re- ....king Amal; Since this is the first review of it since the top 100, would you agree it belongs in the pantheon (the only copy I could find was going for £75 so please feel free to put me off tracking it down)?
You're from the UK right? Check out your local HMV or Fopp for the Moodysson boxset; it's usually only around £20 for 4 films (3 of which are very good)
Thanks- Fopp is always good for a bargain, On it.
EDIT: FA is called Show Me Love!?! Just ordered the boxset for £11 from Amazon, but your heads-up showed me how to find it so still thanks.
Once Upon A Time In The West Grade- AFrank;
How do you trust a man who wears both a belt and suspenders? Man can't even trust his own pants.
Cheyenne; Judas was content with 4970 dollars less.
Harmonica; There were no dollars in them days.
Cheyenne; The sons-a-bitches…..yeah.
Frank; Who are you?
Harmonica; Jim Cooper…Chuck Youngblood
Frank; More dead men.
Harmonica; They were all alive till they met you Frank.'Mr. Choo Choo'
Seemed like a good day to revisit, what is clearly a beloved movie. To use Hawks' line- 'a great movie has three great scenes and no bad ones'. Being a western there are three great gunfighting showdowns;
- Harmonica's arrival into Flagstone and the welcome party- two horses too many.
- Morton's men try to ambush Frank. Frank can't figure out why Harmonica helps him.
- The finale.
There aren't any bad scenes. There aren't actually any ordinary ones. There are only great scenes, great lines, great sound effects, and great music. You can say the dialogue and soundtrack are marvellous, but every part is so sparsely used- tiny snippets of theme tune, ultra-loud clicks and thuds in the silence. There is an earlier scene where the great Woody Strode stands under a water tower and a droplet splashes on his head, he puts on his hat and the splash turns to a plop. Brett gets splashed to the exact same accompaniment in Alien. As the film rolls towards a climax, Morricone's music leaves ordinary backing music behind and turns operatic. By that I mean the plot is being expressed in the orchestration.
This never stops being a western, never flinches from the ugliness of these murderers and thieves; it just rises on the magnitude of the story away from its roots to become epic. There is something in the western genre that in every film of this type has the potential to become something greater. Leone's genius is his understanding of that potential and how to express it. Obviously the final scene sends chills straight through you. Two plus hours of jabbing and feinting leading to the greatest punchline in film history(?) Well it is one of the all-time great pay-offs for an act of revenge, I can't at this moment think of another one as good.
This film was no. 27 in my list and no. 3 overrall. Last time I watched it I got the impression it plodded somewhat but still had those great showdowns and terrific climax. I am glad to realise how wrong I was. It has perfect pace. I am beginning to think both ratings were modest for this piece of perfection.