#9 - Once Upon a Time in the West

Once upon a time an Italian made the greatest western of all time. The thing that Once Upon a Time in the West understands better than any other western is that there's no need for realism in the genre. Instead it takes all the elements of the western and blends them all together into the ultimate combination. You get all the familiar archetypes: the loner seeking revenge, the crazy bandit with a heart of gold, the dangerous villain, and the woman who brings them all together. Claudia Cardinale even gets to be two western archetypes at the same time, being both a widow and a whore. [if only she could be a schoolteacher as well, she'd have everything covered!] Now put these characters in a fast-paced story where alliances change at every turn, and a double-cross is around every corner.

Next add music. Oh, the music! Ennio Morricone's music for Leone's films have become legendary for good reason. Even if you haven't seen a western you probably can hum the theme to The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly. Now, instead of making one great iconic theme he made four, one for each character, each one unforgettable. I think 'operatic' is used far to often to describe the relation between Leone's films and Morricone's music. In this film I think the most accurate comparison is to dance, in the relation between music and movement.

The other element that makes this western seem larger than anything you've seen before is the cinematography. Like Leone's other westerns extreme close-ups dominate. It makes these characters who are already larger than life seem like giants. The combination between these close-ups and the music are almost too much, like the film is bursting at the seams. But the thing Once Upon a Time in the West has that the earlier films do not is scale. The first time you hear Jill's theme the camera follows her into the train station and moves up over the roof and as the music swells you see this large bustling western town. It's one of my favorite moments in all of cinema, the perfect blend of image, movement, and music. Once Upon a Time in the West is full of moments like these, and that's why it made the list.

See also: My other fave westerns- The Good, The Bad and the Ugly, For a Few Dollars More, Fistful of Dollars, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, The Searchers, Rio Bravo, Deadwood, The Wild Bunch