Il grande silenzio (1968)

Director:

Sergio Corbucci

Writers:

Mario Amendola (screenplay)
Bruno Corbucci (screenplay)

Release Date:

19 November 1968 (Italy)

Genre:

Drama | Western

Plot:

A mute gunslinger faces off against a gang of bounty hunters in the great blizzard of 1899, and a grim, tense struggle unfolds.

Plot Keywords:

Mute | Mountain | Revenge | Outlaw | Bounty Hunter

Cast

Jean-Louis Trintignant	...	Silence
Klaus Kinski	...	Tigrero / Loco
Frank Wolff	...	Sheriff Burnett
Luigi Pistilli	...	Pollicut
Vonetta McGee	...	Pauline
Mario Brega	...	Martin, Pollicut's Assistant
Carlo D'Angelo	...	Governor
Marisa Merlini	...	Regina
Maria Mizar
Marisa Sally
Raf Baldassarre	...	One-Eyed Bounty Hunter
Spartaco Conversi	...	Walter, Leader of the Outlaws
Remo De Angelis
Mirella Pamphili	...	Saloon Girl

Also Known As:

The Great Silence (USA)
Le grand silence (France)
The Big Silence

Runtime:

105 min | Brazil:101 min

Country:

Italy | France

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Sound System)

Certification:

Norway:(Banned) (1969) | West Germany:18 (f) | Finland:(Banned) (1969, original rating) | Finland:(Banned) (1969, re-rating) | Finland:K-18 (1989,Video rating, cut) | France:-12 | Italy:VM18 | Australia:M | Sweden:15 | UK:15 (2004)

Filming Locations:

Cortina d'Ampezzo, Belluno, Veneto, Italy

Company:

Adelphia Compagnia Cinematografica

Trivia:

Jean-Louis Trintignant had agreed to do the film in order to help out the producer, who was a friend of his.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Various spelling mistakes in the title cards.

Quotes:

Sheriff Burnett: Tell me something, old-timer. Are we within the jurisdiction of Snow Hill County?
Stage driver: Yep. You can arrest or hang anyone you want.

Movie Connections:

References Winchester '73 (1950)

An exceptional and striking western one could never have done in Hollywood

This is among the very few films that make you truly disgusted by its violence; not because of the amount of blood as in many other films but because the victims of the bounty hunters are human beings, slaughtered brutally in front of their own family members. Corbucci has disguised this film as a piece of popular cinema, but gives us shocks once in a while, and finally surprises us completely in the unexpected end. This is how he makes his anti-violent message very clear, and it is easy to agree with him.

IL GRANDE SILENZIO is more pessimistic but also more human than any western by Leone or Peckinpah. It may not be a pleasant experience, but if you want to see a masterpiece of cinema instead of a traditional western, it is definitely worth waiting in line for.