:50:02
Ramón's Winchester '73. Marianne Koch.
:50:05
So you've had the establishing shot, now
you have a series of extreme close-ups,
:50:09
the Techniscope frame
creating a letterbox
:50:12
around these big close-ups of faces.
:50:14
The close-up plays a different
function to traditional Westerns,
:50:18
where it tended to be reaction shots
in conversation, or in gunfights.
:50:23
These are faces treated
as if they're gargoyles on a cathedral.
:50:27
Big close-ups of the faces
with all their imperfections,
:50:31
creating a visual grammar
to build up the tension of the scene.
:50:35
These aren't reactions, these are simply
pieces of design to go with the music.
:50:40
In a way, this is the origin
of the famous cemetery shootout
:50:44
in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
Music with big close-ups.
:50:48
Only instead of a duel,
it's an exchange of hostages.
:51:19
Very operatic. The music builds up.
:51:22
"Mama, Mama," says Jesus,
little Jesus as he rushes out.
:51:26
It's like a scene from an opera
of the 19th century in Italy.
:51:32
A Verdi opera.
:51:34
Someone called these Westerns:
:51:36
"An opera in which the arias
aren't sung, they're stared. "
:51:40
And that Leone had given a whole new
meaning to the phrase "horse opera".
:51:46
It's an odd combination of realism in
the foreground, with these grungy faces,
:51:51
and operatic quality in the background.
:51:54
A mixture of cinematic grammar creating
this opera, and very grungy foreground.
:51:58
You don't believe fairy tales
unless they look real.