June 17th: ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST (Sergio Leone, 1968)
NOTE: This film will be projected in the high-definiton Blu-ray format.
A former prostitute arrives in a frontier town to start a new life and finds herself caught between the ambitons of three dangerous men.
With only seven features to his credit, Sergio Leone is still a major figure in post-World War II cinema, having influenced subsequent generations of contemporary filmmakers. The bulk of his career was in "Spaghetti Westerns", a group of films from the 1960's made by Italian directors in the Spanish countryside, utilizing mostly local crews and casts, occasionally with big American actors.
After completing The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly with Clint Eastwood, Leone intended to take a break from the genre to develop a gangster film, but was given the opportunity to work with screen legend Henry Fonda (plus a considerable budget). He called in burgeoning directors Bernardo Bertolucci and Dario Argento to collaborate on the script, and in a rare move for a western, made their lead protagonist a female.
In addition to Fonda, the main cast includes renowned stage and screen actor Jason Robards, Charles Bronson (The Great Escape), and Italian actress Claudia Cardinale. Other parts are played by Italian actors as well as veteran western character actors. As was common practice at the time, all of the dialogue was recorded in post-production, and conversely, the iconic score by Ennio Morricone was recorded before shooting and played on set to help the actors get into character, each having his/her own specific theme.
The film was shot on location in Spain, in Rome's Cinecitta studios, with additional work done in Monument Valley (near the Arizona/Utah border), made famous by John Ford's westerns. The cinematography is by Tonino Delli Colli, a previous collaborator of Leone, as well as fellow Italian directors Pier Paolo Pasolini and Federico Fellini.
While the film is an amalgamation of mythologies created by classic Hollywood westerns (and includes nods to various classics), it also functions as a portrait of a period of transition between the wild frontier days and the age of big business taming it. Visually, Leone's distinct style alternates between baroque, expansive images and the most intense close-ups and attention to detail. His use of duration to build atmosphere is most evident in the protracted opening title sequence, but prominent throughout.
The film was not as successful internationally as Leone's previous works (and was edited down for its American release), though it did receive positive critical notices. It has been named as an influence by directors such as Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino, and John Carpenter, and is now regarded as not only one of the greatest westerns, but has been named on various "Best Films" lists.
Running time is 2 hrs, 45 min.
A former prostitute arrives in a frontier town to start a new life and finds herself caught between the ambitons of three dangerous men.
With only seven features to his credit, Sergio Leone is still a major figure in post-World War II cinema, having influenced subsequent generations of contemporary filmmakers. The bulk of his career was in "Spaghetti Westerns", a group of films from the 1960's made by Italian directors in the Spanish countryside, utilizing mostly local crews and casts, occasionally with big American actors.
After completing The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly with Clint Eastwood, Leone intended to take a break from the genre to develop a gangster film, but was given the opportunity to work with screen legend Henry Fonda (plus a considerable budget). He called in burgeoning directors Bernardo Bertolucci and Dario Argento to collaborate on the script, and in a rare move for a western, made their lead protagonist a female.
In addition to Fonda, the main cast includes renowned stage and screen actor Jason Robards, Charles Bronson (The Great Escape), and Italian actress Claudia Cardinale. Other parts are played by Italian actors as well as veteran western character actors. As was common practice at the time, all of the dialogue was recorded in post-production, and conversely, the iconic score by Ennio Morricone was recorded before shooting and played on set to help the actors get into character, each having his/her own specific theme.
The film was shot on location in Spain, in Rome's Cinecitta studios, with additional work done in Monument Valley (near the Arizona/Utah border), made famous by John Ford's westerns. The cinematography is by Tonino Delli Colli, a previous collaborator of Leone, as well as fellow Italian directors Pier Paolo Pasolini and Federico Fellini.
While the film is an amalgamation of mythologies created by classic Hollywood westerns (and includes nods to various classics), it also functions as a portrait of a period of transition between the wild frontier days and the age of big business taming it. Visually, Leone's distinct style alternates between baroque, expansive images and the most intense close-ups and attention to detail. His use of duration to build atmosphere is most evident in the protracted opening title sequence, but prominent throughout.
The film was not as successful internationally as Leone's previous works (and was edited down for its American release), though it did receive positive critical notices. It has been named as an influence by directors such as Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino, and John Carpenter, and is now regarded as not only one of the greatest westerns, but has been named on various "Best Films" lists.
Running time is 2 hrs, 45 min.
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