DVD Review: Once Upon a Time in the West
When I was young, one of my memories of my grandfather was that he loved to watch westerns. I always found them to be boring. They all pretty much looked the same. They all seemed to take place on the same street comprised of the same buildings. And there always seemed to be the same showdown at the end of each one with the good guy winning.
When I met Darrell, I knew
The Unforgiven was one of his favorite films. I assumed that this meant I would be forced to watch these boring westerns that my grandfather loved. My stomach turned at the mere thought.
However, this was because I hadn’t been exposed to the sort of western that even someone as picky as me could enjoy.
Once Upon a Time in the West is that kind of western.
Sergio Leone made an absolutely stunning film when he made
Once Upon a Time in the West.
The first remarkable thing about Leone’s film is how breathtaking the visuals are. He uses beautiful and realistic sets and beautiful natural landscapes that when mixed together make a vast, gritty, and yet stunning background (and often foreground) for his story. He has a wonderful eye for how he wanted this film to look. In fact, on the DVD there are a few documentaries and some of the people interviewed say that Leone didn’t storyboard a single shot because he knew exactly what he wanted and he had it all in his head. Knowing that makes the film even more astonishing to look at.
Another great part of
Once Upon a Time in the West is the cast.
Henry Fonda is absolutely heartless and cruel as Frank. It’s odd to see Henry Fonda playing such an unlikable guy.
Claudia Cardinale is gorgeous as Jill, a woman who moves out to the west from New Orleans. My two favorite performances are
Jason Robards as Cheyenne the outlaw, and
Charles Bronson as Harmonica, the man of few words. Robards is often very funny, and surprisingly likable. Bronson doesn’t talk much throughout the film, but he doesn’t have to because his face and eyes speak volumes.
While
Once Upon a Time in the West is very good there also some down sides. First, the film is very long. At almost three hours, the DVD version is far longer than the original theatrical cut. It's worth it, though, for the restored original ending, which radically changes what we know about the fate of a principle character. However, the beginning does drag a bit, but by then end it just flies by. If you can get past the slow intro, you are in for a great ending. Second, there is some pretty hokey dialogue. It’s not too distracting, but I did find myself laughing from time to time. My last issue with
Once Upon a Time in the West is that I got confused sometimes. There are a lot of characters to keep track of, and it’s easy to get a little lost. However, it’s well worth the effort.
Overall,
Once Upon a Time in the West is a wonderful film. Having seen it, I feel a lot more open to westerns. Not all westerns are the same cookie cutter westerns that my grandfather liked. I know that this one definitely isn’t.
