Content: Henry Pollicut, a former bounty-hunter, has nestled in the small village of Snow Hill. As banker he forces poor devils into illegality and a miserable being as outlaws in the surrounding hills. As justice of peace he fixes the bounties for the condemned: a fine income for evil Loco and a bunch of further bounty-hunters, who wanna cash. After the execution Pollicut receives the sparse property of the down hunted and occasionally their widow. In the bloody snow of Snow Hill another gunslinger, called “Silence” because of his dumbness, gets along veeery well: For 1000 dollars the revenge-seeking relatives of a murdered outlaw can hire him to give the one ore another bounty-hunter a piece of his mind. As the governor installs Gideon Burnett, a man of integrity, as new sheriff, to rearrange law and order, Pollicut, Loco and the bounty-hunters fear the end of the days of wine and roses. Whereas Loco can deal with the sheriff, he has got a new and dangerous opponent, because “Silence” is engaged by Pauline Middleton, whose husband Loco has killed. And Pauline wants Loco’s head given on a plate.
| The Gunslinger says: Well, folx, it’s winter-time and so I catch up on something, missing at this point. Corbuccis second big Western in my opinion is his best one. Whereas even the pessimistic “Django” finally offers a kind of hope, Corbuccis denies this here: The “black” final after a chain of violence is a brutal contrast to the dazzling white snowy landscape and shows no future prospects. The film brings the aspiration for dollars – quite normal in the SW ;-) anyway - to the boil. Everyone takes part: the banker, who offers bounties on “outlaws” to enrich himself on their property and/or taking their widows. The bounty-hunters, who look on humans only as profitable goods. A very good scene is the coach ride, in which course Loco collects some frosted bodies, he has store under snow to convert them into cash later. Everybody exploits the law for his own advance. Characteristic for that is, as Loco kills the sole persons of integrity: the sheriff and a bar woman. Not much better is “Silence”, who benefits from the distress of the outlaws, by being hired for 1.000 dollars per “job”.
The actors are premiere league too: Klaus Kinski, completely businesslike, is simply great. And Trintignant, without having the language to express himself, makes the maximum out of his role. Further mentionable is Frank Wolff, whose idealistic sheriff has to pay tribute to reality.
Forthermore we have a great camera work and a bitter-sweet score by Ennio Morricone, who lets get a chance to strings, acoustic guitars and occasionally choirs
| Rating: $$$$$
| Bodycount: ca. 30 Gringos, ca. 6 Women
| Explicit Brutalities: - „Silence“ uses to shoot his opponents the thumbs off
- Loco questions an outlaw with the help of his whip and kills him, although he has promised to let him live
- Loco kills another outlaw, whom he promised live
- Pollicut and his assistant (Mario Brega) start on the wounded “Silence” and Pauline
- The bounty hunters execute the pinioned outlaws in the saloon
| Luv': Pauline loves „Silence“, but warmth doesn’t have a chance in this bloody cold: 1/10
| Gore: 3/10
| Specials: „Silence“ owns an automatic Mauser pistol. He prefers one method to kill: provocation, the designated victim draws first y eso est, compadres – self defence
| Trailer: by ItaloWestern
|
| OT:
Il grande Silencio
AT:
Le grand Silence (F)
The great Silence (USA)
Year: I/F 1968
D, S: Sergio Corbucci
S: Vittoriano Petrilli, Mario Amendola, Bruno Corbucci
C: Silvano Ippoliti
M: Ennio Morricone
with: Jean-Louis Trintignant, Klaus Kinski, Frank Wolff, Vonetta McGee
 | Man at work: Jean-Louis Trintignant and his Mauser, ...
|  | ... what pays the rent
|  | Klaus Kinski turn his hobby into his job
|  | Bruno Corrazzari enjoys his last meal
|  | Luigi Pistilli pays Klaus Kinski
|  | Frank Wolff refers about legal requirments
|
|
