Once Upon a Time in the West: Difference between revisions

Ennio Morricone contributed the soundtrack.

 

 

* [[Absolute Cleavage]]

* [[Accidental Public Confession]]: A chilling version occurs at the beginning of the movie. Frank and his men have just finished massacring a family, only to exit the house and find a small boy staring at them.

{{quote| '''Mook:''' [[Wouldn't Hurt a Child|What're we gonna do with this one]], Frank?<br />

* [[Affably Evil]]: Cheyenne ''is'' a bandit, but he's fighting against someone much worse.

* [[Badass Boast]]: In Harmonicas establishing scene, [[Showdown At High Noon|when three of Franks men are waiting for him]]:

{{quote| '''Harmonica:''' ''"Did you bring a horse for me?"''<br />

* [[Batman Gambit]]

* [[Better to Die Than Be Killed]]: In the flashback, {{spoiler|Harmonica is kicked to the ground by his brother, who had Harmonica as a platform as he was being hanged by Frank and his men. Harmonica's brother would rather commit suicide that let his younger brother be responsible for his death.}} It all goes to show just how horrible Frank is.

* [[But for Me It Was Tuesday]]: Frank doesn't remember who Harmonica is, although Harmonica isn't keen on reminding him untill the end. On the other hand, when Harmonica starts listing of names, Frank does recognize them as people he previously killed.

** He does recognise Harmonica in the final duel, and [[Word of God|Leone has stated]] that he wished for the final flashback to be a shared experience.

* [[Determined Widow]] - Jill

* {{spoiler|[[Did Not Get the Girl]]}} - {{spoiler|Neither hero - Cheyenne nor Harmonica stays with Jill at the end. Cheyenne because he dies and Harmonica because he was never her [[Love Interest]]}}.

* [[The Drifter]] - Harmonica

* [[Dying Alone]] - {{spoiler|Cheyenne asks Harmonica to look away.}}

{{quote| '''Cheyenne''': You know how to play...but can you shoot? (While idly playing with Harmonica's gun, while gazing at him).}}

** They even go [[Riding Into the Sunset]] together at the end. {{spoiler|And then, Cheyenne dies. But Harmonica ''keeps his body''.}}

** Harmonica was actually [[Playing With a Trope|deliberately invoking]] [[Male Gaze]] by [[Absolute Cleavage|tearing her dress]] and [[Unkempt Beauty|having her hair whipped around a little]]. There may be assassins just outside, but [[All Men Are Perverts|not even they can avert their eyes from the eyecandy]]... except for maybe Harmonica. Look at him closely. He's doing this almost surgically and with extreme care.

* [[Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain]] - Mr. Morton doesn't do much killing, being a crippled and dying old man. His last dream is to see the Pacific Ocean before he dies. {{spoiler|He spends his dying moments desperately crawling towards a small, muddy puddle as a substitute for the Pacific.}}

* [[No Name Given]] - The man out for revenge is only ever called Harmonica, as he plays a harmonica everywhere he goes.

** Until the end, that is.

* [[The Only One Allowed to Defeat You]] - Harmonica

{{quote| '''Jill''': "You {{spoiler|saved his life}}!"<br />

'''Harmonica''': "I {{spoiler|didn't let them kill him}}, and that's not the same thing." }}

* [[Post Modernism]]- See [[Deconstruction]] or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Once_Upon_a_Time_in_the_West#Film_references That Other Wiki]. French theorist [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Baudrillard Jean Baudrillard] once deemed Once Upon A Time In The West the first postmodern film.

** And referenced in a later shootout:

{{quote| '''Jill''': "I swear we're gonna hear that strange sound again."<br />

* [[Villainy Discretion Shot]]: Cheyenne killing his prison escort.

* [[Whammy Bid]]: The five-thousand-dollar bid.

** Later on, Jill {{spoiler|seemingly enjoys sleeping with Frank, in spite of her strong contempt for this man who killed her family. However, earlier on, she says to Cheyenne that if he and his men all raped her, she could pick up the pieces and still live, so it's really just a way to stop him from murdering her.}}

* [[Would Hurt a Child]]: One of the earliest evil deeds Frank does is kill a child. He also {{spoiler|subjected Harmonica to a horrible torment at a young age, too}}. Henry Fonda, the actor who played Frank, was initially reluctant to take another a role in a western, having been in so many already and [[Typecasting|always playing one of the good guys]]. That is, until director Sergio Leone told him, "Picture this: the camera shows a gunman from the waist down pulling his gun and shooting a running child. The camera pans up to the gunman's face and... it's Henry Fonda." Fonda signed on in a heartbeat.