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The Great Silence / Il grande silenzio (1968)

Posted By: denisbul
The Great Silence / Il grande silenzio (1968)

The Great Silence / Il grande silenzio (1968)
Languages: Italian, English | Subtitle: English
DVD5 (VIDEO_TS) | 01:41:00 | 720x576 | PAL 4:3 - 5045 Kbps | AC3 2.0 - 192 Kbps | 4.33 GB
Genre: Drama, Western | Italy, France

IMDB: 7.8/10 (4,511 votes)
Directed by: Sergio Corbucci
Starring: Jean-Louis Trintignant, Klaus Kinski and Frank Wolff

The late, great Italian filmmaker Sergio Corbucci (Django, Companeros) directed and co-wrote this western in 1968. Bounty killers led by Loco (Klaus Kinski) prey on outlaws hiding out in the snowbound Utah mountains. After an innocent becomes Loco s latest victim, his wife hires a gunman for revenge. Silence, mute since his throat was cut as a child after witnessing the murder of his parents, decides to take justice into his own hands.
English
The Great Silence is set against the backdrop of the snowy mountains of Utah in a town called “Snow Hill”. It is a corrupt and lawless town where the businessmen have driven out the Mormon community by branding them outlaws, forcing them to live like savages in the hills outside of town. To make sure that they stay in the hills, the lead businessman Pollicut (Luigi Pistilli) has hired a band of bounty hunters to kill these “outlaws” at $1,000 a head. This conflict is where the film begins…

The Great Silence / Il grande silenzio (1968)

These outlaws have only one defense against the bounty hunters, a mute gun-for-hire who calls himself “Silence” (Jean-Louis Trintignant). As he makes his way across the barren, snowy landscape a group of bounty hunters take their position. As Silence approaches these men, he is fully aware of his surroundings. He waits until they take their aim and then draws his rapid fire pistol shooting all of the men.

The Great Silence / Il grande silenzio (1968)

Back in town, the head bounty hunter Loco (Klaus Kinski) is dining with another bounty hunter. One of the mormons who has come back into town finds himself in the unfortunate company of these two men and is shot down right in front of his dear old grandmother. As she buries her grandson, Silence mosies into town and immediately she recognizes him. She offers him her grandson’s horse in exchange for killing the man who shot him. As it just so happens, Silence is in need of a horse, so he obliges the old woman.

The Great Silence / Il grande silenzio (1968)

Meanwhile, Loco is busy on his bounty hunting spree. In the process he kills the local black woman’s husband, and now she wants revenge. Pauline (Vonetta McGee) knows of Silence’s reputation and begs him to kill Loco. His fee is $1,000, so Pauline goes to Pollicut to sell her house…but instead he wants something else. She refuses and returns home only to offer herself to Silence as payment. Seeing her desperation, Silence goes to pay Loco a visit. The two duke it out in the saloon, both refusing to draw their guns first. Both men live by a strict gunfighter’s code where they will only draw their weapon in self defense…and this way it makes it legal to kill your opponent.

The Great Silence / Il grande silenzio (1968)

Loco manages to get himself arrested by the new sheriff in town, Sheriff Burnett (Frank Wolff), and as he is escorted out of town Pollicut makes his move to get rid of Silence and Pauline. While Pollicut and his strong-man try to rape Pauline and beat the crap out of Silence, Loco cleverly escapes the sheriff’s custody and makes his way back to town. Silence is barely able to overcome his attacker and then struggles with his burnt and blistered hand to shoot Pollicut. They are able to hide just as Loco and his bounty hunter posse arrive in Snow Hill.

The Great Silence / Il grande silenzio (1968)

Through a series of events the bounty hunters have captured all of the mormon outlaws and they are holding them hostage in the saloon. Loco sends word that he is waiting for Silence. Pauline begs him to run away with her and forget Snow Hill, but the badly wounded Silence refuses and stumbles away to meet Loco. What follows is perhaps the greatest ending to a western…ever.

The Great Silence / Il grande silenzio (1968)

Silence stands outside the saloon, locking eyes with Loco. Out of nowhere, one of Loco’s men shoots Silence’s only good hand, rendering him helpless. Holding his bloody hands in the snow, Silence looks up to see the bounty hunters surrounding him. He tries to draw his pistol, but they shoot him down before he can get a grip. He slowly falls to the ground as Pauline runs towards him screaming. She picks up his pistol and then Loco shoots her too. Then he gives the signal and his men slaughter all of the hostages. The camera lingers on the victims as we see Loco and his men ride off in the window reflection.

The Great Silence / Il grande silenzio (1968)

This is quite possibly one of the best spaghetti westerns I’ve ever seen. I hold it in the same esteem as Leone’s Once Upon a Time in the West. Corbucci’s “sloppy” style of filmmaking fits the gritty and disturbing nature of the film. The bleak and desolate imagery of the Utah mountains is simply brilliant and the contrast of the blood against the white snow really heightens the effects of the violence. This is definitely the darkest, most unrelenting, and harrowing spaghetti western that I’ve come across. I cannot recommend this film highly enough.
Italian
Sergio Leone con il suo primo film di genere western, in seguito definito "spaghetti" per differenziarlo dal filone a stelle e strisce, inaugura un nuovo modo di fare cinema. Il western classico mostrava infatti generalmente duelli tra eroi senza macchia solitamente sbarbati e con abiti sempre freschi di bucato, o epici combattimenti tra i buoni (alias i bianchi) e i cattivi (alias i pellerossa, dipinti come selvaggi sanguinari) oppure si dedicava all'epopea dei pionieri, gente senza macchia e senza paura, partiti alla volta delle terre occidentali per incentivare il progresso del popolo nordamericano. Leone invece mostra uomini sporchi, paesaggi squallidi, gente disperata e non ha paura di essere a volte fin troppo spietato e violento.

The Great Silence / Il grande silenzio (1968)

Il genere "spaghetti western" iniziato con Sergio Leone nel 1964 ebbe per tutto il decennio una serie di imitatori e continuatori; alcuni produssero delle pallide copie destinate a scomparire velocemente, altri hanno realizzato degli autentici capolavori.
Questo e il caso de "Il grande silenzio", basato su una vicenda realmente accaduta nel freddo inverno del 1898 a Snow Hill (citta sul confine tra Stati Uniti e Messico), girato nel 1967 da Sergio Corbucci e uscito l'anno seguente sul grande schermo.

The Great Silence / Il grande silenzio (1968)

L'ambientazione e un elemento importante in questa storia: non ci sono sterminate praterie ne lande desolate o villaggi assolati ma neve a perdita d'occhio (il film fu girato a Cortina D'Ampezzo) e sono diversi i protagonisti.
L'eroe senza macchia e un muto, un Jean Louis Trintignant passato dai personaggi timidi e un po' nevrotici delle sue pellicole precedenti al bounty killer spietato, ma giusto e soprattutto diverso, disadattato. Il villain e invece Klaus Kinsky, sguardo di ghiaccio, volto scolpito nella pietra, destinato a ricoprire troppe volte il ruolo del cattivo per antonomasia, in questa storia aiutato anche dal doppiatore che gli regala una voce sottile, perfida e spiazzante. La protagonista femminile e, cosa veramente inusuale per l'epoca e soprattutto per un film di genere western, una attrice di colore, Vonetta McGee. Un'altra scelta difficile che contribuisce a fare della pellicola un western diverso, non allineato, che non teme il divieto ai minori per l'audacia e l'efferatezza di alcune scene.

La violenza, cruda, cieca, immotivata e sempre presente nei film classici e nei film di Leone, ma in questa pellicola si offre copiosa, non lascia spiragli, fa uscire dalla sala lo spettatore sgomento perche non si intravede la vittoria del bene nel finale. Non e il buono, il diverso Trintignant a vincere, ma l'infame Kinsky, e questo e atipico.

The Great Silence / Il grande silenzio (1968)

Passato raramente in televisione, difficile da rintracciare sui circuiti tradizionali, questo western di Corbucci e immeritatamente poco noto a dispetto dei suoi contenuti, dei dialoghi accurati, del carisma dei protagonisti e anche della splendida colonna sonora firmata dallo specialista Morricone. Chi ama il western tradizionale potrebbe storcere il naso davanti alle novita del film di Corbucci, ma e proprio per la sua epicita e per il suo essere differente che "Il grande silenzio" si e ritagliato un posto speciale nella storia del cinema.