This weekend I got the chance to watch this movie (again) on tv after not having seen it for so many years. And in my opinion it is still a fantastic movie. Although if you've got the chance, you should watch it on the big screen, not on tv.
Best of all is the cinematography. How shall I explain it? The movie starts with three men waiting for a train at a train station in the middle of nowhere. Apart from the station master who wants to sell these men tickets, not a single word is spoken. You don't know anything about these men, you can only guess that the person they are waiting for must be on the next train. The scene is thirteen minutes (!) long, but it never gets boring. The whole film is made like that: many scenes are extremely long, and there is not much talking throughout the whole film, but it never gets boring. Despite its slow pacing the film manages to draw you in completely and despite its 165 minutes the film is not one minute too long.
The characters are portrayed as real people, not 100% good, not 100% bad. The actors are really great. During the movie I was thinking: 'who else could play that role?' and I came up with no answers. Best of all was Jason Robards as Cheyenne and Henry Fonda as the villain (Frank). Charles Bronson as Harmonica is also excellent. But I also liked Claudia Cardinale's character (Jill). She plays a strong woman, quite untypical for a western and for the time in which this film was made (1968).
This film focuses more on the dark side of the west, and the dark side of human nature as well. Contrary to "The Good The Bad And The Ugly" this film is not funny. As a matter of fact it is deadly earnest.
Ennio Morricone's score is just great. It fits perfectly into the scenes and the main characters all have their own theme.
All in all a brilliant film, a must see.
Best of all is the cinematography. How shall I explain it? The movie starts with three men waiting for a train at a train station in the middle of nowhere. Apart from the station master who wants to sell these men tickets, not a single word is spoken. You don't know anything about these men, you can only guess that the person they are waiting for must be on the next train. The scene is thirteen minutes (!) long, but it never gets boring. The whole film is made like that: many scenes are extremely long, and there is not much talking throughout the whole film, but it never gets boring. Despite its slow pacing the film manages to draw you in completely and despite its 165 minutes the film is not one minute too long.
The characters are portrayed as real people, not 100% good, not 100% bad. The actors are really great. During the movie I was thinking: 'who else could play that role?' and I came up with no answers. Best of all was Jason Robards as Cheyenne and Henry Fonda as the villain (Frank). Charles Bronson as Harmonica is also excellent. But I also liked Claudia Cardinale's character (Jill). She plays a strong woman, quite untypical for a western and for the time in which this film was made (1968).
This film focuses more on the dark side of the west, and the dark side of human nature as well. Contrary to "The Good The Bad And The Ugly" this film is not funny. As a matter of fact it is deadly earnest.
Ennio Morricone's score is just great. It fits perfectly into the scenes and the main characters all have their own theme.
All in all a brilliant film, a must see.