One could presumably argue that The Great Silence, one of Sergio Corbucci's finest spaghetti westerns, is far from that of a "happy movie" - it's fairly bleak and sombre as far as films in this particular sub-genre go, after all. But consider for a moment that spaghetti westerns were, by large, thought of as "light entertainments" in which - in basic terms - a stoic hero goes up against a flurry of villains who wrong him in some way (or have done in the past), before managing to re-gain his strength and defeat them in a gloriously-rendered battle. The Great Silence, though undoubtably melancholic in its tone and setting (those snow-filled plains are beautifully shot), still clings to that archetypical spaghetti western plot: the experience, ultimately, ploughs forwards towards a satisfying conclusion, as our wronged hero, Silence, finds himself hired by a widower to kill a cruel but law-abiding bounty hunter, Loco, who murdered her husband in cold blood (though it was deemed legal). Silence's plan is to provoke Loco into a fight, so that he can then shoot him down in an act of self-defence. But Loco is smart, and he doesn't let Silence get the better of him for the sum of the picture. As the film draws to a close, Silence sets out to get his man once and for all regardless of the law... and then it happens. As Silence engages his target in battle, Loco shoots him dead. And then, in what must be one of the most unexpected and horrifically rendered moments in western movie history, Loco brutally murders an entire town - an act that, in the context of the story, is "all according to law." It will leave your mouth hanging open for hours afterwards. Like this article? Let us know in the comments section below.
Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.
