Although Tarantino derived the name of his recent movie from Corbucci's Django, I bet he was inspired by this film for its story. Only here the bandits are the good guys; the bounty-hunters the villains. The hero is a sharpshooter named Silence, who lives up to his name: he never speaks a word throughout the film (and you thought Eastwood's Man With No Name was a tough sell). Kinski again proves his genius as the villain, but with all its unique elements and surprises, it's the baffling ending that makes this one of the best Spaghetti Westerns I've ever seen.
PS: Thank you, Toast. This has probably been your best movie recommendation ever.
Mo says:
MoMagic!
All of them are directors!;-)
ReplyDeleteTry to find and watch it asap...your words & rank are so tempting.I can't wait so long!
Dear Maryam,
ReplyDeleteMake sure you watch "Django" first, and then "The Great Silence", so you get a feeling of Corbucci's style.
Oops! I remember 2 times you recommended me watching original Django but I forgot one time was here !but Let me repeat your words with my own... WOWWW, VERY beautiful ! Such a dark surprise ending? so unconventional? what a stunning snow-filled landscape and its cinematography, fascinating music score by SW composing master Ennio Murricone, great performance of hero& anti-hero(anti-human is a better word),nice romance in silence,...
DeletePs(1):Did you recognize Trintignant was the husband in Amour?
ps(2)&powerful picture of villain.now I remember that story of his daughter!He is a terribly villain in the movie but behind the scene? who knows? he is not here to defend himself.
Ps (3):It's streaming free in youtube :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNlF8HZ-xAI
I wish I knew it was on YouTube! Would've saved me a Netflix rental!
DeleteYes, I noticed Trintignant was in "Amour" (and also a famous Bertullucci film, "The Conformist"). That's why "Amour" was so important for bringing together two famous eighty-something year olds: The famous Emmanuel Riva was in there too.
Tell me if you find a link anywhere for another important Corbucci film, "The Mercenary/A Professional Gun". You can find it in segments on YouTube, but all the segments aren't there.
And yes, definitely see "Magdelene Sisters".
Unfortunately ,in spite of searching a lot ,I didn't find it ,except those 5 part in youtube that you mentioned yourself. The only way to see this scarce piece ,I guess is just by Amazon!
DeleteThanks for the namecheck. I saw it years ago on TV in a series called Moviedrome. The director Alex Cox introduced a movie he loved each week and this is the one that stuck in my mind.
ReplyDeleteA totally different kind of film that I loved but haven't seen reviewed on your site is "The Magdalene Sisters" by Scottish director Peter Mullan. It's worth seeing on DVD as the commentary is an eye opener on the problems of working on a low budget. Some fantastic scenes had to be shot within a few hours. It's remarkable that he managed to create such a marvelous work. It really lifts the lid on Ireland's twisted interpretation of Christianity.
Actually, Alex Cox' 5 minute introduction was on the DVD I saw, and I found it historically very educational. He mentioned due the incredibly dark ending (which devastated audiences), they also forced Corbucci to film an alternative "Happy Ending", and that was on the DVD too, but I avoided watching it! I wanted the original shocking ending to stay with me.
ReplyDeleteI saw "The Magdelene Sisters" in the theaters the year it was out, before I started blogging. That was one of my favorite films of 2002. Maybe someday I'll revisit it, and write something about it here.
for whenever you would like to revisit and write something about it here
Deletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdSmjIvJ8Dc
;-)
Thanks! I'll revisit it ... as soon as I'm done with 829 other films I have in line!
Delete;-)
So go to the next : "The Magdelene Sisters" & Django (1966)
ReplyDelete;-)