Once Upon A Time In The West

Beautiful, chilling, tense. This is undoubtedly another classic from the master of film making Sergio Leone. The story sees the clash of three characters. The hired brutal killer Frank (Henry Fonda), the man with the harmonica (Charles Bronson) who wants Frank dead for unknown reasons and  Cheyenne (Jason Robards) who is framed for Franks brutal massacre of Jill McBain's (Claudia Cardinale) family.

As per usual with Sergio Leone this is stunning to look at. It literally makes my eyes water with how amazing and influential the direction is. From the perfect use of silence to the tension mounting, drawn out eye shots and duel scenes. The most beautiful combination (again, as usual) is the direction and music. Ennio Morricone's music says so much more than any words possibly could! The chilling, spine tingling harmonica theme is placed perfectly.

Even when characters do speak the dialogue it's fantastically formed with brilliant timing. Almost like poetry to my ears. And the casting is great. Okay, so you get the picture, its an excellently directed western. Is it better then The Good, The Bad and The Ugly? Its difficult to say. Whilst the characters are more fun (Clint is unbeatable in terms of charm and awesomeness!) and the film more iconic, In the West is more mature in terms of direction and production. I admit I enjoy watching GBU more so in terms of entertainment but they're both at the top of their game though.  If you like westerns watch both! [A*]