Simply and starkly a great movie, one of the most unforgettable westerns ever made anywhere. As it happens, it was made in the Dolomites, in Italy, by Django director Sergio Corbucci, with a French star (Jean Louis Trintignant, The Conformist) as the eponymous mute gunfighter, and a German madman, Klaus Kinski (Fitzcarraldo), as his antagonist, a vicious bounty hunter appropriately known as Loco. Shot against the wintery mountainous backdrop, their duel is utterly enthralling, culminating in an ending that will scar your soul.
This is a resolutely political movie – small wonder it wasn’t released in the US for 50 years. If it had been let loose in 68, the fires may have burned even more brightly. As usual, Morricone’s score takes all this to another level, the icing on the proverbial cake. He himself rated it is his best work in the genre, barring his collaborations with Leone.
The greatest Spaghetti Western ever made.
Alex Cox, director, Repo Man
Brutal, bleakly beautiful spaghetti Western filmed on stark locations in the Dolomites, with one of the most uncompromising and unforgettable finales ever filmed.
Leonard Maltin
It’s anarchic and rigorous, sophisticated and goofy, heartfelt and cynical. The score, by Ennio Morricone, is as mellow as wine.
AO Scott, New York Times
Community Partner
Sergio Corbucci
Jean-Louis Trintignant, Klaus Kinski, Frank Wolff, Luigi Pistilli, Mario Brega, Marisa Merlini, Vonetta McGee
Italy/France
1968
In English and Italian with English subtitles
Indigenous & Community Access
Credits
Producer
Attilio Riccio, Robert Dorfmann
Screenwriter
Vittoriano Petrilli, Mario Amendola, Bruno Corbucci, Sergio Corbucci
Cinematography
Silvano Ippoliti
Editor
Amedeo Salfa
Original Music
Ennio Morricone
Also in This Series
The Untouchables
With a screenplay by David Mamet and a magnificenct cast (De Niro, Costner and Connery!) De Palma enjoyed one of his biggest hits with this big scale, mythic rendering of the Al Capone story, bolstered by one of Morricone's most stirring scores.
The Great Silence
A mute gunfighter, Silenzio (Jean Louis Trintignant) circles the vicious bounty hunter Loco (Klaus Kinski) in the snowy mountains of Utah, in this, one of the greatest westerns ever made. Morricone's music caps an under-seen but unforgettable classic.