Once Upon a Time in the West

Title:  Once Upon a Time in the West

Name: Jane Kasukonis

Personal Response to Film:  My personal response to this film is overall a positive one.  This film has many different elements, some making it odd but, interesting.  The western movies I have seen differ from this film.  An example of an odd element of this film is the profound silence and natural sounds used.  Music was definitely an important part of this film but, it was not a main element.  The use of natural sounds like train whistles, boots clicking, horses whinnying, and water dripping made this film very different.  Being a person who enjoys music and is emotionally effected by music, I was surprised at how interested I was in the lack of music in this film.  The natural sounds gave me a sense of being present, being part of the film.  Music gives a film a fantasy element, because we don’t go walking around through life with our own theme song.  The natural sounds in this film gave a more realistic effect.

            One thing I reacted negatively to, was the abundance of men and their portrayal of power.  Women were scarcely found in Once Upon a Time in the West.  Jill, the main female character, did not have much power.  She always has a forlorn look on her face and the male characters have no emotional reaction to her.  She was just there to make coffee.  One thing that surprised me though, was Jill never seemed to play the “damsel in distress”, which is another element that makes this western film different from others.

Summary of Critical Article:  I chose to read the chapter on composition.  This chapter breaks down different film elements that were used to compose different shots of this film.  Major film techniques described were framing, depth, and camera movement.  Many examples were given for each technique described to provide evidence of the composition of shots.  For example, framing was a key technique used throughout the film.  Doorways were used to frame characters and help provide dramatic entrances or shots.  The use of backlighting in the doorway was described as giving a mysterious and dramatic shot.  Framing through doorways also gave the viewer a comparison of the vastness of the scenery behind the doorway or character.  “The brightness of the treeless West contrasts dramatically with the dark interiors of the West, the vastness of the landscape with the cramped interior.” (p. 122). 

            The Composition chapter also describes similarities of Sergio Leone’s artistic film technique to other filmmakers.  Different movies are supplied to provide examples of similarities to Leone’s Once Upon a Time in the West.  An example used in this chapter is the comparison to William Wellman’s Public Enemy.  Both of these film directors use the camera as showing the character’s place of destiny.  The camera will be in the place that the character is coming or going to.  For instance, when Frank falls to the ground and to his death, the camera is already there to capture the deadly expression.  The camera is showing Frank’s destiny of death before he falls.

Response to Critical Article:  I enjoyed reading the Composition chapter, it gave me a better grasp of different film techniques.  The methods used in different film makers, such as Sergio Leone, are used specifically and tactfully to evoke emotion and purpose.  The main point of this chapter was that none of the shots captured were by chance.  All of the shots were critically analyzed and created with purpose.  The use of framing in this film was evident to me, and after reading this chapter I gained a better understanding of why Leone did this.  The dramatic effect of framing and the lineage is artistic and pleasing to the eye.  The chapter gave many examples of the different composition techniques used, and then explained why they were important.  It was a very interesting chapter to help connect the artistic cinematography used in this film.

Consideration of Critic’s Use of Critical frameworks/concepts:  The framework used in the critical article has a formalist approach.  It describes the many pieces that are put together to form this work.  For example the setting, points of view, and symbolism.  There is room for interpretation and finding meaning to different elements of the film.  The author, John Fawell, of The art of Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in the West: A Critical Appreciation interprets different film elements and gives them meaning.  He fits all of the techniques, or pieces, used to make one whole critique. 

Film Analysis:  The film segment I have chosen to analyze is one of the final scenes, where Harmonica and Frank meet at their duel.  This scene has many different elements but, I will be focusing on the setting, colors, and camera shots.  The color of each character’s costumes are symbols of the character’s meaning.  Harmonica is wearing white pants and a white jacket.  The white represents the good side, already foreshadowing who the winner of the duel will be.  On the other side is Frank wearing black pants and a black coat.  Throughout the movie Frank’s costume became more and more dark until the duel at the end, and he was wearing all black.  This symbolized Frank as the bad side, which foreshadowed his doom.  The vastness of the landscape or setting is also an important element in this scene.  Frank and Harmonica are small and almost forgotten when standing in front of the large mountains.  This symbolizes how much these two men are not important, and how they will both be lost to the wild of the West. 

            The camera shots are also very important to analyze in this scene.   Very close up shots are used to get the viewer at a personal level with the character.  Close up shots are used to evoke an emotion and may make the viewer uncomfortable.   

Close up shots of both characters give the viewer insight to what the character must be thinking or feeling.  The director will also use close up shots to build suspense and this is important in this particular scene, because of finality of it.  The duel is the final meeting of these two characters and has been building to this moment the whole movie.  


Reference:

Fawell, J. (2005).  The art of Sergio Leone's once upon a time in the west: A critical appreciation.  McFarland and Company, Inc., Publishers.  London, England.