An Opera of Violence (Video 2003)

Part one of the making of Sergio Leone's Once Upon A Time In The West.

Director:

Lancelot Narayan

Stars:

Christopher Frayling, Tonino Delli Colli, Gabriele Ferzetti

Cast

Cast overview:
Christopher Frayling	...	Himself, author of 'Sergio Leone: Something To Do with Death'
Tonino Delli Colli	...	Himself
Gabriele Ferzetti	...	Himself
Bernardo Bertolucci	...	Himself
John Carpenter	...	Himself
John Milius	...	Himself
Alex Cox	...	Himself
Sergio Leone	...	Himself (archive footage)
Claudia Cardinale	...	Herself
Henry Fonda	...	Himself (archive footage)

Storyline

Part one in a documentary trilogy about the making of C'era una volta il West. An Opera of Violence begins with a biography of director Sergio Leone. A part about the difficult path Leone had to take to make this film, follows. Part one concludes with the decisions about casting. Who was asked to act in this film, why did Leone choose these actors?

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Plot Keywords:

making of | behind the scenes | interview | western filmmaking

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Genres:

Documentary | Short

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English Italian

Release Date:

18 November 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

Väkivallan ooppera

Filming Locations:

Cinecittà Studios, Cinecittà, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company Credits

Production Co:

Lipsync Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

29 min

Sound Mix:

3 Channel Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This documentary is featured on the 2-Disc Special Collector's Edition for Once Upon a Time in the West (Once Upon a Time in the West).

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Connections

References The Iron Horse (1924)

User Reviews

The final portion of the three-part documentary.

"The Wages of Sin", "Something to Do With Death" and "An Opera of Violence" are a three-part documentary for the Sergio Leone film "Once Upon a Time in the West". However, I have no idea why the films were broken into three distinct parts. After all, there is no logical reasoning separating the three portions and they all tell about the making of and the significance of the feature film. I suspect, and I could EASILY be wrong, that it is because it looks more impressive to increase the actual number of special features! So, instead of a disk saying it has one documentary about this, the one for disk two of "Once Upon a Time in the West" says it has three (plus one additional one that, frankly, was just terrible---but it was not part of this trilogy). Because the three short documentaries make up a whole and they all cover the broad topic, I am not going to try to separately review all three--it just doesn't make any sense.

As far as the documentary as a whole goes, it is very good because it achieves something that is of the utmost importance--it instills excitement and appreciation within the viewer for the feature. While I must admit that I like "Once Upon a Time", I also have always thought it over-long and in need of a better editing (shortening a few scenes and not cutting out subplots like they did on its American release). But, given the commentaries by so many learned people it makes me want to go back and reevaluate the film--perhaps they have a point. Additionally, lots of great background material is given as well as film clips and production stills. It's a shame that the director, Leone, died so young. They only included a couple short clips from hi and couldn't really let him speak for himself about this film or his thinking that went into the creative process.

If you love "Once Upon a Time in the West" or love films about film making or are a film student, then this multi-part documentary is for you. Well written, coherent and filled with insight and enthusiasm--see this DVD extra and not just the feature film.