Once Upon A Time, I Did Not Care

Personal Response

When I heard we were going to watch a Western film, I had to physically stop myself from groaning out loud.  If there's one genre that bothers me and bores me almost to death, it's Western.  Ever since I can remember, every single Western I've watched has made me feel extremely bored, uninterested, and a little annoyed.  I know the genre is one of the biggest and most highly successful, but that really doesn't make sense to me.  Being someone who is more interested in action, you'd think I'd enjoy the gunfights and the shootouts, but I really don't.  I find them to be very stereotypical when it comes to Native Americans and demeaning when it comes to women.  All the movies are the exact same (to an extent), where the lone-wolf hero comes into town to stop bandits or evil-doers, meets a girl, falls in love, gets his job done, either becomes the sheriff and marries the girl or leaves after the job is done, and there's ALWAYS a shootout.  There are some exceptions where the main character is the villain of the story, but its essentially the same tale.  Man versus the environment, himself, and/or a whole city of people and their sheriff.

I know that this genre has put out many successful films, like Once Upon a Time in the West, and I can agree with it's standing as it is an "interesting" take on Western, but I can't find myself interested in any of it.  Give me high-budget films with many special effects, less cowboy hats.

Summary of Critical Article

In this article, Fawell's explains how Sergio Leone's technique of displaying minute details and emotions of his characters using close-ups is something of genius.  Farwell explains that Leone's ability to convey maximum through the minimum when it comes to facial expressions is what makes a scene (Farwell 140).  When you watch the film, you start to notice just how many close-ups there really are.  For example, in the scene between the little boy, Timmy, and the shooter, Frank, there are two main close-ups shown: one with the boy and one with Frank.  You see the little boy take in his family's massacre, but his face shows no emotion.  He seems confused, and like Farwell said, Leone could've had the boy let out a whimper, have a tear roll down his cheek, and he'd have the audience in the palm of his hand, but he chooses to let the boy seem confused and say nothing.  He doesn't even look sad.  When it cuts to Frank, he's sullen and says nothing.  You can see him get irritated when one of his men asks what to do with the boy, calling Frank by his own name.  It's almost like Frank was going to let the boy live, but when the boy knew his name, he couldn't.  It wasn't like Frank cared about the boy, but with just that close-up you could read so much into the scene (Farwell 139).  It's almost like reading their expressions between the lines, using their eyes as a source.  You can see all the emotion in their eyes and know exactly what they're thinking at that moment (Farwell 140).

They also use the close-ups for more than characters, like the train coming down the tracks, guns being raised, and even close-ups starting from the middle and traveling upwards.  We sometimes see a characters hands doing something before we even see their face.  Introducing cowboys by their hats was very prominent in the film as well.  When each cowboy came into the screen, we often saw their hats before their faces, where the camera either zoomed out or panned down (Farwell 149).  Using close-ups for items that symbolize characters lets us judge who they are before we even see their face or attitude.

Response to Critical Article

In Farwell's article about Sergio Leone's close-ups was very interesting.  I noticed that there were many throughout the film, but since I was struggling to even pay attention, I didn't catch on that they were used to convey "reading between the lines using a characters minute expressions," as I put it.  When we see a character's face instead of the scene playing out in front of them, sometimes we can infer what's happening.  I like to guess when in comes to expressions, so when there's a minute smile, a flicker of the eyes, a cynical smile on their lips, I can try and guess to see what's happening.  Sometimes Western's do that and never show what's happening in the scene; they leave it and let you fill in the blanks.

Farwell mainly focused on how the close-ups were of people, but he mentioned how sometimes they were about small objects, things in people's hands, or a specific item that moved the plot forward.  I love when movies do this because you can tie the scene together and sometimes fill in dialogue that the characters aren't saying.  It gives you a chance to judge the character for yourself without dialogue ruining your idea or interpretation of who they are.  Farwell also paid a lot of attention to the symbolism each close-up had, whether it was a person or an object.

Critics Use of Critical Frameworks

The critic used a formalist framework to explain each symbol within the close-ups.  He explained
how these close shots helped convey the message of the movie and help the scene progress.  Instead of the scenes being choppy with close-ups, they actually served the purpose Leone wanted.  The close-ups allowed us into the character's space and we felt what they felt.  We could see a side of them that others couldn't because we're closer to them in the scene.  Using this framework, we could see the hidden feelings that characters hid so well, like Frank when he shoots Timmy.  You could see that he didn't exactly want to, but he felt it necessary so no one knew his name.  Through this, you can get to know a character more than others in the scene.  These shots can help show symbolism and also direct the audience's attention to what the director wants them to see.  You can see the symbol and understand what the character is going to do before they even know.  Using these close-ups you can also understand deeper meaning in the movie.

Film Analysis: Sound To Create Tension & Movement 

The scene that I chose to analyze was the beginning scene with Harmonica when the audience is first introduced to him.  You can tell there's tension in the air when they're waiting for the train; no one is talking and all you hear are sounds.  When the guy with the fly in his gun hears the train coming, the smirk on his face disappears and you know it's go-time.  The camera cuts to each member of the group, showing their reactions to the train coming.  They look sullen and stoic, and when the camera cuts again, you see everyone readying for a fight.  They ready their guns and slowly meet up again in front of the train.  When the train stops, everything is quiet (with the exception of the train's engine.)  It's a tense moment because you're waiting for anything to happen.  The train doors slide open and you see the main guy react, reaching for his gun.  When it's not him, they relax, but the constant sounds create more tension than there would be if it was just silence.  The sounds make you paranoid, like something bad is going to happen and you're going to be witness to it.  When you hear the train start up again and start to chug away, you relax along with the characters, but once you hear the harmonica, you know bad things are going to happen.  You react along with the main characters; you can see it on their faces that the harmonica song means bad news.  Sound in this whole movie was used to create suspense, especially in the first scenes.  They layer sounds to create a background, so with the minimal dialogue, you can still follow the story and understand the tension in the air.

Throughout the whole movie, his song is his theme.  Whenever he appears, his song introduces him.  You hear this tune, you know you're in trouble.  This tune is used to introduce him into each scene, and by hearing it, you can tell something horrible is going to happen and it's going to be at his hand.

This film also uses a variation of close-ups in order to symbolize things, introduce characters, and highlight specific things that are important to the scene.  When you watch their faces, you can pin point certain emotions and how they vary from scene to scene.

I chose this scene because of how there is no talking, just natural sounds around them.  The tension created paranoia in the audience, which had us on edge.  The camera movement was slow, especially when it panned up to reveal a characters features, which also created tension.  Many angles were used to show location of characters, where they existed in the scene, who was the main guy you focus on, and also to show placement.  The placement helped us determine who was "in charge" of the scene.

Works Cited

Criticism from: John Fawell's The Art of Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West: A Critical Appreciation. McFarland and Company, Inc., Publishers. London. (2005)