Movie Mania #3: Once Upon a Time in The West
~ Once Upon a Time in The West is a timeless masterpiece. There - I've said it.I have written about this magnificent movie previously on my Honouring The Muse blog.
To recap: the film was made in 1968 by the great Italian director, Sergio Leone, and starred Henry Fonda, Claudia Cardinale, Jason Robards, and Charles Bronson. It was the last of Leone's four western movies (following A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, and the wonderful, The Good The Bad and The Ugly). I watched Once Upon a Time in The West again last night for probably the third time this year. I just couldn't help myself.
At 159 minutes, you might think this film would drag after repeated viewing, but it never does. There is never a moment in the film where I want to fast forward past certain scenes to get to the 'action'. However, I did watch the clock for the first hour of the film. But not for the reasons you might think.
I was timing the introduction of the four main characters ('Harmonica' (Bronson); Frank (Fonda); Jill (Cardinale); and Cheyenne (Robards). Here's how the first 45 minutes played out...
The film opens with three men arriving at a remote train station. Without saying a word, they proceed to wait for what we can only assume is a train. And they wait... and wait. And wait. A full 8:30 minutes into the film, the train finally approaches down the tracks. In all this time not a word has been exchanged between the three men, as we observe them waiting for its arrival. At 10:55 we finally get to see the first major character make his appearance, and it's Charles Bronson. After a brief exchange of words between Bronson and the 'leader' of the three outlaws, there is a quick gunfight and the scene comes to an end - exactly 14 minutes after the film's opening frame.
The next scene begins with blasts from a shotgun, as the character Brett McBain hunts grouse (or pheasants) for his family's dinner. Another eight minutes pass before we finally get to see the second major character in the film, Frank (Henry Fonda). At 23:00 the scene ends with the arrival of a train in the town of Flagstone.
The third major character, Jill (Claudia Cardinale) quickly alights from the train, and proceeds to wait for McBain to pick her up, but McBain never arrives. Eventually, Jill arranges a ride to the McBain property, along the way passing through that greatest of western landscapes, Monument Valley. Eventually, 30:50 into the film the wagon arrives at a trading station in the middle of nowhere, and both the wagon driver and Jill enter the Trading Post for a brief respite.
At 33:30 there is a flurry of gunshots and the fourth major character, Cheyenne (Jason Robards) makes his grand appearance. It would appear that he has just escaped from several captors (the flurry of gunshots) despite being still handcuffed. At 44:15 the scene in the Trading Post finally plays itself out, and the next scene sees Jill arriving at the McBain property.
Ok, I said right at the beginning of this entry that Once Upon a Time in The West was timeless. So why have I been timing the opening 45 minutes of this film? In a way, to prove its timelessness. Let me explain.
This is storytelling on a grand scale. So grand in scale in fact, that it could never be made today. Certainly it would never be made under the current Hollywood system of movie making. In an age when the average film running time is still 90 minutes, it is inconceivable that any studio would let a director spend the first 45 minutes introducing his main characters. Even in a blockbuster movie that might run over two hours, the main characters are always introduced within the first five minutes of the film. Not only that, but within ten minutes we know who is doing what to whom, and generally we know why.
In Leone's film we are 45 minutes into the movie and we still don't know who 'Harmonica' is, why he is looking for Frank, or how all the four main characters are going to cross paths, and how this crossing of paths is going to impact on the storyline. And we still have 95 minutes of the movie left to run! Storytelling on a grand scale indeed.
I'm going to leave this examination of Once Upon a Time in The West, there. I've probably already said too much, and may have run the risk of spoiling your enjoyment of the film, if you are yet to discover this great masterpiece. If you have never seen the film, do yourself a favour and beg, borrow, or buy yourself a copy. If you have seen the film and maybe thought it was long, slow, and lacking in that special 'something', take another look at it, not once but several times. Immerse yourself in this film, and I'm sure it will reward you with its immense power and glory.
Once Upon a Time in The West (1968)
Main Credits
Director: Sergio Leone
Writing credits: Dario Argento, Bernardo Bertolucci, and Sergio Leone
Screenplay: Sergio Leone & Sergio Donati
To recap: the film was made in 1968 by the great Italian director, Sergio Leone, and starred Henry Fonda, Claudia Cardinale, Jason Robards, and Charles Bronson. It was the last of Leone's four western movies (following A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, and the wonderful, The Good The Bad and The Ugly). I watched Once Upon a Time in The West again last night for probably the third time this year. I just couldn't help myself.
At 159 minutes, you might think this film would drag after repeated viewing, but it never does. There is never a moment in the film where I want to fast forward past certain scenes to get to the 'action'. However, I did watch the clock for the first hour of the film. But not for the reasons you might think.
I was timing the introduction of the four main characters ('Harmonica' (Bronson); Frank (Fonda); Jill (Cardinale); and Cheyenne (Robards). Here's how the first 45 minutes played out...
The film opens with three men arriving at a remote train station. Without saying a word, they proceed to wait for what we can only assume is a train. And they wait... and wait. And wait. A full 8:30 minutes into the film, the train finally approaches down the tracks. In all this time not a word has been exchanged between the three men, as we observe them waiting for its arrival. At 10:55 we finally get to see the first major character make his appearance, and it's Charles Bronson. After a brief exchange of words between Bronson and the 'leader' of the three outlaws, there is a quick gunfight and the scene comes to an end - exactly 14 minutes after the film's opening frame.
The next scene begins with blasts from a shotgun, as the character Brett McBain hunts grouse (or pheasants) for his family's dinner. Another eight minutes pass before we finally get to see the second major character in the film, Frank (Henry Fonda). At 23:00 the scene ends with the arrival of a train in the town of Flagstone.
The third major character, Jill (Claudia Cardinale) quickly alights from the train, and proceeds to wait for McBain to pick her up, but McBain never arrives. Eventually, Jill arranges a ride to the McBain property, along the way passing through that greatest of western landscapes, Monument Valley. Eventually, 30:50 into the film the wagon arrives at a trading station in the middle of nowhere, and both the wagon driver and Jill enter the Trading Post for a brief respite.
At 33:30 there is a flurry of gunshots and the fourth major character, Cheyenne (Jason Robards) makes his grand appearance. It would appear that he has just escaped from several captors (the flurry of gunshots) despite being still handcuffed. At 44:15 the scene in the Trading Post finally plays itself out, and the next scene sees Jill arriving at the McBain property.
Ok, I said right at the beginning of this entry that Once Upon a Time in The West was timeless. So why have I been timing the opening 45 minutes of this film? In a way, to prove its timelessness. Let me explain.
This is storytelling on a grand scale. So grand in scale in fact, that it could never be made today. Certainly it would never be made under the current Hollywood system of movie making. In an age when the average film running time is still 90 minutes, it is inconceivable that any studio would let a director spend the first 45 minutes introducing his main characters. Even in a blockbuster movie that might run over two hours, the main characters are always introduced within the first five minutes of the film. Not only that, but within ten minutes we know who is doing what to whom, and generally we know why.
In Leone's film we are 45 minutes into the movie and we still don't know who 'Harmonica' is, why he is looking for Frank, or how all the four main characters are going to cross paths, and how this crossing of paths is going to impact on the storyline. And we still have 95 minutes of the movie left to run! Storytelling on a grand scale indeed.
I'm going to leave this examination of Once Upon a Time in The West, there. I've probably already said too much, and may have run the risk of spoiling your enjoyment of the film, if you are yet to discover this great masterpiece. If you have never seen the film, do yourself a favour and beg, borrow, or buy yourself a copy. If you have seen the film and maybe thought it was long, slow, and lacking in that special 'something', take another look at it, not once but several times. Immerse yourself in this film, and I'm sure it will reward you with its immense power and glory.
Once Upon a Time in The West (1968)
Main Credits
Director: Sergio Leone
Writing credits: Dario Argento, Bernardo Bertolucci, and Sergio Leone
Screenplay: Sergio Leone & Sergio Donati
| Principal Cast Henry Fonda .... Frank Claudia Cardinale .... Jill McBain Jason Robards .... Cheyenne Charles Bronson .... Harmonica Gabriele Ferzetti .... Morton Paolo Stoppa .... Sam Keenan Wynn .... Sheriff/Auctioneer) Frank Wolff .... Brett McBain Note: You can purchase a Two-Disc Special Edition of Once Upon a Time in The West from Amazon.Com by clicking on the links to the left. This has some great extras, and is a bargain at the current price. |
Producers: Bino Cicogna (Executive Producer), and Fulvio Morsella (Producer)
Original Music: Ennio Morricone
Cinematography: Tonino Delli Colli
Film Editing: Nino Baragli
Production Design: Carlo Simi
Costume Design: Antonella Pompei and Carlo Simi
Internet Links
~ Internet Movie Database entry for Once Upon a Time in The West
~ Wikipedia entry for Sergio Leone
~ A good Sergio Leone tribute site: Fistful of Leone
Original Music: Ennio Morricone
Cinematography: Tonino Delli Colli
Film Editing: Nino Baragli
Production Design: Carlo Simi
Costume Design: Antonella Pompei and Carlo Simi
Internet Links
~ Internet Movie Database entry for Once Upon a Time in The West
~ Wikipedia entry for Sergio Leone
~ A good Sergio Leone tribute site: Fistful of Leone
--o0o--
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Labels: Movie Mania
posted by Jim Lesses at
12:59 PM
1 Comments:
Wow, that's a long movie! The other day, I was about to revisit "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly", but then I didn't because I didn't have the over 3 hrs to watch it. Great post!
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