00:00Henri Fonda is an American actor who has always played the valiant hero, saving the widow and the orphan.
00:07Adorned with an angelic gaze, but which Sergio Leone will transform into a demonic gaze.
00:12The actor's gaze is for him an essential element in the development of his character.
00:30The film's cast is truly fabulous. Charles Brunson, Claudia Cardinal, Jason Robards, and even the smaller roles are carefully chosen.
00:45Because Leone has always had this strength to portray unique faces, even when it comes to quasi-figuration.
00:50Every face in his cinema is striking, tells something.
00:54And in terms of development, Once Upon a Time in the West takes care not to forget any of the characters.
00:58Even the least important ones have the right to quality development.
01:01Morton, for example, compensates for his handicap with his wealth, using capitalist methods that destroy lives without him having to get his hands dirty.
01:08But being surrounded by scoundrels will end up catching up with him, because he who dreamed of the Pacific, of the open sea as an escape,
01:13will end up covered in blood in a small pool of mud, reaping what he has sown. The image speaks for itself.
01:19Harmonica, on the other hand, is a fairly simple character on paper, but yet more subtle than he appears.
01:31Some attribute a supernatural existence to him, notably because of this injury at the beginning of the film, which heals as if by magic.
01:36We can perhaps deduce that the character is a supernatural entity who comes to restore the established order,
01:41while putting the characters face to face with their destiny.
01:43Or this injury was very poorly integrated and cut up during editing, that's up to you to see.
01:48In any case, the character is far from lifeless despite the constant step back he takes from things.
01:52We feel that he is seething inside, but his patience and rigor allow him to obtain revenge according to the rules of the art.
01:58The fact that we don't know who this hero really is throughout the story only adds to his aura.
02:01Frank, on the other hand, is a man who sees himself as more handsome than he is.
02:04A small-time gangster with the boot of a man richer than him, wanting to rise to the rank of businessman without ever succeeding.
02:09Completely overwhelmed by an era that is no longer his own, where the West now has rules, where civilization is on the march,
02:15and where marginality, which was its strength, is preparing to be framed and denounced.
02:20We are roughly on the same profile as Cheyenne.
02:22Although it is dictated by a code of honor, it also seems outdated by all this modernity.
02:27The choice to mortally wound him off-screen makes me think it's a way of proving that it was this new world that ended his life.
02:33That this injury happened because it had to disappear to make way for the future.
02:37And the future here is the character of Jill, the central character.
02:40Because the whole plot revolves around her, but also because it is around her that the civilization of Sweetwater is built.
02:46She goes from being a widow overwhelmed by events to the standard-bearer of a new era.
02:50No wonder the film ends with this gesture where she naturally takes this place of leader,
02:54and where she decides to go and give the workers something to drink with this camera moving backwards and revealing a bright future.
03:00Sergio Leone is not so pessimistic after all.
03:02Because beyond this story of revenge typical of a spaghetti western, a title that Leone has always hated,
03:08The film mainly tells the story of the conquest of the American West, which was done mainly through the construction and management of railways.
03:14Here, it is a rich businessman who will want to take over the land of a farmer that the railway will cross.
03:18So we are in a conflict on the ground, but which is told through characters diverted from the classic western,
03:24in order to bridge the gap between the old and new narrative methods of this genre of cinema.
03:28Here it is no longer the Native Americans who are the barbarians, but the old cowboys,
03:31who basically defended the widow and the orphan, who basically were synonymous with justice in American westerns,
03:36and who murder children there.
03:38The choice of Henri Fonda is once again not insignificant when we know his career.
03:41So we have two stories that coexist: revenge and profit.
03:45But in its simplicity, Sergio Leone will transcend his story thanks to a staging that is as contemplative as it is full of tension,
03:51with perfectly constructed sequences that flow seamlessly to lead us to an ultra-satisfying outcome.
03:57His handling of the frame, his unique way of twisting time, Morricone's music and his direction of actors end up making him one of the best directors in cinema,
04:05having created a timeless masterpiece that will never lose its aura and effectiveness.
04:10This excerpt proves that at the time of its release, the film did not win over the American public.
04:16This excerpt proves that at the time of its release, the film did not win over the American public.
04:33When it was released in theaters in Uncle Sam's territory, it was butchered and cut by 20 minutes, which naturally made it a critical and commercial failure.
04:40It was in Europe that Once Upon a Time in the West would establish an unprecedented dominance, released in the version desired by the director and totaling 8.8 million admissions in Italy,
04:4913 million admissions in Germany and 15 million admissions in France, where the film became an instant classic, remaining on the screens for more than 48 months.
04:56Sergio Leone, however, was never rewarded for his work during his lifetime, not even the slightest major prize.
05:01It is the audience that makes him a director who matters and who makes his films cult works even today.
05:07Even the United States has finally recognized his talent, thanks in particular to a new wave of filmmakers,
05:11who will not hesitate to quote it in their films and to talk about it whenever they can.
05:15One artist who is most influential to me and my work is Sturgia Leone.
Commentaires
13