Once Upon A Time In The West (Collector's Edition) (DVD)

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Loved it
Story	Good
Characters / Performances	Outstanding
Special Effects	Good
How does it compare to similar films?	Outstanding

Advantages:	Stunning scenery, stars Henry Fonda, clipped dialogue
Disadvantages:	Long, lack of dialogue may not appeal to everyone,

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Reviewing one's favourite film is always a bit risky: you risk it being biased and forget that it may well have negative points which will not appeal to all viewers; I hope this will not be the case with this review. Released in 1969 and with an all-star cast, "Once Upon a Time in the West" has somehow faded from the public's memory in a way that other classic westerns such as "High Noon" and "The Big Country" have not, and yet it is a film which I feel deserves to be much more widely known, as for me it is THE seminal spaghetti western. I have watched it countless more times since that first occasion and would like to share with you my opinions of it and assist you in deciding whether to purchase and enjoy this masterpiece, presented here as a 2 disc DVD set, the "Collector's Edition".

♣♣♣ Synopsis ♣♣♣

In essence, a classic tale of good versus evil, set in the Wild West days of the 1800s. Jill (Claudia Cardinale), a young woman from the east of America, arrives in a tiny settlement somewhere in the western USA. She is coming to live with her new husband Brett McBain (Frank Wolff), who she married sometime previously, and to meet his children. Puzzled at not being met by him at the railroad junction where she alighted, she hires a small stagecoach to take her to her husband's property, passing on the way through some decidedly un-salubrious towns and taverns.

On reaching the farm, she finds her husband and his three children have been massacred by hired gunmen. Defying local opinion, she decides to stay at the farm and in the process discovers that a ruthless, crippled railroad baron called Morton (Gabriele Ferzetti) is intent on removing her by any means and that it was his hired thugs, led by Frank (Henry Fonda) who killed her husband and his family, thus allowing for the demolition of the farm and advancement of the railroad.

Jill is not alone in her struggle against this malign force however, and encounters help in the unlikely form of the enigmatic "Harmonica" (Charles Bronson) and tired-out desperado Cheyenne (Jason Robards). Jill's struggle to get justice for McBain and his children is set amid the poignant backdrop of an ageing west, a place where gunslingers are a dying breed and where modern forces like the railroad may ultimately be unstoppable. Yet, in a dramatic and moving climax she somehow succeeds in getting the revenge she seeks and ensuring that her husband's death was not wholly in vain.

♣♣♣ Cast & Acting ♣♣♣

Without wishing to gloss over excellent performances by Cardinale, Bronson and Robards I want to get straight to the reason why so many watched this film when it was first released, and why I love it so much: Henry Fonda.

Father to Peter and Jane, and grandfather to Bridget, Henry Fonda was in his day a highly-regarded actor and one of the leading lights of Hollywood. His attraction here is that he was cast completely against type, being normally given the role of the hero or leading man. In this film though, he was cast as the main bad guy, and many cinema-goers went to view the film just to see how he successful he would be in this endeavour, perhaps expecting him to fail. In the event, his performance was acclaimed, and all the more because it was so unexpected.

When it works, casting against type can be spectacularly good and thus it is with Fonda: with his big, blue eyes and stern but grandfatherly face, you expect him at any minute to give you a reassuring hug before riding off to take care of the villains and save the day. Of course this never happens, and when he laughs or flashes his baby-blue eyes you can see not good but evil in them. Playing the part of Frank, the almost psychopathically evil killer, he is utterly convincing and the emotionless way he murders without batting an eyelid is genuinely shocking and makes compelling viewing.

Charles Bronson is another reason why this film is a must-see in my view. Those acquainted with his "Deathwish" series of films will remember Bronson for his poker face and lack of emotion and this is also evident in Once Upon a Time in the West. Bronson plays the part of "Harmonica", a mysterious harmonica-playing stranger with a long-held lust for revenge in his heart, a lust which is sated at the climax of the film in an unexpected plot twist. Befriending Jill, he helps her to obtain retribution against Frank and Morton, but for reasons of his own as much as for her sake. Although I do not intend to quote huge passages of script, I would like to share the following short excerpt from possibly my favourite scene of the film, where Harmonica arrives in town and is confronted by three gunslingers who have ridden to the railroad junction to kill him:

Harmonica: Did you bring a horse for me?
Snaky : Well, looks like we're... .. looks like we're shy one horse.
Harmonica : (shakes head) You brought two too many.

While Snaky is still puzzling over this remark, Harmonica makes short work of him and his companions proving that indeed there were too many horses: after Harmonica had finished his work there would only be one horse needed, for him to ride away on. A truly fantastic scene: taut, edgy and with wonderfully clipped and sparse dialogue, it sets the standard for the whole film.

Essentially playing the role of Harmonica's sidekick Cheyenne, Jason Robards also gives a tremendous performance. Although less reserved and in a way more human than Harmonica, Cheyenne is nevertheless a tough if weary gunfighter. This film was really the first that brought Robards to public attention and he is remembered for his depiction of an ageing gunfighter, symbolising the ageing wild west and the fact that men like him are on the way out.

Cardinale, almost the only woman in the film, is perfectly cast although at the time she was little known. Looking a little like Sophia Loren, she brings an exotic, Mediterranean flavour to the part of Jill and aside from her stunning looks is excellent in this film. The fact that she has a slight foreign accent also lends something to her performance, giving an added edge to the sparse, broken dialogue characteristic of the film.

♣♣♣ Direction ♣♣♣

Already known for such great westerns as "A Fistful of Dollars" and "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly", Sergio Leone takes us to the pinnacle of directing brilliance here, and I can do no better than describe the opening of the film, which in my view shows Leone's brilliance in a nutshell. Normally, the opening credits of a film do only a small amount to set the scene ,if anything at all, but the opening sequence for this film is altogether different and even on its own is a beautifully directed and highly atmospheric set-piece, which I could watch over and over again without tiring of it:

-Three men arrive on horseback at a lonely railroad station in the middle of a barren, arid landscape. Whilst seemingly waiting for a train to arrive they lounge around and one of them amuses himself by trying to get rid a fly which keeps landing on him without using his hands; somehow he eventually manages to capture it in the barrel of his gun. All the while, the only sounds we can hear are the whistling of the wind and the persistent squeaking of a windmill in the background. Throughout this there is almost no dialogue and apart from the wind and the squeaking, no other sounds.-

This scene really typifies for me the director's approach to the whole film: minimalism. He frequently makes use of wide sweeping shots of empty, parched plains and has painted a wild west in drab browns and dusty greys which give the place a spare and austere feel. I think this is a great technique and acts to mirror the harshness of the people who inhabit this land. This emptiness is further accentuated by the fact that in the entire film there are only 15 pages of dialogue and so as you can imagine much of the film passes in near silence. However, this lack of dialogue in my opinion does not make the film in any way boring. Rather, it helps to maintain the sense of almost eerie stillness which pervades the film and ensures that when dialogue is used it is sharp and succinct.

♣♣♣ Soundtrack ♣♣♣

Whilst I sit here writing this review, I am listening to the wonderfully atmospheric and moving soundtrack, composed by the legendary Ennio Morricone, longtime collaborator of Sergio Leone. It is beyond the scope of this review to try to analyse the soundtrack as well as the film, but I would like to make a few comments. One of the themes running through the soundtrack to Once Upon a Time in the West is minimalism: as the film is characterized by arid, empty landscapes, long silences and little dialogue, so the soundtrack matches this in its bleak, austere feel.

Most tracks are very simple with few instruments the and include the disturbing, discordant "Man with a Harmonica" with the same few notes played over again on a harmonica, the melancholy, wordless female vocal of the opening track, and the use of a harsh, metallic electric guitar as a motif for Frank and for evil in general ("As a Judgement"). The music really complements the action and helps to emphasise the themes of the film such as retribution, revenge and brutality.

♣♣♣ Extras ♣♣♣

Extras on this DVD set are plentiful, as befits the title "Collectors Edition". They include interviews with some of the cast and crew members, acting profiles of some cast members, the trailer for the original release of the film and a nice stills gallery. In addition, there is a commentary and several "featurettes" which run together to form what is basically a behind-the-scenes documentary about the making of the film and in itself is compulsive viewing for fans.

Particularly interesting are the sections dealing with special effects, which in many cases were done by the actors themselves for added realism. For me the extras featuring Henry Fonda were the most interesting but there are some extras tit-bits in this package that I think almost all viewers will find something they like.

Viewers who are unfamiliar with the main actors or with the Western genre will particularly benefit and I would suggest watching some of the extras before watching the film as they really help to set the scene and mood.

♣♣♣ Value for Money ♣♣♣

The RRP for this product is GBP 19.99 but at the time of writing (Oct 06) Amazon are offering it for the almost unbelievable price of GBP 6.97, which is one the best bargains I have come across in many a long month. For the enjoyment and viewing pleasure which this film has given me (not to mention the hidden treasure of the extras in this set) I would have been happy to pay up to GBP 40, and as such I believe this is extremely good value for money. Do not let this one pass you by!

♣♣♣ Summary ♣♣♣

Well, what more can I say after all that. Not only is this my favourite western, it is my all time favourite film, and whether or not you are a fan of the western genre, I urge you to at least watch this one. Fans of Henry Fonda will especially enjoy his one outing in the role of bad guy which is so different from his other roles. However, viewers who enjoy dialogue-laden films or films which make extensive use of colourful props and scenery may be slightly disappointed. This is also not a film for children, due to its occasional violence, but the rating of 15 means that teenagers can certainly watch it. It is possible to buy a DVD of just the film, but I think this DVD set offers better value for money as it includes such great extras.

♣♣♣ Viewers may also like ♣♣♣

The Big Country
A Fistful of Dollars
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Twelve Angry Men

♣♣♣ Cast ♣♣♣

Henry Fonda-----Frank
Claudia Cardinale------Jill McBain
Jason Robards-----Cheyenne
Charles Bronson-----Harmonica
Gabriele Ferzetti-----Morton
Paolo Stoppa-----Sam
Woody Strode-----Stony (member of Frank's gang)
Jack Elam-----Snaky (member of Frank's gang)
Keenan Wynn-----Sheriff
Frank Wolff-----Brett McBain
Lionel Stander-----Barman

♣♣♣ Fact box ♣♣♣

DVD region: 2 (PAL)
Approx running time: 160 minutes
Classification: 15
DVD release: 06/10/03
Distributor: Paramount Home Entertainment
Availability: Amazon, some high street stores.