Once Upon a Time in the West

Sergio Leone ain’t your average bambino. This kid’s obsessed with movies. Spends all his time at the cinema, especially watching Hollywood Westerns. But here’s the kicker: in Rome, where he’s from, John Wayne and Gary Cooper, they’re speaking Italian, but their lips ain’t quite syncing up. This little discrepancy? It blows Sergio’s mind.

Fast-forward a few years, Sergio grows up to be a movie director. Hollywood’s kinda given up on Westerns, so he heads to Spain and starts making his own. And boy, did he hit gold. A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly not only made Leone rich, but they turned Clint Eastwood into a bonafide movie star and birthed a whole new genre.

Now, in Sergio’s Westerns, the world is as enchanting as the ones he watched as a kid, but the values? They’re twisted. Heroes, villains, they’re all in it for greed and revenge, and the landscapes they roam? Beautiful, but desolate and godless. These flicks are like Hollywood myths on steroids, twice removed from reality. And get this: Sergio’s movies are shot in Italian and dubbed into English, just like those John Wayne films he watched growing up. It gives ’em this extra layer of disconnect, makes ’em feel even more brutal and violent than they really are.

You know anything about a man going around playing the harmonica? He’s somebody you’d remember. Instead of talking, he plays. And when he better play, he talks.

When Once Upon a Time in the West just hit the screens, it was Leone’s biggest, longest, most expensive Western yet. And in many ways, it’s the most insane. But even when it’s bad, it’s still damn enjoyable. It’s like Sergio’s playing this balancing act between epic parody and heartfelt tribute to his childhood movie dreams.

Now, this movie’s a mishmash of everything. Leone, Bernardo Bertolucci, and Mickey Knox, they’re all credited for the story and screenplay. The plot? It’s about grabbing some land for a railroad out West, but really, it’s just an excuse for classic Western showdowns. You got Henry Fonda playing this ice-cold killer who’d shoot a kid without batting an eye. Claudia Cardinale’s there too, as this New Orleans hooker, and Jason Robards, he’s a gunslinger with a thing for widows who look like Cardinale. And then there’s Charles Bronson, playing Leone’s favorite character, the Man With No Name, wandering from nowhere to nowhere.

Sure, Once Upon a Time in the West has moments of brilliance, like this intense shoot-out early on. The build-up is all foreplay for the burst of violence. But what really makes it shine is its love for classic cinema. You got nods to the past all over the place, with veteran actors like Lionel Stander, Jack Elam, and Keenan Wynn popping up left and right. And check this out: when Cardinale’s character takes a carriage ride to her husband’s farm, it goes right through John Ford’s Monument Valley.

Now, this movie ain’t for everyone. But if you’re a true cinephile, if you dig a good homage, then Once Upon a Time in the West is a must-see. Trust me on this one.