Finally someone picks a film I can actually stand sitting through! Even at almost three hours long (and almost half of that is people staring at each other) Once Upon A Time In The West is a breath of fresh air to someone whose been suffocated by the hand of "classic" drama.
Once Upon A Time In The West is the story of three men and one woman whose lives become intertwined in a westernized soap opera. There's Frank (Henry Fonda) a spineless murderer, Cheyenne (Jason Robards) a wanted desperado, Harmonica (Charles Bronson) a mysterious man with vengeance on his mind, and Jill McBain (Claudia Cardinale) the newly wed / newly widowed woman in the middle of it all.
The story begins with Frank killing the entire McBain family (with the exception of Jill who has yet to arrive at her new home), but Frank is too cowardly to take credit for the murders himself, instead he leaves a calling card which tricks the authority's into believing that it was the work of Cheyenne, a desperado who recently escaped the clutches of the law. Together Cheyenne and the man known as Harmonica (who appears to have a past grievance against Frank) team up to help the widow McBain seek justice for the murder of her family and help her jump start the life her husband was planning for her.
I can see why Once Upon A Time In The West is beloved by critics and "classic" movie watchers everywhere, but I have one problem with this film which shouldn't be too hard to guess... length. One thing that always wounds a western for me is length, I've seen some westerns I've considered pretty good that could have been fantastic if they'd edit out half of the staring and riding scenes and got down to the nitty gritty. In this case, Once Upon A Time In The West is 65% a great western and 35% the ultimate staring contest. While some of you may love a combined hour of staring, I actually began to laugh and the pure idiocy of it all after the first combined 25 minutes.
As for the acting everyone seemed to be well cast, but the two that stood out most to me were Henry Fonda and Charles Bronson. I felt Fonda as the bad guy to be a little of a stretch, while he gives a good performance, it's the fact that Fonda really doesn't have the villain look as so many other actors do. As for Charles Bronson, I'm a fan. Bronson is essentially the pre-Steven Seagal without the martial arts. His roles in the Death Wish series are some of the most corny, over-the-top, awesome action films of all-time, and in Once Upon A Time In The West he doesn't disappoint.
7/10
I'm glad this one worked for you, I'm a bit Leone fan, and I just really dig his style. In his two big western epics (This and Good, Bad, and Ugly) he really concentrates on that laughable staring, as you put it. It's that buildup to the moment he enjoys more than the actual fighting, which is over in a single shot or two.
ReplyDeleteI didn't pick this with you in mind, I actually thought the length was going to be really off-putting for you, but I am really glad you enjoyed it. The staring does get a little silly, but I loved every second of it. The Leone westerns just make me so happy inside.
ReplyDeleteI loved this movie. Quentin Tarantino took a lot of notes from Sergio Leone as is evident in his Kill Bill movies. The opening scene to this movie has some pretty remarkable similarities cinematography-wise.
ReplyDeleteI personally didn't have a problem with Henry Fonda as the bad guy, but I can definitely see why you might take issue. Loved the ending scene in this. It was glorious.
One thing i would mention is the music. The music was perfect to me and did so much to build that suspense throughout. I know that it's been used in a few other movies since too, including the third Pirates of the Carribbean movie.