Il grande silenzio

Klaus Kinski, an actor famed for his eccentricities and Werner Herzog collaborations, which occurred throughout the '70s and '80s. He is the lingering, temperamental and key constituent for the obscure 1968 gem, The Great Silence. Arguably, the work is partially responsible (or is rather the "finishing note") to the end of the '60s, Italian sub-genre named the "spaghetti western." This is a loose term, regularly associated with the works of Sergio Leone and few erstwhile, Italian directors who approached the spin-off genre of the stereotypical, American western. The Italian westerns emerged within the mainstream, during the midway of the '60s, becoming recognised for the close resemblance they all had with each other. The ostensible sped-up zooms, jarring scores and unforgiving violence marked the genre as the most rebellious and hard-boiled of its time. The Great Silence further proves this perceived notion.

Director Sergio Corbucci (known for his hyper-violent, but somewhat communitarian motifs) incorporates both American and European cinema values, as well as the themes generally condoned along with the western genre. Telling the tale of a ruthless bounty-hunter ironically named Loco, (played by Klaus Kinski, always fitting the mould of a maniac) who wanders the snow-ridden state of Utah in search of "wanted: dead or alive" criminals. Essentially, he is a villain, a despicable individual who makes a living out of money for murder. Gaining $1000 for each heinous slaughter he commits, Loco one day kills the husband of Pauline (a woman who refuses to accept the murder) and racially abuses her after doing so. It is from this crime that the film promptly escapades into a jaunting exercise of revenge on behalf of two individuals (firstly Pauline and then the "opposed-to-bounty-hunting" gunslinger she so vehemently hires).

Filmed in strikingly intrepid weather conditions and motivated by cold-hearted brutality, The Great Silence captures a landscape which is a parallel to the themes portrayed within the piece. First-rate direction is garnered from the messy, cut-throat editing and the resounding cynical tone of a dead-beat anti-western will leave fans groping for more of its kind. For such a tough film, it will be evident that the innocent characters do not beg of sympathy, but are able to warrant a valuable empathy through the -although often questionable- acting. Pauline, a key character in the story utters "once, my husband told me of this man. He avenges our wrongs. And the bounty killers sure do tremble when he appears. They call him "Silence." Because wherever he goes, the silence of death follows." She makes this heroic statement after she swears to seek vengeance for her murdered husband, and it is unquestionably the film's finest moment. Nevertheless, the film's most triumphant highlight is Klaus Kinski, who defies the bounty-hunter archetype by using a patronising and hollow method of acting. It could have been the recipe for disaster, but Klaus Kinski pitches the ambiance of his role admirably.

Requiring a certain amount of respect for the genre, The Great Silence works as a fine ode to a time when cinema was full of defiant gusto. Although not for everyone, the film is a pleasant surprise for viewers who are interested in genre cinema or in search of films from a forgotten era. Just remember that by no means is it a Leone rip-off.

Sergio Corbucci had me a little fooled at first; from seeing Navajo Joe, the first I'd seen of his films, I thought he was more of a spinster in the comical sense than Sergio Leone was. Although Corbucci doesn't nearly have the level of directorial talent as him (then again who does), there's a level of enthrallment in making a movie, in pushing an in-your-face style that works to his advantage. The Great Silence is pretty far from Navajo Joe, mostly because any laugh to be had is unintentional, or at the expense of star Klaus Kinski if one is already a fan (hearing him dubbed after seeing so many of his Herzog roles is a little staggering). The story boils down to vendettas and paybacks and paydays between scorned bounty hunters and duped sheriffs, plus the title character- named as such because of a mute demeanor and because actor Trintignant didn't want to learn any lines- leading Silence and Loco (albeit this isn't even one of Kinski's craziest performances by far) into a final showdown.

The circumstances leading up to this showdown should, in a more conventional western, be pretty clean-cut. But what's impressive, if almost a little circumstantial, is that Corbucci puts in little unconventional markers along the way: the high-drama scene where Silence gets his hand burnt by a goon as foreshadowing for the ominous bounty hunter massacre, and for those little moments when life seems so easily killed off, particularly at the start. Silence, like in a Leone film, does have something of a gimmick as a killer, as he shoots off the thumbs of his targets. But Corbucci's drama isn't keened on incredible suspense sequences in operatic form or gallows humor. Even a sex scene for Corbucci has a tenderness to it that feels the work of someone trying to break out of squarely B-movie extremities and trying for something more. If it isn't altogether successful it's attributable to flaws scattered around: random 'soft-lighting' in the last act that is very distracting, a couple of plot points not totally clear even by the end, and Kinski looking sometimes like a pretty boy as much as a sadistic bounty hunter, plus Corbucci's tendencies to favor close-ups for more formulaic means as opposed to drawing out deeper emotions through a more keen system.

But even with Corbucci not being a 'great' director, he has a keen eye for Utah (if it is Utah, which it probably isn't), and the vast vistas of snow and fields in a plain sight that contrasts the sort of void sucking the characters in with the hopeless center of bounty hunters without the strongest opponent. And Morricone, as if it was like breathing, fleshes out scenes so well with his beautiful score, only slightly below the magnificence of a Leone picture. You may feel by the end that it's not the prettiest western you've ever seen, but it has that possibility in its low-budget blood-stained manner to stay with you long after it's over.

A voiceless vigilante enacts revenge, if you've been tricked or tripped up he can make amends, for a fee he will dispense, compensation, recompense, with the weapon of his choice (a Mauser C96), he will avenge. Loco makes collections for the state, if there's a bounty on your head he will checkmate, always dead never alive, as he conspires and connives, has the backing of the local magistrate.

The town of Snow Hill lives up to its name as Pauline Middleton, wonderfully performed by Vonetta McGee, seeks revenge for her husband's killing at the hands of Loco, a devious and scheming bounty hunter (just as wonderfully performed by Klaus Kimski), by hiring the man with no noise who goes by the name of Silent, and bears a close resemblance to a similar spaghetti western character you may have come across, played perfectly by the suave Jean-Louis Trintignant. The ending may leave you a little confounded as it takes a tangent you most likely won't be expecting or indeed be familiar with.

Twenty five years before Clint Eastwood made his departure from the western genre with his violent, cynical epic "Unforgiven", Sergio Corbucci had already treated us with one of the most dark and unforgiving tales of vengeance violence and that has ever graced the western screen. A forgotten classic that deserves recognition "The Great Silence" is Corbucci's definitive movie, powerful to the point of sadness. It can and it will shock it's viewer, with it's unforgiving nature, and themes.

Set around the snowy landscapes of Utah, "The Great Silence" stars Jean-Louis Trintignant as Silence, a mute gunfighter assisting a group outlaws for and a woman trying to avenge her dead husband. They are faced against a group of bounty hunters, led by Loco (Klaus Kinsky) a ruthless and merciless man who values only the money he gains from the killing.

Corbucci utilizes the snow-filled landscape to the maximum, creating a hauntingly chilling atmosphere that sticks with you from the beginning to the end and most likely, long after you've watched the film. The opening shot demonstrates perfectly the technique employed by Corbucci, with a long shot of Silence as he rides thru the desert of snow, there are no other environmental elements, just him riding calmly forwards accompanied only by a chilling tune from Morricone. This entire moment creates a image so strong so hypnotizing that I found myself re-watching it again and again. It is these moments that make "The Great Silence" great, experiencing the silence before the gunshot and the silence after it, the moments of reckoning, the moments that decide the fates of human beings. I emphasize on "human beings" because the characters here are not only likable but believable and they very much feel like real people, the kind you might like or despise or love or hate. It's not about Silence's skills as a gunfighter, but the human aspect bellow, that is what makes him feel real. None of this would have succeed had it not been for the brilliant acting of the entire cast. Trintignant and Kinsky make the biggest impression though, adding layers of depth to their respective characters without even uttering a word, just their facial expressions, the way the move, the confidence with which they act it is simply brilliant.

Commenting on the final scene would be a downright shame to those who haven't seen the movie just yet. But it is one of the most memorable, no not only memorable it is one of the greatest endings ever shot, with one of the best uses of slow-motion I have ever seen. Slow-motion that captures the darkest, saddest moment, the one thing no one would expect to happen in a western. This further helps to strengthen the major anti-violence theme as the credits begin to roll and the viewer is left to cope with the unexpected finale.

Ennio Morricone serves one of his best scores. I would easily rank this amongst "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" in terms of quality. But it is by no means similar to it. No. We are not soothed by the comfortable music heard in his collaborations with Leone. This score is, haunting and sad, like the movie itself it has an emotional effect on the viewer.

"The Great Silence" is as every bit as good as any of Leone's films. But is also as every bit as different from them. A uniquely dark voyage into the brutal reality of human nature, concealed as a western. Sergio Corbucci died in 1990, his movies weren't remembered by many, but those that did will never forget "The Great Silence".

This is among the very few films that make you truly disgusted by its violence; not because of the amount of blood as in many other films but because the victims of the bounty hunters are human beings, slaughtered brutally in front of their own family members. Corbucci has disguised this film as a piece of popular cinema, but gives us shocks once in a while, and finally surprises us completely in the unexpected end. This is how he makes his anti-violent message very clear, and it is easy to agree with him.

IL GRANDE SILENZIO is more pessimistic but also more human than any western by Leone or Peckinpah. It may not be a pleasant experience, but if you want to see a masterpiece of cinema instead of a traditional western, it is definitely worth waiting in line for.