The Great Silence

1968, 105 minutes
Italy, France

Language: English/ Italian with English subtitles

Director: Sergio Corbucci

The pinnacle of the spaghetti western canon, DJANGO director Sergio Corbucci’s crowning achievement stars Klaus Kinski (AGUIRRE, THE WRATH OF GOD) and Jean-Louis Trintignant (star of Michael Haneke’s upcoming HAPPY END) as a vicious bounty hunter and a mute gunslinger, who lock horns in the snowy mountains of Utah during the Great Blizzard of 1899.

 

Inspired by the recent deaths of Che Guevara and Malcolm X, the film is notable for its explicitly radical politics and dark tone, matched by an atypical snowbound setting and beautifully haunting score by Ennio Morricone.

 

Despite being a hit worldwide, the film was never theatrically released in North America.  Its suppression has only added to its mystique and over the years it has amassed a dedicated cult following.