Film 18 (9/5/2005)

Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)

Director: Sergio Leone

Recommended by: D_Davis

Has Fentablar seen this before?: No.

If somehow there were any doubt that Sergio Leone is the unequivocal master of the western genre, Once Upon a Time in the West will erase that doubt. This film is absolutely gorgeous, in every way shape and form. Having seen it for the first time, it instantly has become one of my top 10 favorite films and may move into the top 5 after another viewing.

Leone depicts the West as it should be depicted - not fast and furious by any means but instead slow and calculated. As with his other "spaghetti westerns", Leone has a few scenes where not a word is said between anyone on-screen and all you can hear is the wind blowing, the mill turning, the chair rocking on the wooden deck ... everything except speech. This scenes are a key element to Leone's success as a director in the western genre as he is rather adept at displaying the demeanor of the on-screen characters without them saying a word. When they do speak, nary a breath is wasted as we are sprinkled generously with clean-cut, straight to the point dialogue.

The performances of the players in Once Upon a Time in the West are all-around outstanding. Jason Robards in particular is downright brilliant; Henry Fonda is excellent in a rare bad-guy role; Charles Bronson turns in his best performance as Harmonica, a character he seems born to play.

In part because I am more fond of Clint Eastwood than I am of Charles Bronson, I did not believe I would find this film as good as The Good, The Bad and The Ugly ... but at this point I am willing to say that Once Upon a Time in the West is at least on the same level if not better (as much as one 5-star film can be better than another 5-star film).

Ratings (scale of 1 to 5):

Plot Effectiveness: 5/5. Masterful; a wonderful, somewhat timeless tale.

Cinematography/Shot Selection: 5/5. Leone goes beyond textbook excellence in this work. His ability to convey mood and environment with a camera is as skillful as Steinbeck's ability to do the same with a pen and paper. And that's saying something.

Overall Acting: 5/5. As mentioned, brilliance in this category.

Score/Soundtrack: 5/5. Again, masterful. Also very helpful in conveying the mood.

OVERALL RATING: 5/5

~Fentablar~