The Great Silence (1968)
This amazing Bluray release from Eureka is a massive improvement over my DVD and this classic by Corbucci still stands among the absolute best spaghetti westerns, and westerns - and films in general.For a revisionist western I don’t think this was equaled until Eastwood made Unforgiven.
Bounty hunters is a stable in westerns, especially the Italian kind, and while they were often portrayed as anti heroes in a moral grey area, it has mostly been fun and games. Here Corbucci makes both the law and the bounty hunter the bad ones, questioning the righteousness of their methods. Klaus Kinski is brilliant as the lawful evil bounty hunter, killing people all according to the law. Frank Wolff is equally great as the good natured sheriff who would technically be lawful good, but the law itself is no longer good. Jean-Louis Trintignant being mute doesn’t have a whole lot to work with, but he still gets his character motives and principles across the screen. Every character here has proper defined motives, principles and personal depth beyond the genres usual mostly flat characters.
The ending here is one I was actually deeply moved by, which is unusual for the genre that for the most part provide great entertainment, aesthetics, atmosphere and some interesting political allegories. This is the most brutal ending to any Italian western and it is all according to the law.
Rating: 5