Review of Once Upon a Time in the West

The ending of Once Upon a Time in the West is one of the worst endings I've ever seen. To believe that Jason Robards is fatally wounded at that point in the film takes a leap of faith. And that the person who shot him was the cripple from the train is an even further illogical plot twist. The film has it's moments, but I was disappointed. It just lacks the magic of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly or the other two films in the Man with No Name Trilogy. The film was directed by Sergio Leone and stars a cast of characters that include Charles Bronson, Henry Fonda, Claudia Cardinale, and Jason Robards. It was released in 1968 on the heals of the success of the Man With No Name trilogy also directed by Leone.

The film centers around the slaughter of a frontier family. The story twists and turns until it is made clear that Red McBane, the man who's family is brutally murdered, bought land that runs where the railroad will go. He stood to make a lot of money when it was time to build the railroad further. Henry Fonda is the lead villain executing the orders of Morton. Morton is a railroad Baron who wants the land for his railroad empire. It all leads up to a shootout where everyone dies except Bronson and Cardinale.

I found it hard to believe Henry Fonda as the villain. The bloodshot eyes and coarse looks add to his villainy, but I still remember him from his previous work where he was the good guy. His voice and demeanor just don't mix well with his villainous character. Charles Bronson comes off as a tough guy of little words. He has a relatively easy role. He doesn't have to do much except look tough and shoot down the bad guys. It was nice to see a woman in a Leone film get more then a subsidiary role. Even though she was abused and the treatment comes off as misogynistic, her character endured the abuse and was left standing with the railroad at the end. Throughout the film I also had my doubts about Jason Robards. In previous performances I had seen him only in theater productions. So to see him in not just a film, but a Western, was a different view for me. And to see him as an action star was hard to believe.

The film is technically solid. It comes off as just as good as other Leone films. The giant expanse of the West is shown in beautiful cinematography. There are many good edits; hard cuts from gun barrel to train, from a shot of the town to the inside. The mise en scene also worked well. The shot compositions with Robards and Cardinale were a portrait of domestic life that doesn't get shown in many other Westerns. It was also innovative in that in didn't rely too much on deep focus as so many films do.

The best part about the film, really of any Leone film that I've seen, was the combination of the musical score with action. Ennio Moriconne does a good job. Maybe not his best effort, but still a great soundtrack to the action. I didn't know how well Opera music would work in a Western, but it adds an Italian touch to the film. The film is good, but not great. It certainly doesn't have the magic of other Leone films. Perhaps it's lacking Clint Eastwood or Lee van Cleef who are so good in the Man with No Name trilogy. The story and writing are far better in The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. I thought the dialogue was too simple. It could have been more complicated. With more memorable lines.

The theme of the film isn't too complex. It seems that it's message is that good will triumph over evil. Eventually someone will get you. The scheming of Fonda and the Railroad Baron eventually leads to their demise. At the end of the film all I could think of was all those dead bodies over a railway station. Couldn't they have found a solution? A compromise? Like in Altman's McCabe and Mrs. Miller, the corporation is presented as evil. A greedy, lethal force that let's nothing stand in it's way. It is up to individuals to stand up to greed and murder and see that good prevails. It does in the Once Upon a Time in the West, but doesn't in McCabe and Mrs. Miller.

McCabe and Mrs. Miller offers a good comparison to Once Upon a Time in the West. McCabe and Mrs. Miller is an unfailingly real portrait of the West. Leone's films are not. They are often too hard to believe and overly stylized. The music and action scenes being stylistic flourishes that border on Surealism. In the Man With no Name trilogy it works well. In Once Upon a Time, it doesn't. The ending is illogical and the standoff between Bronson and Fonda is too theatrical. It is built up too much. I did like the dream, but would there really be time for a dream when you are in a duel? Again it becomes Surreal and too much of a stretch for me to believe.

If you liked the other Leone films, you would probably enjoy this film. As a film in itself, it's probably not worth seeing. I would say it is for fans of Leone and his style of Western. I can't help saying that the film will probably leave you disappointed.