"Once Upon the Time in the West," which opened yesterday at Loew's State 2 and at Loew's Orpheum, is the biggest, longest, most expensive Leone Western to date, and, in many ways, the most absurd." - The New York Times
This movie challenges the dominant idealogy for most Americans from that time because the inhumane killer in this movie is a white man, whereas, viewers were used to seeing Native Americans as inhumane and cruel, cold blooded killers. The roles in this movie play against the stereotypes that everyone at that time is used to. Another interesting spin is that Henry Fonda was the villain. He was known back then as the guy who always plays the hero, gentleman and righteous man.
Another thing that was dramatically different for me (and I'm sure for the viewers back then too) was that the villain actually got to sleep with the girl (I think her name was Jill). She wanted him (and I'm still confused because he was the one who killed her husband). Whereas, what I'm used to is that the good guy gets the girl. And even in the end, he still left her there without even as much as a hand shake. Why??? Fall in love and live happily ever after! Although she wasn't your typical "damsel in distress" I think Jill's role in this movie was wonderful. She showed a different side of women that most movies don't portay; the real side.
This film was long but really good. It had amazing close up shots, the sound effects and music was great and definitely added to the mood of the scene. For example, when the fly was on the guys mouth all I could hear was that annoying sound that the fly makes and I thought to myself "Just kill the stupid thing already". The music and sound effects got the viewer to feel like they were experiencing the same that and made it that much more relateable. The scenery was also beautiful as like any other western movie.
I enjoyed this movie because it masterfully challenged the typical western, as well as, the normal types of roles these actors played. You never knew what was coming next so it mastered the element of surprise and above all, it was action packed, as well as, humerous. And with these compliments coming from someone who doesn't like westerns, this is a definitely under the "must watch" list!
I wrote similar things in my blog as you did here saying that the inhuman killer was a white man and that challenged American's ideology.Another thing that i saw almost everyone in our group feel confused was the sex between Frank and Jill. However, i found it to be understandable, because this movie tried to give us the real west and the real people who lived there, who have their own desires and dark sides. I enjoy the movie because it is not a fairy tale which tells a story about a hero and a bad guy. Instead, it showed us that everyone had both goodness and dark sides, no one is perfect.
ReplyDeleteI thought Jill married her husband because she wanted to lead a more steady life; she didn't love her husband so much. The one she really had love with was still the "good guy" in the movie. For the sex between Jill and Frank, it seemed to have something to do with the land. Overall I like the character of Jill very much because she was complicated and was really an important role of the movie, rather than just some good-looking girl serving the main character.
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