Here we are, halfway through the list. This experience so far has been a fun ride, and it will continue to be so I am sure, as it has taken me through some strange territories and some amazing high points and some also amazing (in their own way) low points.
It seems fitting that The Great Silence would the be middle of this journey. It definitely took me a direction I was not expecting, or even ready for, but maybe I needed this darkness so that I can better appreciate the light.
The light better come fast though, because The Great Silence is the black of the darkest winter night.
Film #15 The Great Silence (1968)
Sorry that the trailer is in Italian. There's a reason for that.
Here is the imdb.com cast listing. Here is the wikipedia page about the production.
The plot revolves around the small town of Snow Hill, Utah, in 1898. There is a great blizzard and it has forced a lot of local people to steal food and supplies in order to survive. The town's banker, Henry Pollicut, is putting bounties on all the thieves' heads which is bringing in a bunch of 'bounty killers' to town as there are plenty of poor down trodden people to collect on. One of them is a man called Loco (Klaus Kinski) who is crueler and smarter than the rest. He seems to enjoy killing and being on the side of the law while doing it.
The townsfolk who watch the family and friends being killed want justice as well, and they reach out to a man only known as Silence (Jean Louis Trintignant), who is mute, carries a very advanced machine pistol, and will only kill in self-defense (though preferring to shoot the right thumb off of the person he is facing off with, so they can live and not handle a gun again). He makes the other person draw first so that way he can also stay on the side of the law.
A new sheriff (Frank Wolff) is assigned to Snow Hill and he isn't on board with how the bounty killers are completing their work as the bounties are 'dead or alive' but he hasn't seen any one brought back alive. He doesn't trust Loco at his word and starts an investigation of Loco's methods.
Pauline (Vonetta McGee) watched her husband get shot in cold blood by Loco while trying to turn himself in voluntarily. She only wants revenge and hires Silence to kill Loco.
And this is where I need to stop and advise you that if you have any, ANY, inclination to watch this film, do not read any further and go watch it. I had no expectation of what this film would be when I went into it and I feel like it would be a disservice to ruin that blank slate for anyone else. There is a YouTube rip of the whole film, but it felt 'wobbly' to me so I made other arrangements in order to watch it.
Okay, good? You have been warned.
The violence in this film is very jarring in a way like Django Kill! ...If You Live, Shoot!, but more blunt and to the point. When people get shot, you don't see the impact from the bullet (from my very brief reading, gun shot squibs were invented and were used as early as 1951) but the aftermath is bright bloody and brutal. No more is there just little dabs of blood, we see pools and streaks. It further sells the harsh reality of the time this film took place. The film does show a few thumbs getting blown away with hamburger meat like results that are gross and completely effective.
But the visual of the gunshots isn't what makes it jarring. It is how matter of fact that Loco and the bounty killers shoot their bounty. It is almost professional in how they approach it. They way Loco shoots Pauline's husband is so fast after identifying him it is almost like a UPS driver getting your signature and then handing you your package (and then the UPS driver shooting you). I was expecting some kind of monologue or speech and then a back and forth between Loco and the husband before guns were fired.
The efficiency and brutality are reflected in the location of Snow Hill. This is a town high up in the mountains and they snow just keeps falling. You don't have energy to spare as the frigid landscape will easily consume you and then immediately forget about you. The locals that are on the run from the bounty killer tell the new sheriff that he can't stop them with a cold gun. You learn to keep your gun warm at all time so that it will work when needed. Always be ready to act, you don't know what is going to try and kill you next.
The setting of this story in the middle of winter in rough mountain country makes it unique compared to the other films I have seen so far. The stark whiteness of the snow covering everything makes it feel like this the town and its people are the only ones on earth. I could feel the always reaching fingers of deep cold as the men rode their horses through snowdrifts. The town was covered in layers of frost and ice the made it feel like spring has never been through these streets. Snow Hill was just as much as a character as single actor was in this film.
Having your main character not say a single word in your film is a ballsy move, but it works really well here. Jean Louis Trintignant, as Silence, gives you everything you need from him just from his face. Silence was always observing, always thinking, and knew how to get the reaction that he wanted (for a while, anyway). There is power in silence. Silence (the concept, and the man) is a wall of secrets that tricks you into making up your own mind about what is going as you have gotten nothing in return. Silence is patient and will always wait for you to take the first move.
This film feels like what The Hellbenders wanted to be emotionally. For some reason that film felt like it was pulling its punch until the very end and while that works, it left me a little flat. The Great Silence comes out swinging, and punching, and kicking, so much so that you want to believe that with the odds against Silence so high and costly, that he has to come out on top, right? Somehow, making the right decisions, helping the townsfolk who were unjustly made into bounties and the widow who's husband was a good man, that it should be more than enough karmic currency to have him save the day. Plus, having his shooting hand be burned and unusable should automatically earn him a victory (It didn't stop Django when he had both hands wrecked during his final showdown).
But it isn't.
His left hand is torn apart (thumb being removed in an ironic twist as that hand would never handle a gun the same way as his right would) and he can barely pull the Masuer out of his belt. He knows that he isn't going to win this fight, but he has to have it as no one else is going to stand up to Loco and his men.
And they kill him. And the widow Pauline rushes out to Silence, and they kill her too. They kill all the captured bountied townspeople that were being kept in the saloon to draw Silence out. And that's that. Loco takes Silence's gun and they leave town.
A title card at the end of the film (in Italian) stated that due to this massacre, the public's opinion changed on bounty killing, condemning it. A memorial to was built in Snow Hill for those that died.
That's the end of your film. None of the good lived, just the bad that 'acted within the law.'
Holy shit I was not expecting that bleak of an ending. It hit me like a sledge hammer. I have been trained to expect the possibility of not everyone making it out of a horror film, that option is always on the table and it can be used to great narrative effect. It is the same thing here, the rug gets completely taken out from under you and you feel just as cold and destroyed as the town of Snow Hill.
So... there is another ending to the film, a happy ending, that I have yet to see because I didn't want that version to taint Sergio Corbucci's intent. It was made to satisfy some northern African markets that liked Spaghetti Westerns but hated the downward turn at the end. I believe some parts of that happy ending are in the above trailer. Supposedly, someone at a screening in Sicily, fired a gun at the screen in anger. Though their reaction was extreme, I sympathize with their emotion.
The violence and darkness of this film caused it to not be released theatrically in the US at the time. It got released on DVD on September 4th, 2001 for the first time in the US. That is a shame as this film needs to be in the conversation of the best westerns and hopefully people like myself give it a proper chance to stand against the more well known ones.
I need to speak about Klaus Kinski as Loco and Voneeta McGee as Pauline before I forget.
Kinski played Loco as a cruel opportunist and it makes you despise him. He captures a bounty and ties him to his horse and drags him through the snow until the man tells him the information he wants. He immediately shoots the man (dead or alive, doesn't matter, still get paid) and then pauses for a moment to pull out a small note book to write down the info. I have seen bad guys with guns and ropes, never one with a pencil and paper. Later, when Silence is trying to piss off Loco into drawing first by throwing a match in Loco's drink, then followed by a cigar, Kinski's smile is sharklike. He knows the game and won't play it. He theatrically makes someone else take off his gun belt to show that the can't draw a weapon and then proceeds to punch and kick Silence. Loco understands his place in this world and he does his job well.
Voneeta McGee as Pauline was another strong part of the film. She is also played with intelligence and holds her own when Pollicut tries to pay her for sex (She needs the money to hire Silence), and then tries to force himself on her. This is the man that put a price on her husband's head that lead to Loco shooting him. She is disgusted by him and lets him know it. She wants her revenge but some costs are too much. McGee plays Pauline as sad and focused and she is the secret weapon of the film.
It was hard finding individual scenes for this film and I don't want to post the ending here on the off off chance you are still interested in seeing (even after I just spoiled it), but someone put together a quick cut of some of McGee's scenes and I think it shows what she brought to the film.
The Great Silence is a great film and worth watching. It isn't an easy film to watch and you should be prepared to feel upset. Defeat doesn't take away from the experience. Sometimes the good guys don't win. Probably more than we care to think about. That doesn't mean you don't stop hoping or trying to do the right thing.
Western Checklist (nowhere near official or scientific):
- Weird gang member names? With leads named Silence and Loco, I think our work here is done.
- Beautiful landscapes? Yes. The snow covered mountains are beautiful. When out in the open, there is a vastness to the landscape that is breathtaking. Also, very isolating. I feel like you need to have two layers of clothes on and covered in a blanket when watching this film.
- Any terrified horses? Yeah, I feel like they were pushed too hard due to the snow and it showed. Also, it is directly stated (in the story of the film, not real life... that I know of) that one of the horses was going to be used as food.
- How many Ernest Borgnines? Mario Breaga, who played Martin in this film, was the Union Army heavy that Tuco was handcuffed to in The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. At least his dead body didn't get run over by a train this time.
- Does it have a theme song with the name of the film in the title? No, but it does have a hauntingly beautiful score by Ennio Morricone. This one feels different than the other scores I have heard of his as strings are more of an emphasis and what I believe is a harpsichord used to great effect. It is beautiful and chilly, and it fits the film wonderfully.
Rating:
I am going to give this 4.5 out of 5 tin stars. The performances are solid, the story choices are bold, the setting is unforgiving, and the music is amazing. The Great Silence is a great film that has a lot to say if you are willing to listen to it.
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