera work in the Italian Alps gives us the scenery for Snow Hill, Utah; and composer Ennio Morricone, whose brooding, beautiful music is perfect for such a discordant film."The Great Silence" (1968) is a chiller, and it's my #6 movie of all time.

having watched most of both Sergio's libraries (Leone and Corbucci), I will go on a limb and say that this is the best spaghetti western made

Great movie for all of one hour and 40-ish mins. The ending however places the movie in the "No rewatchable" category. At least with Duck you Sucker, the hero dies on is own terms and not in such a pathetic manner as this movie.I can see though where Tarantino got his inspiration for Hateful Eight. The only difference between that movie and this one, is it rewatchable.In the end, I'm glad I decided to rent the movie instead of buying it.

This little Western (That's right, a western, not a Spaghetti Western, which it isn't at all, and in my opinion degrades it for what it truly is) shows how capable Sergio Corbucci really was, many times over. Sure, if sources are correct, Mario Amendola, Bruno Corbucci, Vittoriano Petrilli helped write it, but ultimately, this was his vision, and what a vision it was.It takes everything the genre had ever done, American or Italian, and turns them on their head by burning them down and then covering it with nothing but snow and ice.The lead protagonist is a mute and never draws first, it is purely set in the snow, outlaws(!) are the people you feel sympathy for and the bounty hunters are the ones you just LOATHE. It studies the darkest and brutal aspects of human nature and is relentless and unforgiving in it's tone, when the first frames of blinding white are shown, to the epilogue.I won't talk about the plot because it has been discussed many times, but I do advise that you go into this film with little expectations and an open mind because there are some really shocking and disturbing moments.People have complained about the dubbing, and I honestly see nothing wrong with it. It's really great, in my opinion. Silence gets more than enough screen time as well, but the focus is not him. It is how the West was in that time, and every character shown has a history, a past, as well as a relationship with almost all the others, and they're used sufficiently enough to make you feel you really knew these human beings that might have existed during that time.This is the greatest western ever made, and one of the greatest creations of all time (The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly is one of those). It's better than Django, For A Few Dollars More, Once Upon A Time in the West, and Eastwood's Unforgiven, which tried hard to be as demythologizing as this, and before, tried to steal the guts of this film with the mediocre Joe Kidd. How could I talk of this film and not mention the soundtrack, which was done by the God of Music itself, Il Maestro Ennio Morricone? It's dark, bleak, depressing, yet hauntingly beautiful and poetic. It sounds nothing you'd expect to hear from a Western. I just wish there was a complete version available as I heard a number of tracks during the film where I had to rewind just for the power of the music. I'd really love these.This is a film of high art, the Western to end all Westerns, and the end of the West itself. The Gothic scenery, errie music, imagery of shrieking crows, brutal winds, so much so that the camera often becomes "snow-blind" and you can't tell what's happening. All this adds to the nihilism of it, and it gives you a terrifying chill.The ending was brutal and unforgiving, drawn out to an unbearable degree with a relentless tone that never stops until it is forced to, when it fades to black.The most human, powerful, and intense western that no one had ever done before, and that no one would ever do again.11/10

One of the top 5 best westerns ever! The original ending that is. Beautiful Blu Ray quality. Such a moody, gorgeous shot movie. One of the few where the bad guys win.

This is a great movie with an unique protagonist and excellent antagonist. The ending is pretty messed up but was a complete surprise and excellent. I highly recommend this movie.

I have the 50 year anniversary edition, proper widescreen. with in the extras the different endings.This is the edition to get not the Eureka edition. Video & Audio are excellent. personally i prefer Italian audio with UK subs (little word pun)

Il film non ha bisogno di presentazioni...è uno dei migliori spaghetti-Western in assoluto, imperdibile per gli appassionati del genere!!Quello che invece vorrei sottolineare è l'ottimo riversamento video di questa edizione, uscita per il 50° anniversario della pellicola, superiore alla vecchia versione blu-ray tedesca della Alive ed inoltre rispetto a quest'ultima i titoli di testa sono quelli originali italiani (cosa che apprezzo sempre molto nelle edizioni straniere), mentre sul lato Audio siamo più o meno lì in entrambi i casi abbiamo un 2.0 lossless!Presenti negli extra diversi documentari sul film in questione, su Corbucci e il western all'italiana in generale ed inoltre all'interno troviamo anche un libretto di descrizione della pellicola purtroppo per noi però solo in inglese, ma comunque gradevole da sfogliare se non altro per la presenza di diverse immagini del film!Insomma se amate quest'opera (e se siete appassionati del genere non può essere altrimenti) questa è la migliore versione su disco presente attualmente in commercio, costa più delle altre ma ne vale sicuramente la pena!

Very pleased to receive this Blu-ray as it isn't available in the UK yet (to date: 8.1.18). The Great Silence is an important Italian Western that has been suppressed for too long. Picture quality is a step up from the DVD, and still has the odd defect here and there due to the film's age. Italian and English stereo audio, I prefer the Italian with subtitles. No audio commentary and little new extras, but still an improvement. The snow scenes come off the best.

Sicher sind alle Figuren krasse Stereotypen, aber sind sie das nicht in fast allen Western ???Einer ist meist immer der strahlende Held und einer der super gemeine Bösewicht. Die gute und hübsche Frau des armen und unschuldig Gemordeten verliebt sich natürlich in wen ... ? Ja genau ... Differenzierter und mit ausgefeilterer Geschichte gibt nur wenige Western ala "Once upon the time in the West" und "The good, the bad and the ugly". Aber solche Streifen sind ja nicht umsonst als Kino-Klassiker in die Geschichte eingegangen. So gut ist dieser Film natürlich nicht.Aber dafür ein kerniger und zünftiger Vertreter seiner Art: des brutalen Italo-Western von Sergio Corbucci einerseits. und ein etwas aus der Art geschlagener Sonderling andererseits. Sprich: ein Western der nur im Schnee spielt, der Held ist stumm, der Böse ... nein, das müsst ihr selbst sehen ... Klaus Kinski ist jedenfalls genial. Eine seiner wenigen nennenswerten Filmrollen abseits der Werner Herzog Filme.und das alles untermalt von einer traurig schönen melancholischen Ennio Morricone Musik.Was will man mehr?

One of the best spaghetti westerns, directed by Sergio Corbucci. Jean-Louis Trintignant the anti-hero plays 'Silence' very well. One of the best westerns for sure. The picture quality of the blu ray is also pretty good for a 56 year old film. 9/10