The Great Silence (1968) User Reviews

"That western in the snow"

[jools B · 8/10 · 16 September 1999]

"That western in the snow" - was my brother's response when he heard that I'd finally tracked down a copy of THE GREAT SILENCE, a.k.a. THE BIG SILENCE (I first saw it 10 years ago on BBC2's 'Moviedrome').

If you like Sergio Leone's films (such as THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE UGLY and A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS) then you'll probably enjoy this film by Sergio Corbucci. Violence, shooting, cussing, strange costumes, haunting music, trademark camera angles and the Italian style go to make up one of the best (lost)westerns I've ever seen.

These films aren't to everyone's taste, but THE GREAT SILENCE is worth watching just to hear the main theme tune which is a fantastic work of latterday composition - it sounds daft but I nearly cry when I hear it sometimes. By turns the score is dream-like, stylish, menacing, bizarre and even ridiculous (twanging sitar-like sounds). This is my favourite piece of Ennio Morricone's music.

As I said before the main reference points for this film are those of Sergio Leone, except for the snow-laden setting and the distinct lack of humour( THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE UGLY still makes me laugh, despite countless watching). Having said that this film has a distinctly original atmosphere of it's own, brought out in the brilliant and shocking ending. the director went to great lengths to preserve his radical finale (particularly unpopular with the producer) - there is a version of the film with a cop-out ending.

In short then, this is a great movie despite all the shortcomings of the particular genre( I'm not saying anything)- I once read that the term "Spaghetti Western" was a derisory one used by American film critics - but I can't think of any American westerns as enjoyable as some of these Italian films.

The silence before the gunshot

[K_Todorov · 9/10 · 4 April 2007]

Twenty five years before Clint Eastwood made his departure from the western genre with his violent, cynical epic "Unforgiven", Sergio Corbucci had already treated us with one of the most dark and unforgiving tales of vengeance violence and that has ever graced the western screen. A forgotten classic that deserves recognition "The Great Silence" is Corbucci's definitive movie, powerful to the point of sadness. It can and it will shock it's viewer, with it's unforgiving nature, and themes.

Set around the snowy landscapes of Utah, "The Great Silence" stars Jean-Louis Trintignant as Silence, a mute gunfighter assisting a group outlaws for and a woman trying to avenge her dead husband. They are faced against a group of bounty hunters, led by Loco (Klaus Kinsky) a ruthless and merciless man who values only the money he gains from the killing.

Corbucci utilizes the snow-filled landscape to the maximum, creating a hauntingly chilling atmosphere that sticks with you from the beginning to the end and most likely, long after you've watched the film. The opening shot demonstrates perfectly the technique employed by Corbucci, with a long shot of Silence as he rides thru the desert of snow, there are no other environmental elements, just him riding calmly forwards accompanied only by a chilling tune from Morricone. This entire moment creates a image so strong so hypnotizing that I found myself re-watching it again and again. It is these moments that make "The Great Silence" great, experiencing the silence before the gunshot and the silence after it, the moments of reckoning, the moments that decide the fates of human beings. I emphasize on "human beings" because the characters here are not only likable but believable and they very much feel like real people, the kind you might like or despise or love or hate. It's not about Silence's skills as a gunfighter, but the human aspect bellow, that is what makes him feel real. None of this would have succeed had it not been for the brilliant acting of the entire cast. Trintignant and Kinsky make the biggest impression though, adding layers of depth to their respective characters without even uttering a word, just their facial expressions, the way the move, the confidence with which they act it is simply brilliant.

Commenting on the final scene would be a downright shame to those who haven't seen the movie just yet. But it is one of the most memorable, no not only memorable it is one of the greatest endings ever shot, with one of the best uses of slow-motion I have ever seen. Slow-motion that captures the darkest, saddest moment, the one thing no one would expect to happen in a western. This further helps to strengthen the major anti-violence theme as the credits begin to roll and the viewer is left to cope with the unexpected finale.

Ennio Morricone serves one of his best scores. I would easily rank this amongst "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" in terms of quality. But it is by no means similar to it. No. We are not soothed by the comfortable music heard in his collaborations with Leone. This score is, haunting and sad, like the movie itself it has an emotional effect on the viewer.

"The Great Silence" is as every bit as good as any of Leone's films. But is also as every bit as different from them. A uniquely dark voyage into the brutal reality of human nature, concealed as a western. Sergio Corbucci died in 1990, his movies weren't remembered by many, but those that did will never forget "The Great Silence".

The ultimate Spaghetti Western!

[OttoVonB · 9/10 · 11 May 2005]

The spaghetti western is a hybrid creature in many ways. it mixes the great American legend by demystifying it with European pessimism. It plays the landscapes and its inhabitants as ambiguous vehicles of destiny and violence (the background often conveys the mood more than the characters, as the films of Corbucci and Leone demonstrate). And although Fistfull of Dollars is mean and lean, it remains a pale copy of Kuroswa's superior Yojimbo. Despite it's beautiful opera, Once upon a Time in the West is too elegant. despite its biting humor and epic scope, the Good, the Bad and the Ugly is too playful...

What we have here, is nothing less than the ultimate essence of the Spaghetti Western: irony, cruelty, tenderness, beauty, violence, larger than life characters... and chaos. the chaos is as present in the general mood as it is in Corbucci's wild and messy camera-work (from beautiful panoramas to crash zooms and close ups that accentuate the villains' ugliness).

The story is straight and simple but allows for great characters as the mute bounty hunter Silence (Trintignant, conveying impossible emotion with nothing but his haunting eyes) travels to a snowy town to bring down the killer of his client's husband and coincidentally fulfill a more personal vengeance. He is pitted against a range of pathetic and ugly villains, headed by a sleazy and psychotic Loco (Kinski, mesmerizing as the cruel but contained and playful killer).

All the while the nihilism and harshness of nature weigh over these characters as people freeze to death, a man drowns in a frozen lake and the survival of the fittest is demanded in a bloody fashion, leading to a devastating ending that seals this tight film together as a magnificently macabre opera of death. Unmissable.

An exceptional and striking western one could never have done in Hollywood

[Petteri · 7 February 2001]

This is among the very few films that make you truly disgusted by its violence; not because of the amount of blood as in many other films but because the victims of the bounty hunters are human beings, slaughtered brutally in front of their own family members. Corbucci has disguised this film as a piece of popular cinema, but gives us shocks once in a while, and finally surprises us completely in the unexpected end. This is how he makes his anti-violent message very clear, and it is easy to agree with him.

IL GRANDE SILENZIO is more pessimistic but also more human than any western by Leone or Peckinpah. It may not be a pleasant experience, but if you want to see a masterpiece of cinema instead of a traditional western, it is definitely worth waiting in line for.

Brilliant And Unique, One Of The Best Westerns Ever Made!

[Witchfinder-General-666 · 10/10 · 30 May 2006]

Sergio Corbucci's masterpiece "Il Grande Silenzio" aka. "The Great Silence" is more than just one of the greatest Westerns of all-time. Unlike Corbucci's earlier masterpiece "Django" from 1966, which is a violent Spaghetti Western, but also full of dark humor, "The Great Silence" is an uncompromisingly bleak movie from the beginning to the end, a brutal tale about misery, greed and selfishness, about injustice and the desire for revenge.

Winter of 1898, in the mountain town of Snow Hill, Utah. People who were forced to steal in order to survive an ice cold winter, are mercilessly chased and murdered by unscrupolous bounty hunters, who don't care who they kill as long as there is a reward on their victim's head. The most atrocious of these bounty hunters is vicious Loco, outstandingly pictured by Klaus Kinski. In their calamity, desperate relatives of the head hunters' victims hire a mute gunman called Silence, in order to avenge their loved ones and end the killings.

The acting in this movie is brilliant. Nobody could be as diabolical as Klaus Kinski in the role of Loco, Jean-Louis Trintignant performance as Silence is just great, and Vonetta McGee is amazing as Pauline, a beautiful black woman, who falls in love with Silence after losing her husband to the bountykillers. The supporting cast contains such great Spaghetti Western actors as Luigi Pistilli, Mario Brega and Frank Wolff. The Music by Ennio Morricone is, once again, excellent (how couldn't it), the main theme is one of his greatest compositions. The locations are very well-chosen, impressive images of a snowy mountain wasteland make you almost feel the cold. "The Great Silence is", after "Django", Sergio Corbucci's second film that could be described as one of the most important Westerns of all-time. Both brutal and both masterpieces, the two movies are still completely different. While Django was violent but, in its dark way, also humorous, The Great Silence is sad, serious and brutally bleak. Incomparable in every aspect, "The Great Silence" even surpasses "Django" in its brilliance, and easily deserves to be named as one of the greatest Westerns ever made.

The Great Silence is a must-see, not only for fans of Spaghetti Westerns, but for every lover of film. Brilliant And Unique, one of the greatest Westerns ever made! 10/10

In the Bleak Mid-Winter...

[Xstal · 8/10 · 5 March 2023]

A voiceless vigilante enacts revenge, if you've been tricked or tripped up he can make amends, for a fee he will dispense, compensation, recompense, with the weapon of his choice (a Mauser C96), he will avenge. Loco makes collections for the state, if there's a bounty on your head he will checkmate, always dead never alive, as he conspires and connives, has the backing of the local magistrate.

The town of Snow Hill lives up to its name as Pauline Middleton, wonderfully performed by Vonetta McGee, seeks revenge for her husband's killing at the hands of Loco, a devious and scheming bounty hunter (just as wonderfully performed by Klaus Kimski), by hiring the man with no noise who goes by the name of Silent, and bears a close resemblance to a similar spaghetti western character you may have come across, played perfectly by the suave Jean-Louis Trintignant. The ending may leave you a little confounded as it takes a tangent you most likely won't be expecting or indeed be familiar with.

The best non-Leone spaghetti western

[marc-366 · 10/10 · 31 March 2005]

This is Sergio Corbucci's masterpiece. A story of revenge, with an ending so "un-hollywood" it will remain in your memory for ever. And it may be unjust, and leave a very bitter taste. But it is a classic finale to a fantastic film.

The story sets itself in the aptly snow laden town of Snow Hill, and its mountainous surroundings. Bounty Hunters are preying off of the outlaws held up within the mountains - the most notorious of which is Loco, played by Klaus Kinski. The wife of one of the slain outlaws hires the mysterious mute gunslinger Silence (Jean-Louis Trintignant) to exact revenge on Loco. I will spoil the story no more - as you MUST see this one for yourself.

Kinski, always adept in the part of a mad-man, steals the show in probably his most perfect spaghetti western role. There are also fine parts for spaghetti stalwarts Luigi Pistilli, Mario Brega and Frank Wolff. Morricone's score is, as ever, beautiful. Trintignant must have had one of the easiest parts of any actors anywhere - "just look cool, and don't say a thing". That said, he does it well.

The film makes use of its flashbacks with style, explaining the link between Silence and Pollicut (Pistilli) characters. It also deals with the brief and doomed relationship between Silence and the outlaw's widow with great compassion, amidst the bloodbath that we come to expect from Corbucci.

All in all, a classic film - and the best non-Leone Spaghetti Western.

A Periodic, Non-Conformist's Take On The Western; Poised On The Brink Of Absurdity

[Det_McNulty · 8/10 · 18 September 2007]

Klaus Kinski, an actor famed for his eccentricities and Werner Herzog collaborations, which occurred throughout the '70s and '80s. He is the lingering, temperamental and key constituent for the obscure 1968 gem, The Great Silence. Arguably, the work is partially responsible (or is rather the "finishing note") to the end of the '60s, Italian sub-genre named the "spaghetti western." This is a loose term, regularly associated with the works of Sergio Leone and few erstwhile, Italian directors who approached the spin-off genre of the stereotypical, American western. The Italian westerns emerged within the mainstream, during the midway of the '60s, becoming recognised for the close resemblance they all had with each other. The ostensible sped-up zooms, jarring scores and unforgiving violence marked the genre as the most rebellious and hard-boiled of its time. The Great Silence further proves this perceived notion.

Director Sergio Corbucci (known for his hyper-violent, but somewhat communitarian motifs) incorporates both American and European cinema values, as well as the themes generally condoned along with the western genre. Telling the tale of a ruthless bounty-hunter ironically named Loco, (played by Klaus Kinski, always fitting the mould of a maniac) who wanders the snow-ridden state of Utah in search of "wanted: dead or alive" criminals. Essentially, he is a villain, a despicable individual who makes a living out of money for murder. Gaining $1000 for each heinous slaughter he commits, Loco one day kills the husband of Pauline (a woman who refuses to accept the murder) and racially abuses her after doing so. It is from this crime that the film promptly escapades into a jaunting exercise of revenge on behalf of two individuals (firstly Pauline and then the "opposed-to-bounty-hunting" gunslinger she so vehemently hires).

Filmed in strikingly intrepid weather conditions and motivated by cold-hearted brutality, The Great Silence captures a landscape which is a parallel to the themes portrayed within the piece. First-rate direction is garnered from the messy, cut-throat editing and the resounding cynical tone of a dead-beat anti-western will leave fans groping for more of its kind. For such a tough film, it will be evident that the innocent characters do not beg of sympathy, but are able to warrant a valuable empathy through the -although often questionable- acting. Pauline, a key character in the story utters "once, my husband told me of this man. He avenges our wrongs. And the bounty killers sure do tremble when he appears. They call him "Silence." Because wherever he goes, the silence of death follows." She makes this heroic statement after she swears to seek vengeance for her murdered husband, and it is unquestionably the film's finest moment. Nevertheless, the film's most triumphant highlight is Klaus Kinski, who defies the bounty-hunter archetype by using a patronising and hollow method of acting. It could have been the recipe for disaster, but Klaus Kinski pitches the ambiance of his role admirably.

Requiring a certain amount of respect for the genre, The Great Silence works as a fine ode to a time when cinema was full of defiant gusto. Although not for everyone, the film is a pleasant surprise for viewers who are interested in genre cinema or in search of films from a forgotten era. Just remember that by no means is it a Leone rip-off.

Classic SW with sensational landscapes and terrific performance from Trintignant and Kinski

[ma-cortes · 7/10 · 25 September 2007]

This French- Italian co-production is a Spaghetti Western masterpiece by Sergio Corbucci , being highly rated by the critics and is one of his best movies, along with ¨the Compañeros¨ and ¨Djanjo¨. It takes place in the snow-filled outdoors of Utah and based on real events during the great Blizzard of 1885 and shot in Cortina D'Ampezzo in the Dolomitas mountains located in the Alps . The film is plenty of dark fatalism and features to Silence (Jean Louis Trintignant in his first and unique Western , he had agreed to do the film in order to help out the producer, who was a friend of his), a mute gunslinger with a 7,63 mm Mauser Broomhandle gun , helping a group of desperado outlaws and an African- American woman named Pauline (Voneta McGee) attempting to revenge death her husband against the bounty hunters led by the ruthless Loco (Klaus Kinski) and payed by Pollicut (Luigi Pistilli) . Furthermore, an upright sheriff (Frank Wolff) appears trying peace and order.

This widely deemed picture , unlike most conventional Spaghetti Western , contains exceptional setting , colorful images with a sensational cinematography by Silvano Ippoliti and features a sensitive musical score by the classic Ennio Morricone . This splendid Western results to be a remake to Japanese Samurai TV series starring Shintarô Katsu (1973) . Jean-Louis Trintignant agreed to play in a spaghetti western under the condition that he did not have to learn any lines for the role , that's why the main character conveniently became a mute in the story. Nice production design and the snow in the town of Snow Hill was created by gallons of shaving cream . The movie was widely inspired by ¨Day of outlaw¨ (Andre de Toth with Robert Ryan , 1959) and set in 1898 in a small town called Snow Hill where is developed a massacre . The motion picture was originally directed by Corbucci and displays a twisted finale with dark surprise included . As trivia, explaining that Trintignant didn't know English , language used during filming , and Marcello Mastroiani, Sergio Corbucci's friend , suggested him playing a mute gunfighter named Silence , resulting to be the film title . Rating : Better than average . Indispensable and essential seeing for SW lovers.

Bleak and outstanding.

[Bezenby · 8/10 · 1 December 2017]

Sergio Corbucci swaps the desert for snowy mountains, howling coyotes for howling wind, and supplies a strong silent hero so silent that he doesn't speak at all. Ennio Morricone changes tone completely and gives us a morose, sad soundtrack that perfectly matches the atmosphere of desperation that flows through the entire film. No doubt about it – this film leaves a mark.

In the mountains of Utah, starving citizens of the town of Snow Hill are forced to steal to feed themselves, and in turn have to hide in the mountains with a price on their head. The corrupt banker and Justice of the Peace Pollicut (Luigi Pistilli), encourages bounty hunters to hunt them down, as he makes a percentage on every 'bandit' brought in. However, the persecuted folks have help in the form of Silence, who really, really hates bounty hunters – and with good reason. Silence will only fire upon someone if they draw first, and he also likes to shoot the thumbs off bounty hunters, as Pollicut knows too well.

Worst of all the bounty hunters is Loco (Klaus Kinski), who doesn't even care why people have a price on their heads, as long as he gets the money, and there's no 'dead or alive' where Loco is concerned. If they're dead, he doesn't have to feed them. Loco kills the husband of Pauline, who returned from exile to visit his wife, and she hires Silence to kill him. Loco knows that Silence is too fast for him, and will not be drawn into a gunfight…yet.

There's also a new Sheriff in town that quickly twigs that things aren't quite right in Snow Hill. Burnett (Wolff, playing the only character approaching 'comic relief'), does not agree at all with Pollicut and Loco's tactics, even going so far as to arrest Loco and take him elsewhere for a trial.

That's enough plot! There's loads going on in this film, and plenty of it must have been quite daring for 1968. The interracial sex scene between Silence and Pauline for starters (and the music during this bit is outstanding, even for Morricone!), the bloody violence with headshots being a speciality, and the ending! The ending! Jesus! Buddha! Brian Blessed! The ending! Indy! The ending! I will not reveal it here, but it's certainly not something you encounter very often, in any genre. Jaw-dropping.

The acting is also faultless too, even if it is dubbed. Klaus Kinski is very restrained for the most part, but still comes across as a polite, malicious, sadistic murderer who is also smarter than everyone else. This might possibly be the best film I've seen him in. Luigi Pistilli isn't too far behind either. He's cowardly and scheming and likes to make others do his dirty work (mainly Mario Brega, who meets a gory end that stands out). Frank Wolff jumps between comedic and serious as the only male character in possession of a soul. His character follows the law to the letter, which may be a mistake in the hostile environment of Snow Hill. I'm not familiar with the actress that plays Pauline but she also stands out as a woman channelling her grief into one simple task – to kill Loco.

This one gets the highest recommendation for me!

Chilly, Brilliant, Hypnotic Italian Western With Iconic Cult Cast

[ShootingShark · 6/10 · 5 May 2007]

In 1898 in the wintry mountains of Utah, Loco and his gang of bounty-hunters are profiteers who deal in legalised murder. In the little town of Snow Hill however, they run into trouble in the shape of a mute avenging gunslinger known only as Silence ...

This is a fabulous, haunting, completely atypical spaghetti western made by the talented director of Django and Il Mercenario, which supplants all the conventions of the genre - the hero can't speak and uses a weird rapid-fire pistol (a C96 Mauser Broomhandle), sand is replaced by snow, there's an interracial romance, there's no macho posturing and the bad guys win. It's a real one of a kind. It has five great performances - Trintignant (who didn't speak English) as the mute hero, the unforgettable Kinski as the baddest bad man in the west (he makes even Gian Maria Volonte in Per Qualche Dollaro In Più look like a sweetheart), the little-seen McGee as the tragic Pauline (check her out in The Eiger Sanction and Repo Man), moustached Wolff (the doomed patriarch in C'era Una Volta Il West) as the likable sheriff and nasty Pistilli (the pious priest in Il Bueno Il Brutto Il Cattivo) as the corrupt magistrate. It's worth watching the movie alone just to look at Kinski and McGee's eyes. There's a wonderfully tender score by Ennio Morricone which poetically counterpoints the savagery and injustice, and an ending of such staggeringly downbeat heartlessness it undoubtedly contributed to the film's poor business and relative obscurity - criminally, it was never released in either the UK or the US. If you've only ever seen Sergio Leone's Italian westerns, it's well worth checking out some others (such as Damiano Damiani's Quién Sabe / A Bullet For The General or Sergio Sollima's La Resa Dei Conti / The Big Gundown), and don't miss this one. Alex Cox rates this the best spaghetti western ever made, and while I personally prefer the Leone films, it's a unique and brilliant movie which lingers long in the mind. An Italian-French co-production, shot in the exclusive Cortina D'Ampezzo Alpine region of the Dolomites. Just to make it even more obscure, English-language prints of this movie have two alternate titles - The Big Silence and The Great Silence.

not quite like Leone westerns despite Morricone's presence: a real sense of malaise, dark melodrama, a bleak ending

[Quinoa1984 · 8/10 · 5 July 2007]

Sergio Corbucci had me a little fooled at first; from seeing Navajo Joe, the first I'd seen of his films, I thought he was more of a spinster in the comical sense than Sergio Leone was. Although Corbucci doesn't nearly have the level of directorial talent as him (then again who does), there's a level of enthrallment in making a movie, in pushing an in-your-face style that works to his advantage. The Great Silence is pretty far from Navajo Joe, mostly because any laugh to be had is unintentional, or at the expense of star Klaus Kinski if one is already a fan (hearing him dubbed after seeing so many of his Herzog roles is a little staggering). The story boils down to vendettas and paybacks and paydays between scorned bounty hunters and duped sheriffs, plus the title character- named as such because of a mute demeanor and because actor Trintignant didn't want to learn any lines- leading Silence and Loco (albeit this isn't even one of Kinski's craziest performances by far) into a final showdown.

The circumstances leading up to this showdown should, in a more conventional western, be pretty clean-cut. But what's impressive, if almost a little circumstantial, is that Corbucci puts in little unconventional markers along the way: the high-drama scene where Silence gets his hand burnt by a goon as foreshadowing for the ominous bounty hunter massacre, and for those little moments when life seems so easily killed off, particularly at the start. Silence, like in a Leone film, does have something of a gimmick as a killer, as he shoots off the thumbs of his targets. But Corbucci's drama isn't keened on incredible suspense sequences in operatic form or gallows humor. Even a sex scene for Corbucci has a tenderness to it that feels the work of someone trying to break out of squarely B-movie extremities and trying for something more. If it isn't altogether successful it's attributable to flaws scattered around: random 'soft-lighting' in the last act that is very distracting, a couple of plot points not totally clear even by the end, and Kinski looking sometimes like a pretty boy as much as a sadistic bounty hunter, plus Corbucci's tendencies to favor close-ups for more formulaic means as opposed to drawing out deeper emotions through a more keen system.

But even with Corbucci not being a 'great' director, he has a keen eye for Utah (if it is Utah, which it probably isn't), and the vast vistas of snow and fields in a plain sight that contrasts the sort of void sucking the characters in with the hopeless center of bounty hunters without the strongest opponent. And Morricone, as if it was like breathing, fleshes out scenes so well with his beautiful score, only slightly below the magnificence of a Leone picture. You may feel by the end that it's not the prettiest western you've ever seen, but it has that possibility in its low-budget blood-stained manner to stay with you long after it's over.

absolutely unique

[elvinjones · 7/10 · 19 August 2002]

This movie is absolutely unique into the western panorama. Think only that, at the end, the good one dies and the vilain (a super vilain like klaus kinski!!!) triumphs and you have the whole originality of this western. But not only that: the female star is a black girl, the location is completely covered by the snow and, returning to the hero, is absolutely tender and for that his end result more sad for us. The only difect for me are in some secondary caracters, like in the Leone movies. But the substance is untouched. Corbucci confirm his original line into the italian western; a line started from the excessive valued but interesting "Django". Hard world, hostile nature, hyperbolic charachters originals from Leone. In his others westerns (like "Il mercenario" and "Vamos a matar companeros"), things changed for a sunny-funny line, very professional, but not the same thing...

Not bad, but wildly overpraised...

[enicholson · 5/10 · 29 September 2005]

Ending spoiler...

The best thing about this film is that it is different from other westerns that preceded it. But being "different" doesn't mean it's necessarily very good. Klaus Kinski makes a great villain (as usual), Ennio Morricone wrote a great score (as usual), and the snowy setting creates a raw, forbidding, almost surreal atmosphere. This is one of those films where the mood and setting IS the star of the film.

But this film is just too silly, with characters that are laughably over the top (yet take themselves oh so seriously), and a story that's rather run of the mill (apart from the ending, which is unusual to say the least). Unlike in this film, the great thing about the Leone westerns is that the characters in his films are also rather over the top, but the characters have a sense of humor about them whereby the film acknowledges their often cartoonish unreality. Leone's films have a self-conscious irony and sense of humor about them. But here there is a studied seriousness that feels out of place with the unbelievable hero and villain in the film. Silence is an interesting character, but his muteness leaves him with the inability to make the kind of wisecracks Eastwood was capable of making in Leone's films. You want to run up behind Silence and tape a "kick me" sign on his back. Only Klaus Kinski's character has the disarming humor badly needed in a film like this.

Also, apart from Kinski, the acting in this film is not so good. The actress who plays the woman who hires Silence to kill Kinski is beautiful but so wooden. Her presence alone hurts the film greatly. The sheriff is also miscast with an actor who commands little respect and has less charisma. Trintignant, who plays silence, is pretty good. But he is given a character who is initially unbelievably skilled as a gunfighter, but then at the end of the film he is so unbelievably inept. Silence uses no caution in how he leaves himself open to get gunned down before he even has a chance to draw his gun -- with badly injured hands at that. The ending of this film is praised for challenging the conventional ending of the average western, yet it should be mocked and criticized for how it violates dignity, skill and character of Silence, the lead character in the film. As for Silence getting gunned down, it's not a bad way to end the film, but how could the writer and filmmaker let him get gunned down so easily? Isn't this the same man that easily took out 3 or 4 men at long range in the snow at the opening of the film? How can he be so skilled at the beginning of the film and so inept at the end -- even if he is injured? He's The Big Silence for goodness sake. And why let Kinski's character live? Shouldn't they both die in the decisive battle? Shouldn't the message be that violence doesn't doesn't discriminate? It kills both good and bad? (as in Seven Samurai) Not only the good? (as in this film).

I'll tell you one thing. Eastwood would have never played Silence. He never would have died like an inept little insignificant twerp like Trintignant's Silence dies in this in this film. Sure, western heroes can die, but if he goes to fight then at least let him fight like the skilled gunfighter he is -- or let him get shot in the back by a coward (like Gregory Peck in THE GUNFIGHTER). Does evil rule the day? The way Silence dies in this film is the way certain somewhat politically charged filmmakers want to see western hero die. They despise or despair over the notion of heroism, so they simplify their films, or they violate the context of the film to make some sort of statement. Heroes die in the 60s, fine. But here the filmmakers feel the need to kill the myth of the western in a way that spits on their hero -- Silence. While they're at it, they kill the genre and kill their own film too. Too bad, really, since this film has some good things to recommend about it. By the way, the alternative "happy" ending included on the DVD is even worse than the original. Better to let everyone die -- good and bad.

They died with their coats on

[SMK-3 · 30 July 1998]

In a traditional Western one instantly knows who the good and who the bad guys are, and - of course - we also know who will triumph at the end (the good guys, of course). In a typical Italian Western we still know instantly who's going to win at the end, just the distinction between good guys and bad guys is rather blurred. Il Grande Silenzio is not a typical Italian Western. We know instantly that e.g. Klaus Kinski is one of the bad guys (frankly, we know that before the film starts but that's beside the point), but the final outcome is much less predictable, and if you tried to predict it the actual ending may come as a huge shock.

The title of the film is ambiguous, both referring to the grandiosity of the character played by Jean-Louis Trintignant (called 'silence' since he's mute) and the silence of the winter landscape in which the film is set and the silence of the death.

Yes, the silence of death: the German title of the film ('Leichen pflastern seinen Weg', translation: 'his path is paved with corpses') is also ambiguous, since 'his' could equally apply to both main characters. However, the violence is never gratuitous, it is bleak: most of the victims have faces and a story behind them. Il Grande Silenzio is surprisingly little known but highly regarded amongst genre lovers (including me). As in so many Italian Western, Ennio Morricone's score is a great asset, perfectly assessing and supporting the general mood. This is easily one of the five finest Italian Western ever made, and I'd feel hard pressed to name more than 2 of the others.

The Definition of Anti-Western

[brainofj72 · 8/10 · 31 August 2006]

Westerns. What comes to mind? Sandy deserts, hot sun, tumbleweeds, and heroic duels, right? Now reverse all of that. Now you have The Great Silence.

After a brutal bounty hunter kills a woman's husband, she hires Silence, a mute man who kills bounty hunters for money.

One of the most interesting ideas behind The Great Silence is apparent through the main plot itself. Is Silence any better than the bounty hunter? Isn't he a bounty hunter? The film is full of questions and thoughts about the nature of the old west. It is a film about the emptiness of violence and revenge. Have there been many films that have dealt with these issues? Yes. But The Great Silence is not just a deep contemplation of violence – it is also simply a very entertaining spaghetti western, thus it never feels dull and is always engaging.

The whole cast is excellent, but the highlight is the incredibly talented Klaus Kinski, who is electrifying in the role of the ice-cold bounty hunter Loco. As always, you just can't take your eyes off him. But Jean-Louis Trintignant is also very notable for his portrayal of Silence. He takes the Clint Eastwood archetype of "The Man With No Name" one step further in that he quite literally never says a word. Yet somehow he manages to be a very sympathetic character, and we, as an audience, genuinely care about him.

Sergio Corbucci's direction is fittingly sloppy – shaky camera-work and many quick zooms make for an unnerving and slightly surreal framework for the film. Interestingly enough, it is actually quite the opposite of Sergio Leone's glacial direction, though he appears to have been an influence on this film. And it is also worth noting that Ennio Morricone scores the film, and he does it expertly.

But the big allure of The Great Silence is its complete reversal of the western genre. Instead of sand and sun, we get snow and clouds. But what's more is that the hero doesn't win. At the moment when one would expect him to pull his gun and defeat the band of villains, he is crippled, and killed. The heroine is killed. All of the innocent hostages are killed. Evil prevails, and the bad guys live. It is just about the most unexpected and downbeat ending I have ever seen. It is also one of the most honest and powerful. Thanks to Corbucci's skilled direction, it hits you like a punch to the gut and it lingers in your mind. It doesn't feel cheap or gimmicky, like it very easily could have.

It is, in fact, so devastating that Corbucci was actually forced to shoot an alternate "happy" ending for certain markets, in which, just in the nick of time, the (dead) sheriff miraculously reappears and kills Loco, allowing Silence to finish off the rest of the bounty hunters. You can see it on the Fantoma DVD. It is hilarious to watch, as it is so obvious that Corbucci shot it in a tongue-in-cheek manner mocking the very clichés it was perpetuating. The west was a harsh place in time where the good guys didn't always win, and Corbucci did an excellent job conveying that.

The Great Silence is a fascinating film that turns the western genre completely on its head. While it is not as beautifully atmospheric as McCabe & Mrs. Miller or as relentlessly entertaining as The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, it is a moving and profound film that you certainly won't forget.

What a Western, what an ending!

[tonypeacock-1 · 8/10 · 3 January 2019]

I thought that I had reached the zenith of the 'spaghetti Western' genre with the Sergio Leone Dollars Trilogy and Once Upon A Time In The West. However with this Western I was alerted to the brilliance of another great director called Sergio, Sergio Corbucci.

I have seen another Corbucci film, Django from 1966 a few years ago. You could call this film the Western in the snow. It certainly was the inspiration for Quentin Tarantino with his The Hateful Eight film.

The film is about a man with no voice, never mind no name! No seriously the lead (Jean-Louis Trintignant) had his vocal chords forcibly removed in childhood in a attack on his parents by bounty hunters. It is this memory that drives Silence to have a dislike of Bounty hunter/killers and their methods. This film has plenty of them epitomized by Klaus Kinski as Bounty Hunter Loco.

The film has an excellent music score by the legendary Ennio Morricone. The score matches up to any of his other work.

The ending of a Western, or any film for that matter usually sees good prevail and justice being made etc...not here. The hero, Silence is gunned down along with several mountain farmer outlaws as Loco escapes with his life.

The ending proved so controversial when the film was made in the late 1960s that it never got a widespread release in territories like the U.S. and U.K. despite the film being purchased by studio Twentieth Century Fox. I would go as far as to rate this the greatest western film I have seen, which is a lot!

One of the best, most cynical westerns of the sixties

[funkyfry · 8/10 · 11 October 2002]

Exciting, gory Italian produced western with Kinski as the sadistic bounty hunter who kills with no discretion. Lots of body mutilation (typical in Corbucci films), interracial sex, and other taboo subjects. With a high quality of actors and nice photography. Corbucci also scored with "Django", but this film is better.

Brilliant, almost surreal piece set in the white land of demons

[Bogey Man · 10/10 · 11 March 2003]

The late, great Italian film maker Sergio Corbucci (Django, Companeros) directed and co-wrote this incredible western, Il Grande Silenzio (aka The Great Silence) in 1968. It is as visually impressive and powerful in its silence as the greatest work of another Sergio, Leone, but what makes Corbucci's piece stand out is its total pessimism, honesty and possibly the darkest and saddest ending ever filmed. These powerful images are fantastic themselves, but when it all is given the magic touch of Ennio Morricone's music, it becomes clear this is perhaps the greatest of all the spaghetti westerns made in Italy.

Extremely great and also handsome actor Jean-Louis Trintignant is a killer named Silence. He has a dark childhood as his family was slaughtered in front of him and his own throat was slashed as a little boy so that he could never speak again, and he doesn't. He is a killer who kills for those who have been mistreated and abused by sadistic and barbaric bounty hunters and thieves that inhabit the area, Snowhill town, sometimes in the late 1800's. Another killer arrives to Snowhill, Loco (Klaus Kinski in a truly memorable role) and he is the other side of Silence: a totally ruthless killer who betrays his friends for money and the like, but still these two men share at least one thing in common. They won't shoot until their opposite has touched his gun first so that the killing could be told as "self defense". The late US actor Frank Wolff plays the funny Sheriff Burnett who tries to uphold the law in the city. Vonetta McGee in her first feature film performance (and a character in Alex Cox' Repo Man, Cox being a huge admirer of Corbucci's film) plays Pauline, a sad big eyed, dark beauty who has lost her husband to Loco's bullet. Everyone wants revenge and everyone also gets it, but never without realistic consequences. The film won't be any more merciful than the real life it's depicting itself.

This belongs to the most powerful experiences I've had for a long time. The magic of silence, proved in its most beautiful and sensitive form in the art of Japanese Takeshi Kitano for example, is totally unique in this tale of the mute killer. He naturally doesn't speak a word during the whole film but still he says much more than many speaking characters here and in much less noteworthy films of any genre. The eyes, the movements, the face expressions in cinema can be much more than any words ever could and this film is a very good example to show it. Especially the love scene between Silence and Pauline is among the most beautiful scenes I've ever seen as the suffered, but still full of (fateful) hate and anger, wife of the dead man falls in love with Silence and sadly doesn't realize to give up the thoughts of revenge before it's too late. The emotions and love in that brief and silent scene are real, they are perhaps even more than some real human beings can ever achieve in their lives.

The darkest and most brutal sides of human nature are here present all the time and the things get almost surreal at times. In Il Grande Silenzio, everyone wants to avenge the wrongs they've suffered, no matter if they're themselves old, weak, strong, young or anything, they just want to answer to violence with violence and of course it never works until there's one man who'd dare to say no to his instincts and feelings of primitive hate and rage. The ending of the film is so harrowingly real (and prolonged) it becomes almost unbearable in its sadness and both mental (especially) and physical violence. Again Kinski's eyes tell everything that is necessary. At this point I'll point out that I'm definitely not talking about the alternative (and very bad) "happy ending" Corbucci was forced to shoot for some foreign audiences like the Far East and North Africa, as the producers thought they would have probably disliked the film too much in its original form and finale, THE original finale I'm talking about. Il Grande Silenzio shows our nature in its ugliest form, in a place in which one has to struggle to survive but still should remember how can we treat each other in any kind of situation. The theme of violence, greediness and overall decadence of man has never been this strong in the Italian western genre and naturally the ending broke all the conventions and rules of the genre, because this film just wants to be and is so much more.

The imagery is stunning in the wintery mountains and white heaven in hell. It is snowing all the time and the coldness of the place comes through the screen. One extremely memorable element in the exteriors is the bunch of outlaws that moves with scythes and other weapons silently around the place trying to find something to eat, like horses of some casual travellers. The silence of the group when it arrives and surrounds the camera is very haunting and as we don't really get to know where they live and stay for night, it becomes almost a surreal element and a very creepy one. Another similar elements can be found for example in British Philip Ridley's disturbing Reflecting Skin (1990) as it has the mysterious black car driving around and other unknown characters haunting the small protagonist (Jeremy Cooper) in his journey towards the (again) sad ending. Surrealism in cinema is among the things that make the art so fascinating and fantastic.

The cinematography is Corbucci's film is nothing short of mind blowing with some great compositions and different angles plus some extreme close ups to make each scene look as powerful as their potential. The white is the dominating color here (in addition to the red that is poured by the characters onto the peaceful white) and it all is captured on screen with huge talent that leaves no space for questions about Corbucci's abilities as a film maker. Also the occasional shaky shots and zooms work greatly as nothing is used too often or without reason. Everything that is there can be explained and have their reason.

Again the music by the masterful Ennio Morricone is something that can make and makes tears come to the viewer eyes when heard over the already wonderful and powerful images. Cinema just could not be any more powerful when imagery, the eyes, the faces like these and music like this give power to each other and show sides of each other that otherwise would be hidden. The music is on the same brilliant level with the music in Leone's films, but it is so sad and without any "heroic" touches in Corbucci's vision of the West.

Il Grande Silenzio is a masterpiece of Italian cinema and easily the greatest achievement of its director. It has important and serious things to tell and depict, things that are (t)here unfortunately today as they were back then, and so the film is as topical and true as it was back then and will remain so until, if ever, its target will change. The cinematic magic could not be any more fantastic than it now is, and there are no any negative sides I would consider forth mentioning in the piece at all. A masterpiece, honest, raw, beautiful, mighty cinema and thoroughly real. 10/10

Weak ending lets down a potential masterpiece

[adrian-43767 · 6/10 · 20 February 2018]

From the outset one gets the feeling that Trintignant, a very fine actor, is miscast. According to production reports, he struggled with Italian and English, and it was decided that the best thing was to give him a silent role - which greatly limits his scope, but somehow helps increase the film's claustrophobic atmosphere, hemmed in by constant snow and cold.

Kinski gets the plum part, with the clever lines; the actor who plays the sheriff also does well; cinematography is excellent under such strenuous conditions; dialogue is good enough to keep you riveted; and the motivations of all those human living on the brink of animaldom -- especially the group of "outlaws" who prowl outside of town and keep attacking people for food -- almost turn THE GREAT SILENCE into a Western version of MAD MAX.

The film is full of Leone-like touches, including significant looks and close-ups. Unlike any Leone movie, it is able to show two human beings who feel real love for each other (Trintignant and the black woman whose husband was killed by Kinski). It also has its fair share of subjective angles and shots, all of which builds up to what should have been a terrific climax.

Instead, Director Sergio Corbucci suddenly and unexpectedly decides to turn THE GREAT SILENCE into a historic piece about some massacre. A happier ending would have made it a masterpiece comparable to ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST, and certainly better than A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS or FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE.

The greater the pity - as much as I would like to give it a higher mark, because there is much to be enjoyed about THE GREAT SILENCE, ultimately its weak and wayward ending lets it down. 6/10

Truly Unique!!

[ArthurKingoftheBritons · 8/10 · 26 July 2006]

I recently purchased this movie off of the internet after viewing some Sergio Leone films that really got me into the western genre, specifically the spaghetti westerns. I must say that this is unlike any movie I have viewed from the time period. The story is captivating and kept my interest and the ending is one that I will never forget and an extremely important moment for the western genre. However, don't be expecting a Sergio Leone film. This is very different and Sergio Corbucci has his own distinctive style, such as sloppy close-ups and messy cinematography, along with many cuts. The landscape of the film is fresh and one of the main components of this work of art that makes the film so unique. Outside of Leone Corbucci is considered the best director of spaghetti westerns and it is clearly demonstrated here, which I actually hold in higher regard than Leone's first installment of the dollars trilogy "A Fistfull of Dollars". Definitely worth a look if you are a spaghetti western fan as this movie is one of the most important milestones in the genre and in film overall.

Worth seeing in spite of the ending

[westerner357 · 7/10 · 27 September 2004]

(aka: THE GREAT SILENCE)

First off, I have to say the Morricone score is a definite keeper. It is one of his best, especially the opening theme playing while Trintignant is riding through the snowy wilderness. It repeats itself throughout the rest of the film with alternate funky sitar and trumpets cues at key points of the film. It's well worth adding to any Spaghetti western soundtrack collection and rates right up there with DEATH RIDES A HORSE (1968) and THE BIG GUNDOWN (1967)

The movie itself involves a hired killer named "Silence" (Jean-Louis Trintignant in a non-speaking role) who helps protect Mormons (who have a bounty on their heads and are forced to live out in the mountains) from the likes of Loco (Klaus Kinski) and his gang of fellow bounty hunters. We also have the wise cracking sheriff played by Frank Wolff who meets a tragic end in a frozen lake.

There's a fair amount of blood (by 1968 standards) as Silence has a habit of shooting off fingers and thumbs of men he is forced to have gunfights with. He uses an unusual machine pistol in a box case strapped to his belt. There's also a lot of mutilation in the film as witnessed by Silence in a flashback scene explaining how as a boy, some bounty killers came to his home and killed his parents and then slit his throat leaving him mute. Fortunately they don't graphically show that but it's implied.

The main problem with this one is the ending. It's so depressing and it involves the massacre of many of the Mormon people who were trapped and lured into town with the promise of food. They were tied up and massacred in a saloon. I won't say what happens to Silence and his lover Pauline (Vonetta McGee) but it too is depressing.

The Fantoma DVD for the most part presents a clean print although it's matted a little too wide for my tastes and is non-anamorphic. It also suffers from compression problems with some scenes looking like they had a cheesecloth covering the lens in a grid-like fashion. Really bizarre-looking.

Extras include an interesting interview with director Alex Cox who says the film was shot in the Pyrenees, although I thought it was up in the Italian Alps with interiors shot outside of Rome. In any case, the Alpine scenery could easily pass for Utah. There's also an alternate 'happy ending' made for some world markets that thought the original was too downbeat, but after seeing it, maybe the downbeat ending was necessary.

Despite it's grim ending, Sergio Corbucci made an above average western. Some people say it's his best but that's debatable.

Still recommended.

7 out of 10

-

Sergio Corbucci's spaghetti western masterpiece

[MoonDawg-3 · 10/10 · 13 April 2000]

Like Corbucci's mudbound gem "Django", the snowbound "The Great Silence" is an imaginative spaghetti western *not* set in a dusty desert. The film's greatest asset is its gorgeous scenery and cinematography, which are so outstanding as to make it hard to go back to watching run-of-the-mill Eurowesterns. Jean-Louis Trintignant is brilliant as the virtuous title character, a mute gunfighter who only shoots in self-defense (but who is not above provoking an enemy to draw first). Klaus Kinski, in a co-starring role for once (unlike the dozens of spaghettis where he mailed in a five-minute cameo), is very good as the antagonist. The implied political message may or not be to everyone's taste, but it is at least thought-provoking. I would rank this above "Django" and "Navajo Joe" as Corbucci's most fully realized western, and among the five best spaghetti westerns ever.

THE GREAT SILENCE (Sergio Corbucci, 1968) ***

[Bunuel1976 · 7/10 · 4 June 2006]

Superior to DJANGO (1966), Corbucci's most popular work, this would probably be his best film; of the director's more renowned Spaghetti Western efforts, I've also watched COMPANEROS (1970) and would most like to catch up with A PROFESSIONAL GUN (1968).

The script is denser than your average Western, if not nearly as ambitious as the contemporaneous Sergio Leone films; it's also interesting to note the dual meaning of the title: Jean-Louis Trintignant's character has been nicknamed Silence (since he's a mute) but it also refers to his unfailing skill as a gunslinger - bringing silence, i.e. death, wherever he passes. The main actors all deliver terrific performances - Trintignant is one of the most interesting heroes in the entire "Spaghetti Western" subgenre (apparently, Marcello Mastroianni was the original choice!), Klaus Kinski (ditto where villains are concerned; his foppish bounty hunter here is surely the most significant of the actor's many forays in the field), Vonetta McGee (unusual for any type of Western to feature a black woman in the lead, and the same goes for her interracial love scene with Trintignant!), Frank Wolff and Luigi Pistilli (whose character is tied with Trintignant's backstory, Leone-style, though this element isn't revealed gradually here - which perhaps weakens its impact in the long run!).

Ennio Morricone's score didn't seem all that impressive while I was watching the film, being subtler than usual for the maestro, but emerges as undeniably haunting in retrospect. The forbidding snowy landscape (also the setting of two largely unsung, and equally unusual "Hollywood" Westerns, William A. Wellman's TRACK OF THE CAT [1954] and Andre' De Toth's DAY OF THE OUTLAW [1959]) is surely one of the film's trump cards. While not excessively graphic, there is here some pretty nasty means of violence (throat slashing, thumbs shot off) and the remarkably nihilistic conclusion has to be one of the most unexpected - and powerful - in all Westerns; whereas the hero would normally suffer mightily at the hands of the bad guys only to re-emerge like an angel of death unleashing bloody retribution, this doesn't occur here...and that's all I'm going to say about the finale! As a means of countering foreign markets' eventual protests at the film's downbeat curtain, an alternate "happy ending" was devised: thankfully, it's been preserved (not the dialogue, though) and is included on the DVD; silly in itself, if anything it makes for an interesting comparison with the original. I opted for Eureka's R2 edition over Fantoma's slightly more bountiful disc due to the availability here of the Italian-language version.

I had recently watched two minor Corbucci Westerns - MASSACRE AT GRAND CANYON (1965) and THE HELLBENDERS (1969) - and should be following this with RINGO AND HIS GOLDEN PISTOL (1966), as well as a whole slew of other examples from the genre.

Silent Western

[Angel_Peter · 3/10 · 10 December 2018]

I do not completely understand the high praise of this movie. I have seen much better executed movies with silent avengers. In my opinion he was quite bland and most interesting about him was his gun. Many people mention this as a masterpiece. Besides the ending nothing is really new or interesting. And if you have seen Japanese movies this ending have already been done many times at this time and even better.

Only character in the movie really interesting in my opinion is the sherif that have a too little role. Even the love story in the movie was like did that just happen? Talking five minutes to a mute man she never met before and then she had to declare her love to him.

In my opinion you can find many better westerns out there both Italian and American. Unfortunately when we got to the end I hoped for the alternative ending to happen just to justify my time time with this movie.