The Great Silence

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

The Great Silence or Il grande silenzio is a 1968 Italian spaghetti western directed by Sergio Corbucci.


Tropes used in The Great Silence include:
  • The Bad Guy Wins
  • Big Bad: Loco.
  • Bounty Hunter
  • Complete Monster: Loco.
  • Did Not Get the Girl: Inverted as Loco kills Silence after one of his henchmen wounds him only for Pauline to attempt to avenge him leading to her death by Loco, also.
  • Downer Ending: At least in the original version which Sergio intended. Silence, Pauline, and the rest of the villagers all were gunned down by the bounty hunters. However, it's averted in the alternate ending, due to sergio being pressured to do so for Asian and South African markets because of the original depressing bleak ending.
  • The Hero Dies: Silence.
  • Kill'Em All: After Loco kills Silence and Pauline, who attempts to avenge his death, Loco's gang kills all the poor people and leaves.