A death in the family

Once Upon A Time in the West (1968)

Sergio Leone is my favourite director and this is his master piece so gushing praise ahoy. I think that the biggest compliment you can give Leone is that is work is constantly imitated and referenced by modern directors but never replicated. West is a summation of all that has come before in the genre and is both a eulogy for the death of the mythic old west and as it turns out the western as a genre. It may have been a while later that Michael Cimino came along and put the final bullet in the head of the western with his massive failure Heaven's Gate, so bad it signalled the end of the “final cut” era for directors and brought down the studio that had financed it but by the late 60s the genre had largely played itself out anyway.

Right from the opening sequences it is clear that this film is all about atmosphere, tone and style. Ennio Morricone's score is haunting and fits the movie like a glove. What stands West out from so many modern films is the way the tension is allowed to build slowly, with the direction savouring the moment before sudden punctuations of violence rather than being all about the violence and fast, frenetic cutting.

The casting is excellent with Charles Bronson, Claudia Cardinale and Jason Robards but especially in the cases of Monument Valley as a back drop and the use of Henry Fonda which is probably lost on modern audiences sadly. The plot is chock full of references to great westerns and the dialogue contains some great exchanges, mostly involving Charles Bronson's character. Having the railways as a metaphor for the impending arrival of civilization and change works really well and can be applied to other situations such as the arrival of big business on the internet. Inclusion of landscape is one of Leone's strong points (something I think Tarantino really misses out on in his work) and Monument Valley does look amazing in the sequences it is included in and adds greatly to the amazing cinematography on show.

While some may feel the film has a slow pace the arrival of Harmonica at the start of the film and the shocking events at the McBain ranch draw you in to a ride which is not to be missed. 5/5 if you have not seen it yet then you should be looking out for this truly amazing film now!