Sergio Corbucci had me a little fooled at first; from seeing Navajo Joe, the first I'd seen of his films, I thought he was more of a spinster in the comical sense than Sergio Leone was. Although Corbucci doesn't nearly have the level of directorial talent as him (then again who does),there's a level of enthrallment in making a movie, in pushing an in-your-face style that works to his advantage. The Great Silence is pretty far from Navajo Joe, mostly because any laugh to be had is unintentional, or at the expense of star Klaus Kinski if one is already a fan (hearing him dubbed after seeing so many of his Herzog roles is a little staggering). The story boils down to vendettas and paybacks and paydays between scorned bounty hunters and duped sheriffs, plus the title character- named as such because of a mute demeanor and because actor Trintignant didn't want to learn any lines- leading Silence and Loco (albeit this isn't even one of Kinski's craziest performances by far) into a final showdown.

The circumstances leading up to this showdown should, in a more conventional western, be pretty clean-cut. But what's impressive, if almost a little circumstantial, is that Corbucci puts in little unconventional markers along the way: the high-drama scene where Silence gets his hand burnt by a goon as foreshadowing for the ominous bounty hunter massacre, and for those little moments when life seems so easily killed off, particularly at the start. Silence, like in a Leone film, does have something of a gimmick as a killer, as he shoots off the thumbs of his targets. But Corbucci's drama isn't keened on incredible suspense sequences in operatic form or gallows humor. Even a sex scene for Corbucci has a tenderness to it that feels the work of someone trying to break out of squarely B-movie extremities and trying for something more. If it isn't altogether successful it's attributable to flaws scattered around: random 'soft-lighting' in the last act that is very distracting, a couple of plot points not totally clear even by the end, and Kinski looking sometimes like a pretty boy as much as a sadistic bounty hunter, plus Corbucci's tendencies to favor close-ups for more formulaic means as opposed to drawing out deeper emotions through a more keen system.

But even with Corbucci not being a 'great' director, he has a keen eye for Utah (if it is Utah, which it probably isn't),and the vast vistas of snow and fields in a plain sight that contrasts the sort of void sucking the characters in with the hopeless center of bounty hunters without the strongest opponent. And Morricone, as if it was like breathing, fleshes out scenes so well with his beautiful score, only slightly below the magnificence of a Leone picture. You may feel by the end that it's not the prettiest western you've ever seen, but it has that possibility in its low-budget blood-stained manner to stay with you long after it's over.

Sergio Corbucci's masterpiece "Il Grande Silenzio" aka. "The Great Silence" is more than just one of the greatest Westerns of all-time. Unlike Corbucci's earlier masterpiece "Django" from 1966, which is a violent Spaghetti Western, but also full of dark humor, "The Great Silence" is an uncompromisingly bleak movie from the beginning to the end, a brutal tale about misery, greed and selfishness, about injustice and the desire for revenge.

Winter of 1898, in the mountain town of Snow Hill, Utah. People who were forced to steal in order to survive an ice cold winter, are mercilessly chased and murdered by unscrupolous bounty hunters, who don't care who they kill as long as there is a reward on their victim's head. The most atrocious of these bounty hunters is vicious Loco, outstandingly pictured by Klaus Kinski. In their calamity, desperate relatives of the head hunters' victims hire a mute gunman called Silence, in order to avenge their loved ones and end the killings.

The acting in this movie is brilliant. Nobody could be as diabolical as Klaus Kinski in the role of Loco, Jean-Louis Trintignant performance as Silence is just great, and Vonetta McGee is amazing as Pauline, a beautiful black woman, who falls in love with Silence after losing her husband to the bountykillers. The supporting cast contains such great Spaghetti Western actors as Luigi Pistilli, Mario Brega and Frank Wolff. The Music by Ennio Morricone is, once again, excellent (how couldn't it),the main theme is one of his greatest compositions. The locations are very well-chosen, impressive images of a snowy mountain wasteland make you almost feel the cold. "The Great Silence is", after "Django", Sergio Corbucci's second film that could be described as one of the most important Westerns of all-time. Both brutal and both masterpieces, the two movies are still completely different. While Django was violent but, in its dark way, also humorous, The Great Silence is sad, serious and brutally bleak. Incomparable in every aspect, "The Great Silence" even surpasses "Django" in its brilliance, and easily deserves to be named as one of the greatest Westerns ever made.

The Great Silence is a must-see, not only for fans of Spaghetti Westerns, but for every lover of film. Brilliant And Unique, one of the greatest Westerns ever made! 10/10

In "The Great Silence", Klaus Kinski plays a wonderfully horrid guy. While he is technically on the side of the law as a 'bounty killer' (I think this was a mistranslation and should have been 'bounty hunter'),his methods are despicable. If he shoots some of the family of the wanted men, he has no problem with this. He also routinely promises to bring in his prey for a fair hearing--and then shoots them dead! Clearly, he has issues.

After Kinski (playing, appropriately, a guy named 'Loco') butchers a particular man, his surviving widow is furious and commissions a mute man named 'Silence' (Trintignant) to kill Kinski. Considering that Silence's family was butchered and his throat was cut (making him unable to talk) by bounty hunters, naturally he takes the commission. His plan is to provoke Loco to draw on him and then kill him legally in self-defense. However, there are two things in his way. First, Loco knows he's no match for Silence and vows never to draw his gun on him. Second, the local sheriff hates Loco but doesn't want his town turning into a shooting gallery. In fact, to stop all the butchering, the sheriff arrests Loco and spirits him out of town. That, of course, does not end it and in the end there is a HUGE and very bloody shootout.

Aside from the very unsatisfying ending, this is one of the better Italian westerns I have seen. I loved the snowy scenes which set it apart from other westerns. It also is very much like director Corbucci's other westerns in that it is almost a political statement and has a lot to do with the little guy standing up against oppressive legal authorities. But, it's also much better than the other Corbucci films--mostly because it was a bit more restrained and the music wasn't so repetitive. When it came to the acting, I especially liked the snarling Kinski--he was easy to hate. As for Trintignant, he really didn't have a lot to do and as heroes go, he wasn't especially compelling--especially at the incredibly grim and nasty ending. As far as the ending goes, it is interesting that the disc also includes a happy ending apparently shot for some markets--though it lacks sound and may never have actually been used.

By the way, isn't it ironic that this Italian western is about a mute AND the DVD has no captions whatsoever?! My deaf daughter couldn't have watched the film with me unless I sat there and interpreted the entire movie! Now THAT'S loco!