“I saw three of these dusters a short time ago… Inside the dusters, there were three men… Inside the men, there were three bullets.”
The 10-minute opening sequence of Sergio Leone’s 1968 epic Western is a lesson in suspenseful film-making. A minor character chases a fly around his face whilst another catches dripping water in the brim of his hat without flinching. In a few moments they will both be dead.
As the title suggests, we are witness to just one of many stories of vengeance and liberation in the West; the concept of time will play a crucial role in the development of both characters and place. The original Italian title, C’era una volta il West, similarly conveys the film’s purpose – volta meaning a ‘turning point’ in the context of music and writing (1). The turning point in question is the major change to the setting which impacts all the characters’ motives and storylines: the railway. The tracks, which are present throughout the film, represent opportunity to each of the characters, either as a means to power or escape.
The four main characters each have a striking musical introduction, created by Ennio Morricone, making the movie into a quasi-opera (2), the most haunting of them all being Harmonica’s. Simple and repetitive, Harmonica (whose real name is never revealed) plays his tune as a warning or threat before any meeting. The music suits the personalities and journeys on screen in between the lengthy silences, and for the duration of the film helps to build the tension towards the climactic confrontations. The fall of the powerful, however inevitable, is dragged to the very end, making for a very satisfying crescendo and the domesticity of the final image gives hope that the brutish old ways of the West can be left in the past making way for the prosperity the railroad will bring.
“How can you trust a man that wears both a belt and suspenders? Man can’t even trust his own pants.”
It was Henry Fonda’s first role in a Leone film and the director had Fonda’s “baby blues” in mind when casting his villain (3). Leone was so eager to work with Fonda, he flew to New York to persuade him and eventually Eli Wallach convinced him to accept the role (4). Sophia Loren was Leone’s first choice to play Jill, and her husband Carlo Ponti was prepared to provide generous financial backing, but Leone feared she would try to influence the making of his film, so instead cast his personal friend, Claudia Cardinale (5). The role of Harmonica was given to Charles Bronson who had turned down Leone previously when offered parts in his Dollars Trilogy, but he only accepted after Clint Eastwood had declined first.
I love this film primarily, without trying to be too Nigella Lawson about it, for its sumptuousness. The dialogue is clever and the pauses even more so. The sweeping landscapes are gorgeous and the close-ups intense. The characters are nasty and selfish and smart. It’s a long one, but it’s worth it; I hope you watch it and recommend me some more!
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Once Upon A Time In The West. 1968. (Film). Sergio Leone. Dir. USA: Paramount Pictures.
Ennio Morricone. Once Upon A Time In The West (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack). Spotify. https://open.spotify.com/album/1mLXrA8oEtzeH6D45Zx4Bt
- Dan Einav. ‘How Once Upon A Time In The West Reflects the Social Anxiety of 1968’. Little White Lies. 11 Mar 2018. https://lwlies.com/articles/once-upon-a-time-in-the-west-sergio-leone-1968/
- Ronald Bergman and Rob Hill. ‘Once Upon A Time In The West’. 501 Must-See Movies. Ed: Emmas Hill. London: Bounty Books, 2004. 516-517.
- ‘Henry Fonda Talks about his casting in Once Upon A Time in the West’. Youtube. 11 Jul 2007. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHI6Hl7FUqA
- Tom B. ‘Once Upon A Time in the West ~ Henry Fonda’. Westerns All Italiana. 21 Dec 2018. https://westernsallitaliana.blogspot.com/2018/12/once-upon-time-in-wet-henry-fonda.html
- ‘Once Upon A Time In The West’. IMDB. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064116/?ref_=tttr_tr_tt
Once Upon A Time in Hollywood is available on DVD and Blu-Ray.
Cine-Blah 