Reviews of Once Upon a Time in the West

West side story.

Posted : 1 month, 2 weeks ago on 11 November 2009 05:37 (A review of Once Upon a Time in the West )

''If you want to, you can lay me over the table and amuse yourself. And even call in your men. Well. No woman ever died from that. When you're finished, all I'll need will be a tub of boiling water, and I'll be exactly what I was before - with just another filthy memory.
-sighs-''You make good coffee, at least?''


Epic story of a mysterious stranger with a harmonica who joins forces with a notorious desperado to protect a beautiful widow from a ruthless assassin working for the railroad.

Henry Fonda: Frank

Claudia Cardinale: Jill McBain

Jason Robards: Cheyenne

Charles Bronson: Harmonica

There were three men in her life.

One to take her...

one to love her...

and one to kill her.

C'era una volta il West by Sergio Leone the man who made The Good, The bad and the Ugly has crafted something of legend, of finesse, of grandeur.

Never before have i seen a Western that feels like a fairytale and music and tuneful heavenly melodies that jump out and set the scene, the mood. Music that tears your soul apart in vibrant doses. Harmonica playing, whistling, shanties, some harpsichord/piano playing oh god I'm in heaven. There's some tunes that will stick in your head all day on this, the scenes pay gladly, and it surely pays off.

Combine that with performances that are as timeless as eternity and you have something that really does glow. Claudia Cardinale is so beautiful, she really cannot be faulted with how her face shows such soulful sorrow and yearning and such beauty. Although I'm always amazed how a woman living in the turbulent West can have perfect make up and perfect eye lashes.
Henry Fonda as Frank plays a cool calculating villain with those radiant eyes of sea blue. The beginning massacre reminded me of Kill Bill, where him and his men wipe out a whole family.
Charles Bronson also has a shroud of mystery and wonder, he's a legend and screams this with just a look everytime he's on screen. Plus that damn iconic Harmonica hence his alias which adds to the mystery of his character.
Jason Robards has a voice that makes David Carradine sound like his long lost brother from yonder, he adds alot to the amazing trio that is Fonda, Bronson & Robards.

Gunwork, cinematography, score, did i mention Claudia. This movie is a dazzling magical Western Classic that combines tunes with emotion, and has character's who know what there doing.

There's a final revelation between Fonda & Bronson that clicks everything in place.

A Sergio Leone triumph. Masterpiece and inspiration for many movies to follow after 1968. Definitely ahead of the game and it's time.

''He's whittlin' on a piece of wood. I've got a feeling when he stops whittlin'... Somethin's gonna happen.''

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Whoa being a good word to describe it all

Posted : 1 month, 2 weeks ago on 10 November 2009 02:36 (A review of Once Upon a Time in the West )

When I went into this, I knew I'd have to write something about it, so as I watched I kind of pictured what I'd do. After 25 minutes I said to myself "The first 25 minutes of this movie are perfect!" Then, after 45, I said "The first 45 minutes of this movie are perfect!" And so it went on for a 160 minutes, after which the only thing I could think of about for this review is "The 160 minutes of this film are perfect!" So yeah, Once Upon a Time in the West sure deserves all the praise it gets. It's called the ultimate western, but it's so much more than that. Sure, it has all the things any good western should have and none of the things it shouldn't have (meaning that there are no saloon fist fights, thank god), but the movie also has soooo much more to it. All the dialogue is layered with subtext ontop of subtext, none of it is nonsenical, everything reveals more and more about these great characters. The performances are beyond solid, providing atleast four unforgettable characters that will haunt anyone who dares enter Leone's masterpiece. The pacing is pitch-perfect every step of the way as well, as is, well, pretty much every other thing as well. The sole problem I can come up with that actually bothered me during the film is the way the score occasionally ends and then restarts. This sometimes works, but every once in a while a tune just cuts in a bad point where the transition from music to no music doesn't feel natural and it kind of takes me out of the film when this happens. The train scene with Harmonica aboard is a good example of this. This is however by no means a flaw that would lower my appreciation towards the picture in any way. This is a film that could be used as the dictionary definition for masterpiece.

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