The great Silence

The Great Silence

Genre: Spaghetti Western

Original title: Il grande silenzio

Director: Sergio Corbucci

Year: 1968

A mute gunslinger faces off against a gang of bounty hunters in the great blizzard of 1899, and a grim, tense struggle unfolds.

In 1968 Sergio Corbucci, best known for the cult classic Django, gave us an unforgettable western that was like no other.  It stars the well respected French actor Jean-Louis Trintignant as the character of Silence. Silence is an appropriate name given that his character cannot speak after having his throat savagely cut as a child, this coming moments after witnessing his parents being murdered at their home. Silence seeks revenge but abides to the rules of the west by never shooting unless somebody draws first, this also prevents him from being arrested. Klaus Kinksi delivers his most iconic performance in a Spaghetti as Loco the bounty hunter. He is ruthless in his pursuit for financial gain & has no problem with shooting a defenseless person to collect the bounty on their head. Elsewhere you have Frank Wolff as the sheriff, Luigi Pistilli & Vonetta McGee. 

The cast are all wonderful but it's the setting that Corbucci decides to use as a backdrop that is the real star of this picture. Having already used an unusual and visually striking backdrop for Django (with the filthy muddy sets), Corbucci sets The Great Silence in the blizzard of 1899 meaning that the entire set & surroundings are covered in snow. This creates the doomed setting for these characters to live in. Even the superb Ennio Morricone score composed by Bruno Nicolai remains restrained when in comparison to most of Morricone's other Spaghetti's. Instead of a score that runs throughout, most of the film is soundtracked only by the sound of the harsh wind as the snow becomes as big of a part of the film as any of the characters.  The characters constantly struggle against their harsh surroundings with guns that have frozen up & they even resort to eating a horse to stay alive. Also any bloodshed inevitably falls onto the snow which for some reason the combination of the two creates such a brutally striking visual.

"They call him silence because wherever he goes, the silence of death follows"

The film is less political than some of Corbucci's other westerns, though there were some obvious themes that appear to be against capitalism, against what is seen as 'good' in the name of the law & even boasts an interracial relationship which I can't imagine had been done in a Western prior to this. As for the cinematography, Corbucci's usual close ups and use of shaky cam are all present but it's the unpleasant stench of inevitable doom that The Great Silence is soaked in that really makes this film so special.

There are some unforgettable scenes spread throughout. Of course there is the classic trait of the genre seeing our hero show off his accurate gun skills & my personal favourite where Kinksi's character is being transported after being arrested by the sheriff. Kinksi asks to stop to go to the toilet, squats over & the second the sheriff turns his back he pulls out a gun from under the snow that he'd planted their previously. 

The film builds up and we expect a showdown with Silence vs Loco. It is made clear throughout that Silence will not draw first, Loco also abides to these rules though it appears to be more through pride than to honour the "rules" of the west as he has no problem murdering defenseless people throughout the film.

However what really sets The Great Silence apart from other westerns is its unforgettable ending. If you've never seen the film I'd highly recommend that you stop reading now.

The film builds up to its climax with Silence being terribly injured with the majority films sympathetic being held at gunpoint by Loco & the other bounty hunters. Its made clear that they will all be executed unless Silence comes & faces Loco so of course our badly wounded hero enters the scene & we expect him, against all the odds, to save the day. However the doom & gloom of the surroundings throughout the film does not ever let up & we are treated to an unexpected & devastating ending where Silence is shot to death by the bounty hunters followed by a massacre of every single one of the films sympathetic characters. It is the kind of ending that will make your draw hit the ground & the type that will remain with you long after the picture has finished. 

The Great Silence saw Sergio Corbucci deliver not only his own masterpiece, but one of the great Spaghetti Westerns of all-time & one of the all-time great pieces of Italian cinema history. It remains about as essential as they come.

Rating: ★★★★½

Klaus Kinksi, unforgettable as Loco