Once Upon a Time in the West

Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) is not a western so much as the funeral of the western. A railway is coming west. Land with water on it becomes valuable, and the man who owns it is killed along with his family. What remains is a woman who has come from the city. Around her are three men: an outlaw, a hired killer, and a man with no name who carries a harmonica in his mouth. The use of Henry Fonda is the bravest decision in it. Fonda was until then the most recognisable good man in American cinema. He arrived on set in brown contact lenses and a moustache, trying to look sinister. Leone made him remove both. The reason: the audience had to recognise Fonda instantly so that what he does would land as a greater shock. We will not describe his first scene. Morricone wrote the score before shooting and it was played on set. The actors performed to the music; the rhythm of the scenes is built around it rather than the other way round. The opening runs close to ten minutes with almost no dialogue: a creaking windmill, dripping water, a fly. All of the tension comes from waiting. The story was devised by Leone with Dario Argento and Bernardo Bertolucci. It was cut down for America and failed there; in Europe the full version became a classic. It runs 165 minutes. Good for: westerns, Leone, and film music. Less good for: it demands patience, scenes are deliberately extended, and the violence is sudden.