Once Upon A Time In The West
By Brian Carpenter on June 14, 2009 8:59 AM
Last year Sergio Leone's 1968 epic spaghetti western Once Upon A Time In The West
was showing at the Brattle and I went with a bunch of friends. What an
experience. Leone's extreme close-ups and widescreen cinematography
combine with incredibly elaborate set pieces of cities in the Old
American West built around railroad stations. The performances are
fantastic with Jason Robards and Charles Bronson (who appropriately
doesn't have but a few sentences of dialogue in the entire picture) in
leading roles. Henry Fonda, cast against type as a ruthless murderer,
gives an absolutely chilling performance.
I've recently been
listening to a lot of vinyl and several years ago had picked up Ennio
Morricone's original soundtrack to the film. I put it on today and was
stunned all over again. Morricone is at the top of his game here. His
score is at turns majestic, haunting, and unabashedly beautiful. All
of Morricone's signature voicings are channeled through Alessandro
Alessandroni's Cantoni Moderni, incorporating Alessandroni's whistling
and solo soprano Edda Dell'Orso at the height of her powers. Legend
has it that Leone played parts of Morricone's score for the actors
while on set as if he were conducting an opera.
One of my
favorite film scores of all time. Check out the film if you haven't
(in a theater if the opportunity presents itself), and get your hands
on the original soundtrack recording. You can thank me later.
--bc
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