Sergio Leone's "Once Upon a Time in the West"

Introduction to AudioVisual Arts Shant Parsy Bayramian S2845830 Professor Kristin McGee, Professor Milós Kiss, and Professor Melanie Schiller [email protected] University of Groningen Bachelor of Arts, Culture, and Media Leone’s Cera una Volta il West 3,576 words Bayramian S2845830 !2 Abstract This investigation analyzes how Sergio Leone uses the filmic techniques of music and sound, character development, cinematography, and visual effects to portray the death of the Old American West and the Western genre from 2:34:00 to 2:38:20 in Cera una Volta il West. The analyses found in the investigation are based on the context of Leone’s life and 1960s United States of America. The filmic techniques portray the death of the Old American West and the Western genre based on film historians’ views who have written books about Sergio Leone’s moviemaking career. Film historians such as Sir Christopher Frayling and John Fawell provide arguments that boost the main argument in the essay. Bayramian S2845830 !3 Table of Contents Chapter Title Page Introduction 4 The Parallel Contexts 5 Methodology 8 Analysis of the Extract: Music, Sound, and Character Development 9 Analysis of the Extract: Cinematography, Character Development, and Visual Effects 12 Conclusion: Once Upon a Time 15 Bayramian S2845830 !4 Introduction Leone was always fascinated by the American Old West as a child, leading to his involvement in the Spaghetti Western genre.1 Starting with Italian epics called Peplum films as an early filmmaker, such as The Colossus of Rhodes, he merged the conventions of an epic with the conventions of the Western genre to come up with the Spaghetti Western genre.2 Leone is considered the mastermind behind the Spaghetti Western genre. He exploited the genre himself after basing A Fistfull of Dollars on Akira Kurosawa’s Yojimbo.3 Leone has come under heavy criticism during the time he started directing Spaghetti Westerns for Hollywood. Tim Dirks, prestigious internet film critic, has lambasted Leone’s Spaghetti Western films as “having eschewed, criticized, and demythologized many of the conventions of traditional US Westerns”.4 It can be argued that Leone has stripped the traditional US Western conventions in his films, but his films follow a different motivation than the traditional US Western. Leone integrates a new thematic element in Once Upon a Time in the West, albeit using the same filmic techniques as his preceding Spaghetti Westerns. Leone’s decision to introduce a new thematic element into Once Upon a Time in the West arises the significance of the movie itself. The movie is important to analyze technically, in order to understand the thematic difference between Once Upon a Time in the West, Leone’s other westerns, and the traditional US Western itself. Leone already swayed off the norm of the 1 Christopher Frayling, Sergio Leone: Something to do With Death (London: Faber and Faber, 2000), 23-24. 2 Robert Cumbow, The Films of Sergio Leone (Maryland: Scarecrow Press, INC., 1987), 13-14. 3 Edward Buscombe, The B.F.I. Companion to the Western (New York: Atheneum Books, 1988), 128. 4 “Westerns Films,” American Movie Classics Company LLC., December 23, 2015. http:// www.filmsite.org/westernfilms.html. Bayramian S2845830 !5 traditional American Western by introducing the Spaghetti Western genre. Furthermore, he sways away from his own norm by showcasing the death of the Western genre and the death of the American Old West. He focuses on the recurring theme of the impact of technological advancements in the American Old West. However, the exploration of the impact of technological advancements on the American Old West is too basic. Leone fuses a new underlying structure in Once Upon a Time in the West to portray the death of the Western genre and the West. The Parallel Contexts To understand why Leone is portraying the death of the American Old West in parallel with the death of the Western genre, one has to be aware of the situated context of Leone’s personal life, the socio-historical context of the 1960s, and the reception of Westerns in the 1960s. By the early 1960s, the traditional American Western genre was nearly dead.5 The death of the traditional American Western genre constitutes to two reasons. The first reason revolves around how the traditional American heroic cowboy slowly fades due to the serious tension in the world after World War II. 6 Present day internet film critic, Michael Agresta, denotes how the Western genre was lost in his 2013 article called “How the Western Was Lost (and Why It Matters)”. He denotes: “Over the '50s, '60s, and '70s however, as America enforced its dominion over half the planet with a long series of coups, assassinations, and increasingly dubious wars, the figure of the cowboy grew darker and more complicated.” 7 The second reason is based on 5 “Westerns: the six-gun Galahad,” TIME Magazine, March 1959, 52. Michael Agresta, “How the Western Was Lost (and Why It Matters),” The Atlantic, July 24, 2013, http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2013/07/how-the-western-was-lost-and-why-it-matters/ 278057/. 7 Ibid. 6 Bayramian S2845830 !6 how Westerns were airing on TV more than in the cinemas. Internet film critic, C J Perry, outlines the death of the Western genre in his article called “The Evolution of the Western Genre”. Perry outlines how the death of the Western genre was due to the TV Westerns and the drive of young filmmakers to push into different types of storytelling.8 Perry posits his argument by noting, “By the 1960s, television had proven that audiences no longer needed Technicolor and CinemaScope to enjoy cowboys and Indians. Old school filmmaking was being assaulted on all sides by changing technology and willingness from young filmmakers to push the envelope with different types of storytelling.”9 Perry views the death of the Western genre as an effect of change caused by the social context established by Agresta. Arguably, one of the most influential American film critics of the second half of the twentieth century 10, Pauline Kael, argued in 1961 that the Western genre had become “an almost static pictorial genre, a devitalized, dehydrated form chichis ‘enriched’ with pastoral beauty and evocative nostalgia for a simple, heroic way of life…”11All of the context juxtaposes Leone’s personal interest and fascination by the American Old West as a child. Against the repressive backdrop of the fascists in Italy, young Leone harbored a deep belonging for the American Dream as epitomized by Hollywood Westerns.12 In addition to that, Leone was also attracted to the violent and morally complex attributes of the American Old West.13 But, he would accept reality and portray it in Once Upon a Time in the 8 C J Perry, “The Evolution of the Western Genre,” Film Slate, March 6, 2015, http:// www.filmslatemagazine.com/the-evolution-of-the-western-genre/#comments. 9 Ibid. 10 Patrick West, “Pauline Kael and the Western Genre as Critical Displacement of Self & Nation: Metaphorics and Affects of ‘Taste’ in American Film Criticism” (research paper, Deakin University, 2014), 1-2. 11 Christopher Frayling, Sergio Leone: Something to do with Death (London: Faber and Faber, 2000), 39. 12 The Wages of Sin, directed by Lancelot Narayan (2003; Hollywood, CA: Paramount Pictures, 2003), DVD. 13 Once Upon a Time: Sergio Leone, directed by Howard Hill (2003; Burbank, CA: Warner Home Video, 2003), DVD. Bayramian S2845830 !7 West. John Fawell, author of The Art of Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a time in the West: A Critical Appreciation, has pointed out how Once Upon a Time in the West is a more ambitious and personal film than any of the three Westerns that preceded it.14 Leone has even summed up his adoration towards the Western genre by telling Cahiers du Cinema, “I came to the [Western] cinema with a sense of vocation that was stronger than religion.”15 Fawell clearly notes how Once Upon a Time in the West is a clear portrayal of Leone’s response towards a genre he adores deeply. By the end of the 1960s, the United States of America was emerging into a technological advancing, capitalist power.16 Furthermore, the United States of America would see the assassination of Matrin Luther King, Jr. in 1968, six months prior to the release of the film.17 These two phenomenas constitute to the transformation of a new paradoxical West. An Old West that was composed of a multicultural society has deteriorated into a New West - a New West that advocates racism, focuses on technology, and strips away the national ethos of the American Dream. Leone uses certain filmic techniques throughout the film to showcase the realistic transformation of the West as a result of these two phenomenas. Leone’s intention in doing so is to align it with the death of the Western genre he was so deeply passionate about. The movie and the extract chosen depict the death of a cultural melting pot that had constituted the West in the first place. The ending of the film sums up Leone’s main intention, and lines up with the main 14 John Fawell, The Art of Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West: A Critical Appreciation (Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2005), 10. 15 Something to Do with Death, directed by Lancelot Narayan (2003; Hollywood, CA: Paramount Pictures, 2003), DVD. 16 Norman Lowe, Mastering Modern World History, 4th Ed. (Basingstoke: Palsgrave Macmillan, 2005), 84. 17 Earl Caldwell, “Memphis Sniper Kills Martin Luther King,” Greensboro Daily News (Greensboro, North Carolina), April 5, 2015. Bayramian S2845830 !8 theme perfectly. Thus, the question “How does Leone use the filmic techniques of music and sound, character development, cinematography, and visual effects to portray the death of the Old West and the Western genre from 2:34:00 to 2:38:20 in Cera una Volta il West?” arises. Methodology It is important to note that the analyses are not an in-depth focus on the technical aspects of the filmic techniques based on a political context. The analyses of the filmic techniques revolve around why and how these filmic techniques are used in order to fit within Leone’s delivered message. The main focus is the impact of the filmic techniques on the main theme of the film. Also, the analyses are not based on scholarly interpretations on Leone’s film, but based on personal interpretations established through the objectified context. The objectified context is present through scholarly arguments from film critics. The essay’s body is divided according to the music and sound, character development, cinematography, and visual effects. The body starts off with an analysis of Morricone’s input of the prominent diegetic and non-diegetic sounds. These diegetic and non-diegetic sounds include Cheyenne’s leitmotif called “Farewell to Cheyenne”, which is based on an analysis of Cheyenne’s role in the movie, the silence throughout the extract, the whistling sound of the train, Jill’s leitmotif called “Jill’s America”, and the use of soundtracks with a slower tempo. The cinematography and mise-en-scéne will be analyzed later, such as the use of the zoom-in panning shot, which is based on an analysis of Jill’s character in the film, and the placement of Jill due to the overhead shot. Lastly, there will be a short analysis on Leone’s use of the disappearing title at the very end of the film. The conclusion will consist of a synthesis of how Leone combines all these filmic techniques to Bayramian S2845830 !9 portray the main theme. The conclusion will also highlight the main limitation throughout the essay. Although the analyses presented follows a political context, there has been controversy if Once Upon a Time in the West is actually political. Bernardo Bertolucci, co-writer of Once Upon A Time in the West, highlighted the political aspect of the movie by saying, “It was impossible to be an Italian director and not be political. I mean politics was in the air. Politics was everywhere.”18 Meanwhile, prestigious American director, John Carpenter has noted: “People have asked me if Once Upon a Time in the West is political. I don’t see it. It looks like a grand kind of crazy opera…Western opera.”19 Fawell also mentions the political nature of the film by noting how the screenplay manages to invest a political content into the film, through the story of Morton and Frank and the oncoming railroad; the film is a critique of American capitalism. 20 There is certainly a political aspect in Once Upon a Time in the West, and there are enough sources proving so. Analysis of the Extract: Music, Sound, and Character Development The extract begins at the end of “Farewell to Cheyenne”, Manuel 'Cheyenne' Gutiérrez’s leitmotif. Before analyzing this segment, one has to understand Cheyenne’s character in the movie. Cheyenne is a mythical character that cannot cope with the changing reality. Two hours and thirty minutes into the film, he realizes that his place is vanishing in the world when Jill tells 18 An Opera of Violence, directed by Lancelot Narayan (2003; Hollywood, CA: Paramount Pictures, 2003), DVD. 19 Something to Do with Death, directed by Lancelot Narayan (2003; Hollywood, CA: Paramount Pictures, 2003), DVD. 20 John Fawell, The Art of Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West: A Critical Appreciation (Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2005), 3. Bayramian S2845830 !10 Cheyenne he’s “sort of a handsome man”, and Cheyenne responds, “But I’m not the right man.”21 Cheyenne understands his vanishing spot in this universe by his reply to Jill. Cheyenne’s vanishment is aggrandized through the simultaneous pacing of “Farewell to Cheyenne” and his breathing. His vanishment is also aggrandized through the simultaneous pacing of “Farewell to Cheyenne” and the thump. “Farewell to Cheyenne” has the same pace as Cheyenne’s breathing throughout the beginning of the extract. As Cheyenne comes closer to dying, “Farewell to Cheyenne” slows down in collaboration with Cheyenne’s breathing. As Cheyenne takes one last, slow deep breath, the penultimate note of “Farewell to Cheyenne” matches Cheyenne’s breathing. The elongated last note of “Farewell to Cheyenne” is played simultaneously with the diegetic sound of the thump. As the last note of “Farewell to Cheyenne” fades out, the diegetic sound of the train’s whistling sound loudly fades in. Leone and Morricone kill off Cheyenne through his own, personal leitmotif which defines his character. The death of the Cheyenne showcases how the Western archetypal character is not present throughout the Western genre anymore. The death of the archetypal Hollywood Western cowboy cannot integrate into the advancing West. Similarly, classical American Western films cannot keep up with the modern advancing Hollywood. Leone and Morricone establish the motif of a technologically advancing West through the train’s amplified diegetic whistling sound. They decide to amplify the train’s whistling sound to portray the domination of the train. Hence, their intention was to use the diegetic sound as the non-diegetic sound. Throughout the four seconds of silence, the train’s whistling sound acts as 21 Once Upon a Time in the West, directed by Sergio Leone (1969; Hollywood, CA: Paramount Pictures, 2003), DVD. Bayramian S2845830 !11 the music. Fawell has noted: “Leone and Morricone were never more experimental in their mixture of dialogue and music or in their investigations into the musical quality of natural sound.”22 He highlights how Leone and Morricone use the natural sounds, in this case the whistling of the train, as the music. For Leone, the sounds of the West are more important than dialogue. He states: “I have always limited the use of dialogue so that spectators can use their own imagination while they observe the ritual gestures of the heroes of the West.”23 In this case, the train and the railroad system are the heroes of the New West. They have both provided a new technological aspect to the West, causing the death of the Old West. The music throughout the extract acts as a catalyst synthesizer. There is no dialogue throughout the whole extract, the music acts as the universal language instead. Jill McBaine’s leitmotif, “Jill’s America”, connects all the workers together in the Old West since the workers do not all speak the same language. Morricone's use of the leitmotif gives enough energy to provide for the depth of the scene. Leone is portraying the true essence of the American Dream by showing how all the workers from different backgrounds unite to create a new, technologically advancing West. The use of “Jill’s America” in the last scene dictates how the leitmotif is not only for Jill, but is also a universal leitmotif for all the different construction workers. By placing “Jill’s America” in the last scene, Leone and Morricone show the audience the integrating and assimilating aspect of the American Dream which has been destroyed in the late 1960s United States of America. 22 John Fawell, The Art of Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West: A Critical Appreciation (Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2005), 12. 23 Ibid., 19. Bayramian S2845830 !12 Lastly, Morricone has composed a score with a slower tempo in Once Upon a Time in the West compared to his earlier film scores. British spaghetti western genre analyst, Sir Christopher Frayling, has noticed the transformation of Morricones’ scores throughout his works with Leone. In his book, Something To Do With Death, he has noted, “Morricone’s score is more serious and ambitious than those of his earlier Leone films, statelier and with a slower tempo. Morricone’s previous scores were more comical in tone, more playful, more concerned with sending up, or challenging, Western traditions.”24 Frayling’s argument is exemplified with a simple comparison between “The Chase” from A Fistful of Dollars and “Jill’s America” from Once Upon a Time in the West. Much like most of the soundtracks from the Man with No Name Trilogy or the Dollars Trilogy, “The Chase” is a fast paced, action packed soundtrack. “Jill’s America” on the other hand, is a slow paced reflective soundtrack with a harmonious melody. The reason why Morricone and Leone change the style of the score in Once Upon a Time in the West is because Leone wants to pay homage to the dying Western genre. Fawell highlights Leone and Morricones’ acknowledgements in The Art of Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West: A Critical Appreciation by noting, “Morricone’s soundtrack gives the Western conventions their fullest expression.” Morricone’s soundtrack in Once Upon a Time in the West puts less emphasis on teasing the conventions of the genre, much like the Man with No Name Trilogy. Analysis of the Extract: Cinematography, Character Development, and Visual Effects One of the most significant scenes to analyze in Once Upon a Time in the West is when Jill enters the railroad’s construction site. Leone chooses to introduce Jill using a zoom-in 24 Christopher Frayling, Sergio Leone: Something to do with Death (London: Faber and Faber, 2000), 11. Bayramian S2845830 !13 panning shot. Before analyzing the significance of the zoom-in panning shot, one has to understand Jill’s main role in the movie. Typically, Westerns revolve around the male character of the film.25 Once Upon a Time in the West offers somewhat of a balance between the lead male characters and Jill. Some scholars argue with the gender balancing aspect of the Western. Blake Lucas recognizes the need for change in the Western genre in his essay called Saloon Girls and Rancher’s daughters: The Woman in Western. He points out, “It’s time to see the Western in a different light – not as a masculine genre but as one supremely balanced in its male/female aspect.”26 Leone offers a balance between Jill and the three other lead male characters in Once Upon a Time in the West. Leone is showing the death of the Western genre by integrating a female lead character in his movie, which is contrary to his norm. He pays homage to the classical American Western High Noon (1952) by adopting the idea of a female lead. By reflecting back on the great Western, Leone showcases the death of the genre. Thus, Leone reflects upon Blake’s call for change by adding a female lead in Once Upon a Time in the West. Furthermore, Lucas pinpoints two types of stereotypical women in Westerns: the “rancher’s daughter” and the “saloon girl”.27 He posits the rancher’s daughter as a domesticated, familyoriented last with civilizing traditions, and the saloon girl as some sort of a femme-fatal that can never take on a motherly figure.28 Leone creates Jill’s character as a composite of the two types. She has left her life as a prostitute to come to Flagstone, only to find out about her new family’s death upon her arrival. Jill takes on the role of a saloon girl for several reasons: she used to be a 25 Blake Lucas, “Saloon Girls and Ranchers’ Daughters: The Woman in the Western,” in The Western Reader, ed. Jim Kitses and Gregg Rickman (New York: Limelight Editions, 1998), 301. 26 Ibid. 27 Ibid., 303. 28 Ibid. Bayramian S2845830 !14 prostitute in New Orleans, she seduces Cheyenne, and she has sexual relations with Frank. Jill uses her ability to adapt to different men, which is her strongest weapon. Her adaptability is soon important at the end of the movie as she takes on the role of the rancher’s daughter. At the end of the movie, Jill is seen carrying out water to the construction workers. In that sense, she is providing a nourishment to the workers just like a mother. Hence, Jill is the mother of the New West. Fawell highlights Jill’s adaptability by arguing: “In the end, all four men have died or disappeared, and only Jill is left - the water bearer for a New West.”29 Leone pays homage to the dying Western genre by creating Jill’s character as a composite one. He integrates both archetypes of women in Westerns. Through the motherly symbol of Jill, Leone is showcasing the rise of a West that follows the principles of the American Dream. Jill’s symbol is illustrated as the camera pans with her movement. Since the camera moves from left to right, it allows the audience to perceive the different races within the frame. Although the workers come from different backgrounds, they all constitute to the construction of the new, technologically advancing West. Through the use of the panning shot, Leone shows the integrating aspect of the American Dream; an aspect that does not reflect 1960s America. Conclusively, Leone both shows the death of the Western genre through Jill’s symbol and the death of a West that is not found in the 1960s through the use of the panning shot. Jill’s symbol is further exemplified through the mise-en-scéne and cinematography in the last scene. Jill’s assertive motherly symbol is portrayed through her centralized stance in the crowd of men around her. The overhead shot used by Leone allows Jill to take on a centralized 29 John Fawell, The Art of Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West: A Critical Appreciation (Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2005), 15. Bayramian S2845830 !15 position in the crowd. All the construction workers circle around her waiting for water. Jill stands in the middle of the circular crowd. Leone places Jill in the middle to show her motherly assertiveness throughout the New West. The last scene combines visual effects and cinematography to give Leone’s final intention. As the camera zooms out and moves upwards from the crowd, the title of the film largely appears within the frame and slowly maneuvers back into 3-D space. The title and camera both move away from each other. Due to the opposing movement between the camera and the title, Leone uses visual effects and cinematography to show that the Old West is one upon a time. Thus, highlighting the death of the Old West. Conclusion: Once Upon a Time Leone’s Once Upon A Time in the West would come out to be too tedious for the American audience. The movie would not come to match the speedy technological advancing mindset of the time. After all, Leone achieved his main intention. He truly showed the world how the Western genre and the Old West have come to an end due to the reception of that time. Time magazine even headlined the movie as “Tedium in the Tumbleweed”.30 The fact that the American reception of the movie was horrible just highlights that the Old West and the Western genre were once upon a time. English filmmaker John Boorman put Once Upon a Time in the West as “a gift to America of its lost fairy stories.”31 Nevertheless, there are clearly problems reaching a solid final conclusion because the analyses presented follows the notion that the 30 Christopher Frayling, Sergio Leone: Something to do with Death (London: Faber and Faber, 2000), 297. 31 John Boorman, Money into Light: A Diary (London: Faber and Faber, 1985), 23. Bayramian S2845830 !16 Western genre is actually dead. The argument never raises the question if the Western genre is still alive. Furthermore, it never presents scholarly arguments that deny the death of the Western genre, causing a certain bias towards the analyses of Once Upon a Time in the West’s ending. Therefore the argument never explores the denial of the death of the Western genre, the analyses of the filmic techniques submit to the same message: the death of the Western genre and the Old West. Bayramian S2845830 !17 Bibliography Agresta, Michael. “How the Western Was Lost (and Why It Matters).” The Atlantic, July 24, 2013. http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2013/07/how-the-western-waslost-and-why-it-matters/278057/. An Opera of Violence. Directed by Lancelot Narayan. 2003. Hollywood, CA: Paramount Pictures, 2003. DVD. Boorman, John. Money into Light: A Diary. London: Faber and Faber, 1985. Buscombe, Edward. The B.F.I. Companion to the Western. New York: Atheneum Books, 1988. Caldwell, Earl. “Memphis Sniper Kills Martin Luther King.” Greensboro Daily News (Greensboro, North Carolina), April 5, 2015. Cumbow, Robert. The Films of Sergio Leone. Maryland: Scarecrow Press, INC., 1987. Fawell, John. The Art of Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West: A Critical Appreciation. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publisher, 2005. Frayling, Christopher. Sergio Leone: Something to do With Death. London: Faber and Faber, 2000. Lowe, Norman. Mastering Modern World History. 4th Ed. Basingstoke: Palsgrave Macmillan, 2005. Lucas, Blake. “Saloon Girls and Ranchers’ Daughters: The Woman in the Western.” In The Western Reader, edited by Jim Kitses and Gregg Rickman, 301. New York: Limelight Editions, 1998. Once Upon a Time in the West. Directed by Sergio Leone. 1969. Hollywood, CA: Paramount Pictures, 2003. DVD. Once Upon a Time: Sergio Leone. Directed by Howard Hill. 2003. Burbank, CA: Warner Home Video, 2003. DVD. Perry, C J. “The Evolution of the Western Genre.” Film Slate, March 6, 2015. http://www.filmslatemagazine.com/the-evolution-of-the-western-genre/#comments. Something to Do with Death. Directed by Lancelot Narayan. 2003. Hollywood, CA: Paramount Pictures, 2003. DVD. Bayramian S2845830 !18 The Wages of Sin. Directed by Lancelot Narayan. 2003. Hollywood, CA: Paramount Pictures, 2003. DVD. West, Patrick. “Pauline Kael and the Western Genre as Critical Displacement of Self & Nation: Metaphorics and Affects of ‘Taste’ in American Film Criticism” Research paper, Deakin University, 2014. “Westerns Films.” American Movie Classics Company LLC. December 23, 2015. http://www.filmsite.org/westernfilms.html. “Westerns: the six-gun Galahad.” TIME Magazine, March 1959.