"The Great Silence"
("Il Grande Silenzio")
(1968)
Director: Sergio Corbucci
Director of Photography: Silvano Ippoliti
Music by: Ennio Morricone
To be honest, I am not the biggest fan of Sergio Corbucci. Though I don't hate his films, I have found them to be sloppy and boring generally, and his Spaghetti westerns lack the flair and bravura style of Leone's Dollars Trilogy, which are the high water mark for the genre to this day. But "The Great Silence" is his masterpiece. It is his most beautifully shot film and is full of the quirky details you come to expect from the Italian oaters, such as the mute lead character (Jean-Louis Trintignant), another gorgeous score from the Maestro Morricone, and a dynamo villain played by the always interesting Klaus Kinski. Corbucci is never sentimental, and this may be his most bleak and cynical take on the old west. Clearly an inspiration for The Hateful Eight and countless other westerns. Bought at Videomatica.
