ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST: Blu-ray (Paramount 1968) Paramount Home Video
Serendipity
has always played a big part in life as well as the movies, perhaps nowhere
more obviously than in Sergio Leone's seminal Once Upon A Time In The West (1968). After The Good The Bad and The Ugly Leone, a man of few words potently
placed (often with glib satire) elsewhere in the genre, publicly announced his
retirement from making spaghetti westerns. Offers came and went but Leone
remained staunch and determined in his refusal to return to the genre until
Paramount offered a substantial budget and access to Henry Fonda, Leone's
all-time favorite star whom he had never worked with before.
At Leone's
request Bernardo Bertolucci and Dario Argento were brought in to develop the
property in 1966, spending almost a year watching, then deconstructing the
classic Hollywood western for their inspiration. Conscious of the fact that his
lengthy run times were severely paired down for general release in America,
Leone commissioned Sergio Donati to help refine and edit their screenplay. For Once Upon A Time in the West Leone
broke many of his own traditions, including allowing his characters to evolve
on screen. His motif of the railroad (aka civilization and culture) come to
disrupt the mythical properties of the unspoiled west, Leone’s characters are
left standing after the gun-fighting - representatives of this transformation. Running parallel in theme is Leone's last stand for the west’s
mythical heroes, villains and legends. With his curious preservation of these
legacies, part glowing tribute/part revisionist deconstruction, Once Upon A Time in the West would
eventually stand at a crossroads within the western genre, bridging that
ancient Hollywood tradition for gallant heroes with a much more contemporary
strain decrypting the anti-heroic disruption of mankind upon this natural
landscape.
Always more
interested in the rituals preceding violence than the act of violence itself,
Donati and Leone's screenplay for Once
Upon A Time in the West features sparse dialogue and lengthy sequences with
very little action, though hardly little story development. The narrative
centers primarily on two epic conflicts taking place in the fictional town of
Flagstone (actually an amalgam of location work shot in Spain and Utah); the
first, the deed of a cold-blooded murder, the second a transgression that leads
to bitter revenge. The impetus for all the carnage is a parcel of land known as
Sweetwater bought by Brett McBain (Frank Wolff); a lonely settler who foresaw a
way to capitalize on the railroad. Desiring Sweetwater for himself, the
railroad's crippled baron, Morton (Gabriele Ferzetti) sends his hired gun,
Frank (Henry Fonda) and his men to intimidate McBain and lay claim to the
property.
Instead, Frank
takes considerable pleasure in murdering the entire McBain family (father, and
three young children) while planting evidence to suggest that the bandit
Cheyenne (Richard Robards) is responsible for their slaughter. Earlier, Frank
also sent three of his best men to the station to meet Harmonica (Charles
Bronson); a mystery man and the only gun who could challenge him. Dispatching
Frank's men in short order, Harmonica meets up with Cheyenne in a cantina and
informs him that he is being set up by Frank. Meanwhile, McBain's new bride,
Jill (Claudia Cardinale) arrives too late in Flagstone and is met by the town's
folk already preparing the family’s funerals.
Harmonica and
Cheyenne become smitten with Jill. Harmonica explains to Cheyenne that unless
the station is built by the time the tracks reach the McBain property she will
lose Sweetwater. Cheyenne puts his men to work to build Jill her station.
Outraged at Frank for having defied him, Morton offers Jill a deal on her
property. This betrayal turns mate against master with the die cast for a
showdown. Frank rapes Jill and then forces her to sell the property in an
auction, believing that he will be its only bidder. Instead, Harmonica holds
Cheyenne at gunpoint to make his own bid for Sweetwater, using money acquired
for turning Cheyenne in to pay for the land himself. Harmonica then sells Sweetwater
back to Jill. Paid by Morton, Frank's men attempt to kill him. But Harmonica
now comes to Frank's defense so that he may have the privilege of killing Frank
himself.
During their
final showdown Frank demands that Harmonica identify himself. In a flashback it
is revealed that Frank killed Harmonica's older brother by tying a noose around
his neck and forcing Harmonica - then a mere boy - to support him on his
shoulders, knowing that the child would be unable to do this indefinitely. Harmonica
shoots Frank dead and places a harmonica in his mouth to make his own revenge
complete. Her arch nemesis gone, Jill supervises construction of the depot near
her property as the train comes through. Cheyenne reveals to Harmonica that
during his earlier confrontation with Morton's men he has been mortally
wounded. He collapses and dies in Harmonica's arms and is carried off into the
sunset by Harmonica as the railroad – that perennial symbol of a new burgeoning
on the horizon - looms larger than ever in the foreground.
From a purely narrative
perspective Once Upon A Time In the West
is an imperfect film. Having the bandit Cheyenne become our heroic figure is
problematic. If he's a bandit, then we never really see him at his most ruthless.
If anything, he's an over-the-hill nobleman sheathed in the aura of his own
pretend. It's also rather unlikely, having seen the cold-blooded-ness of Frank
firsthand, that his men would suddenly forget themselves for a few pieces of
gold and turn against him for Morton or anyone else. But there is so much style
and superb characterizations to be had throughout we can easily forget such
shortcomings in story development and still have a relatively coherent viewing
experience.
Casting the
film proved a challenge. Initially, Henry Fonda turned down Leone presumably because
he did not want to play against type as the heavy. This decision Fonda
regretted, then reconsidered only after friend and spaghetti western veteran
Eli Wallach advised him to do the film. Charles Bronson was hired for
Harmonica, but only after Clint Eastwood refused to do the film and James
Coburn demanded too much money to play the part instead. Robert Ryan backed out
of playing the Sheriff for a bigger part in Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch.
Two tragedies
also marred the production. The first involved actor Al Mulock who played a
supporting role as Knuckles in the film's opening confrontation between
Harmonica and Frank's men. The actor committed suicide in full costume shortly
after his scenes had been shot in Spain by leaping from his hotel room. Two
years later Frank Wolff (McBain) followed Mulock's lead by jumping from his
hotel suite in Rome.
As Leone
suspected his 165 minute international cut was ruthlessly butchered for the American
release. As a result the film did poorly at the box office. Viewed today in its
restored version one cannot help but admire the brilliant light touches in
Leone's sustained pacing. Performances throughout are powerful, haunting and
peerless. For a film so generous in its scope and size, Once Upon A Time in the West seems a remarkably intimate affair in retrospect as
it effortlessly unfolds with ever-compelling detail about its conflicted characters.
Paramount Home
Video's Blu-ray is not quite as impressive as expected. Sourced from restored
elements the image exhibits exceptional fine detail throughout. However, colors
seem to lack in the bold richness we've come to expect from the Blu-ray format.
Comparing the Blu-ray image with Paramount's stellar 2-disc DVD reveals the
Blu-ray's color palette as less warm. The Blu-ray favors a blue/brown schematic
rather than the DVD's more ruddy brown/gold hues. Contrast remain nicely
realized. Blacks are deep and velvety smooth. Whites are pristine.
Sonically, the
DTS soundtrack fairs only marginally better. Ennio Morricone's magnificent
score is the real benefactor here. But dialogue continues to sound strident,
thin and frontal. Extras are all direct imports from the DVD and include a
litany of short featurettes that cumulatively assemble as one lengthy and
comprehensive documentary on the making of the film. Bottom line: recommended!
FILM RATING (out of 5 - 5 being the best)
5
VIDEO/AUDIO
4
EXTRAS
3
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