This 56-Year-Old Spaghetti Western is as Violent as They Come (2025)

The Western is a genre that has been rehashed, reinvented, and repurposed a countless number of times. From early Hollywood westerns from the likes of John Ford and Howard Hawks to the glorious explosion of European Spaghetti Westerns in the '60s, all the way to modern neo-westerns from cinematic legends like Clint Eastwood, the Coen brothers, and Taylor Sheridan. Fans of the Western genre are more dedicated than any fan base out there. While some movie lovers compare and debate over which era is the best, western fans tend to respect their elders and appreciate what paved the way for their more recent favorites. Every movie lover knows to appreciate the contributions of John Ford, John Wayne, Sergio Leone, and Clint Eastwood, but one Spaghetti Western pioneer has been left by the wayside.

Sergio Corbucci is an Italian screenwriter and director who is best known for Django (1966). The film served as the inspiration for Quentin Tarantino's 2012 revisionist western, Django Unchained. Tarantino was writing a book on the famed director's life and was so inspired that he began developing a follow-up of sorts. Sergio Corbucci has an incredibly exciting life and career, and Django is commonly referred to as his most influential and best work. While Django is undoubtedly a classic, there is a strong case to be made that Corbucci's unflinchingly violent 1968 effort, The Great Silence, is his magnum opus.

What is The Great Silence About?

The Great Silence is a 1968 Spaghetti Western that pits two movie stars in their prime up against each other. The film's protagonist is simply named "Silence" and is played by Jean-Louis Trintignant. Silence is a mute, and therefore mysterious, gunslinger that seeks to end the reign of evil bounty hunters in late 1900s Utah. The film has a few primary antagonists, but the most exciting of the bunch is Klaus Kinski's Loco. Loco is the leader of a group of bounty killers. Even when compared to the rest of his group, Loco is ruthless, lawless, and unhinged and serves as a perfect antagonist to the calm and lawful Silence. The third key player is Henry Pollicut, portrayed by Luigi Pistilli. Pollicut is a corrupt banker and former bounty killer who is directly responsible for both the death of Silence's parents and for Silence being mute.

The film follows Silence as he defends a horde of oppressed and two-timed villagers who have been wronged by Loco and his crew. Eventually, Silence is approached by Pauline, a widow, who asks him to avenge her husband’s murder. The region proves to be entirely lawless, as Pollicut, as well as Loco and his crew, continue to terrorize villagers across all of Utah. What follows from this point is an unflinchingly violent, undeniably political, and surprisingly scary experience as Silence and Loco are forced into a cat-and-mouse game. The conflict is made more interesting when Silence's strict moral code is unveiled. Silence is a gunslinger but is adamantly against bounty hunters and their ruthlessness. Therefore, Silence vows to only attack in self-defense and utilizes brilliant strategies to make this safe. In battle, SIlence constantly keeps his hand near his holster in order to provoke his enemies to draw first, and when they do, he moves at the speed of light. Towards the end of the film, however, Loco and his crew become intensely aware of this moral code and use it to their advantage.

The Great Silence is also notable for how bold and brave it was at the time of release. The Western is a long and storied genre, and every Western filmmaker is inspired by and unashamedly borrows from their predecessors. Corbucci, historically, is no different in this regard, but with The Great Silence, he chose to subvert those Western genre conventions. Firstly, the film changes the typical setting of the Western from dirt-laden plains with bustling desert towns to desolate snowy mountain tops with no humanity for miles. The film even subverts expectations on a filmmaking level. Typical Spaghetti Westerns were shot in a specific region of Italy to mimic the mountainous United States, but The Great Silence was shot on location in the Italian Dolomites. This led to a one-of-a-kind, never-before-seen visual style. The film subverts expectations by being dreary and hopeless and shocks the world by having a strong and independent female deuteragonist.

The Great Silence Has Alternate Endings

Sergio Corbucci's masterpiece subverts expectations in one more fascinating way, and that is with the ending. The typical Western, while often somber and melancholic, would end proudly with the heroes on top. Unfortunately for Silence and Pauline, there is no storybook ending to be seen here, at least not in the theatrical version. From the very first gunfight in the saloon all the way until the title card at the end, the laws and legality of this world are discussed. The final card mentions that all these actions were done under the false guise of legality, collecting bounties from wanted individuals in a way that adheres to every law. This title card is more than literal, however, as every primary character in the film also operates according to their own laws. These are their laws of morality, and when these laws are broken, it leads to negative results.

As previously mentioned, Silence solely attacks in self-defense. The film constantly foreshadows that his moral code will lead to his demise, but that doesn't exactly end up being true. Instead of Silence's death coming from his refusal to deviate from his own moral laws, it ends up being the opposite. Silence draws first against Loco in the final duel, understandably breaking his moral code. He's terribly outnumbered and horribly injured in a snowswept, hazy landscape. Both the vision of the viewer and SIlence's morality are blurred, and he breaks his first moral law. He dies, Pauline dies, and The Great Silence ends on a somber, pessimistic note.

While modern fans love the pessimistic and intensely violent ending, contemporary viewers and Corbucci's producers weren't as pleased. As a result, Corbucci ended up delivering two alternate endings to his producers, one happy one and one confusingly ambiguous one. The happy ending depicts Silence and Sheriff Burnett taking down the outlaws together and Silence being deservingly offered the role of deputy. The ambiguous ending sees Silence shot by Loco and his henchmen, but leaves it up to viewer interpretation whether or not he or Pauline survived. Both of these endings, while beautifully shot and acted, are mostly unsatisfying due to the film's less-than-subtle foreshadowing throughout. A pessimistic film deserves a pessimistic ending, and Corbucci's original finale is exactly that.

The Great Silence Was Hated Upon Release

Some filmmakers simply don't get the flowers they deserve in their time. It's a shame that Corbucci, who passed away in 1990, never got to see the outpouring of love for his films on social media platforms. It's better late than never, though, as modern cult audiences are adamant that Corbucci is an upper echelon auteur. During his time, Corbucci's work was viewed as exploitation due to its dreary, violent, and controversial nature, and therefore wasn't taken seriously. Corbucci constantly suffered from subpar critical responses, with everything from Django to The Mercenary, to The Girl Who Knew Too Much, to, of course, The Great Silence.

In the modern day, however, Corbucci is loved by critics and audiences alike. The release of Tarantino's Django Unchained prompted many viewers to turn back the clock and appreciate its predecessor. In the modern day, exploitation films are generally treated with more respect and Corbucci has benefited greatly from that development. The Great Silence, in particular, has struck a chord with online fans, with the film attaining the mythical 100% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Sergio Corbucci's underrated and forgotten masterpiece, The Great Silence, is a testament to how first impressions aren't everything. A film that was once dismissed as overly bleak and violent has emerged as a Western canon classic. While producers were turned off at first, the film is now celebrated for its unflinching violence, pessimism, and prescient politics. Corbucci, unfortunately, did not receive the love or accolades he deserved during his lifetime, but the most loyal of fans will fight to preserve his legacy. The impact of Corbucci's films continues to shine through in modern work. Filmmakers and fans alike would be remiss if they didn't give this underrated snowswept Spaghetti Western a second look.

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The Great Silence

Not Rated

Western

Drama

A mute gunfighter defends a young widow and a group of outlaws against a gang of bounty killers in the winter of 1898, and a grim, tense struggle unfolds.

Director

Sergio Corbucci

Release Date

January 27, 1969

Cast

Jean-Louis Trintignant, Klaus Kinski, Frank Wolff, Luigi Pistilli, Mario Brega, Carlo D'Angelo, Marisa Merlini, Maria Mizar

Writers

Sergio Corbucci, Vittoriano Petrilli, Mario Amendola, Bruno Corbucci, John Davis Hart, Lewis E. Ciannelli

Runtime

105 Minutes

Main Genre

Western

Producer

Attilio Riccio, Robert Dorfmann

Production Company

Adelphia Compagnia Cinematografica, Les Films Corona

Studio(s)

Adelphia Compagnia Cinematografica, Les Films Corona

Distributor(s)

Beta Film