Il Grande Silenzio
1968 / 105m - Italy
Western
1.5*/5.0*
The Great Silence poster

Watches

October 05, 2020

1.5*/5.0*

I'm not big on westerns (neither the traditional kind, nor the spaghetti westerns), so my expectations were quite low for this film. And in many ways this is a pretty typical spaghetti western, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that The Great Silence didn't do that much for me. The few things that set it apart from its peers did leave a positive impression though.

The story is pretty bland. A group of bounty hunters is chasing a gang of outlaws, but when the leader of the bounty hunters kills Pauline's husband she vows to take revenge. She hires a mute gunslinger, who in his turn starts chasing the group of bounty hunters. It doesn't take long before guns start firing away.

Kinski's presence is a plus and Morricone's score is surprisingly decent, but it's the snowy landscapes and the mountains that make the biggest difference here. A very nice change of scenery for a western and one that gives this film a lot more atmosphere. It's a shame I couldn't care for the rest. The cinematography is horrible and the seriousness misplaced.