A 1968 spaghetti Western set in the winter snows of a mountain frontier town, The Great Silence is one of the best—if also bleakest—Italian Westerns ever made, yet it was rarely seen until its 2018 restoration and re-release. Directed by Sergio Corbucci, the film stars the great French actor Jean-Louis Trintignant as a mute gunslinger known as Silence, a mercenary who has come to the isolated town of Snow Hill. Klaus Kinski costars as the savage bounty hunter and gang leader Tigrero, who hunts down starving outlaws hiding in the hills and terrorizes the town trapped by the winter snows. Hero and villain aren't so clear cut here: both play everything by the letter of the unforgiving frontier law, with master gunman Silence provoking his opponents to draw first and Tigrero refusing to give Silence an excuse to shoot. Kinski delivers one of his most engaging performances and Trintignant brings real enigma to his role, part suffering savior and part cunning mercenary. Frank Wolff is affable as a moral but ineffectual sheriff with no love of bounty killers and Vonetta McGee makes her film debut as a widow out for revenge. This smart film subverts expectations right up to the brutal ending. Extras include an introduction by filmmaker Alex Cox, the 1968 documentary Western, Italian Style, two alternate endings, and a booklet with an essay by film critic Simon Abrams. Highly recommended. (S. Axmaker)
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