The Great Silence

A stylish spaghetti western set not in the dusty plains of the American West, but in the snowing mountains of Utah. But every potential positive has its reverse side too. For instance, Trintignant’s role is like a doppelganger to Eastwood’s man with no name from the Dollars trilogy (in some shots with a tipped hat, stubble and cheroot he is his spitting image), but he comes nowhere near him in terms of charisma. Morricone’s music is great of course, but it takes a criminally back seat. Even though luckily not completely silenced. The outstanding camerawork does a good job at disguising the cheap production design, but it should never be allowed to be so “jerky" as it is in places (for instance the opening credits scene where instead of panning smoothly to follow the horse and rider, he lets them ride from one edge of the shot to the other and then turns the camera sharply after him, and it repeats again and again). Klaus Kinski’s performance, but he should never be allowed to act so hard in some scenes and of course Corbucci who definitely is no amateur director, but comes nowhere near Leone’s format. So why steal from him so obviously? It seems that this is an average Italian B-spaghetti the likes of which an infinite number popped up in the seventies, huh? But it’s a good movie, even better than just good. It just needed to find its own way and not to stop at being a “Dollar" movie set in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. But even so, it’s enough to make it one of the best movies of this subgenre. Perhaps the only area that is completely “but"-free is the snowy atmosphere and the rough characters who take no nonsense and are the sort to shoot first and ask questions later. The filmmakers manage to hold this together even at the end (but they shouldn’t have shot an alternative ending too). And a note to end with: The Czech distributor continued in the footsteps of the original. At first glance they translated the title well and effectively, but only until you see the movie. (13/04/2008)

It's a pity there weren't more silent characters in The Great Silence, because the dubbing on the DVD is terrible and you won't find the original track with Czech subtitles. But the film was a success - even more than that - and the ending put the crown on it. Two years earlier, Sergio Corbucci made Django and if you thought the main character got a hell of a beating, get ready for something even more gratuitous. Jean-Louis Trintignant was good, but Klaus Kinski was better. Ennio Morricone's music did not stand out this time, although it is very good. (18/10/2013)

It is impossible not to agree that at times Trintignant is too similar to Eastwood, on the other hand, this is still a great western film with an interesting story, interesting characters, and, moreover, an unconventional setting that is superbly utilized in the film - the snow is not just for decoration, but it has consequences for some of the events. After a long time, I could enjoy a western again and this one got me. Not to mention how excellent the ending is, or rather, how different it is. (25/06/2014)