Something to Do with Death (Video 2003)

Part three of the making of Sergio Leone's C'era una volta il West.

Director:

Lancelot Narayan

Writers:

Sheldon Hall, Lancelot Narayan

Stars:

Claudia Cardinale, Gabriele Ferzetti, Christopher Frayling

Cast

Cast overview:
Claudia Cardinale	...	Herself
Gabriele Ferzetti	...	Himself
Christopher Frayling	...	Himself, author of 'Sergio Leone: Something To Do with Death'
John Carpenter	...	Himself
Alex Cox	...	Himself
Bernardo Bertolucci	...	Himself
John Milius	...	Himself

Storyline

Part three in a documentary trilogy about the making of C'era una volta il West. The first part of Something to Do with Death focuses on the music of composer Ennio Morricone. The music actually was written before the shooting even began. The documentary continues with the political views of director Sergio Leone. Did C'era una volta il West have a political message? The film concludes with a view about the importance and influence of the film on the world then and now.

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Plot Keywords:

making of | interview | western filmmaking | italian filmmaking | behind the scenes

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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:

Jotain tekemistä kuoleman kanssa

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Lipsync Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

18 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This documentary is featured on the 2-Disc Special Collector's Edition DVD for Once Upon a Time in the West (Once Upon a Time in the West), released in 2003.

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Connections

References El Dorado (1966)

User Reviews

Terrific--but why did they break it into parts?

"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.