``Once Upon a Time in the West'' is a tribute to the epic Western film created by three great talents.

Dry realism and strong stylistic beauty

The biggest reason I'm drawn to "Once Upon a Time in the West" is its "slowness." It has a unique sense of time, with endless scenes without any dialogue or significant incidents. Particularly noteworthy is the opening scene, which depicts three men waiting for a train at a station. They catch rainwater dripping from the ceiling in their cowboy hats. They crack their hips. They try to blow away flies that have clung to their faces. All that is shown on the screen are close-ups of the villains' faces. I was astonished when I first saw it.

Originally, the score composed by his friend Ennio Morricone was planned to be used for this opening. His grandiose melody would certainly have given this scene a poetic feeling. However, Leone deliberately left out the soundtrack and constructed it only with environmental sounds such as the creaking of windmills, the sound of flies flying, and the whistle of trains. This not only created a dry realism, but also made the ominous harmonica melody stand out.

Once Upon a Time in the West(c)Photofest/Getty Images

The brief moment of peace, depicted over the course of more than 10 minutes, is put to an end by a split-second gunfight. The anti-dramatic depiction that seems to continue forever and the dramatic depiction that lasts for only a moment. The extreme contrast between tension and relaxation clearly imprints the stylized beauty of Sergio Leone.

As for the locations, unlike the "Dollar Trilogy" which was shot in Spain, this film was also shot in the United States. Monument Valley, an iconic Western location that appeared in many John Ford films such as " Stagecoach " (1939) and "The Searchers," also appears. Sergio Leone, Bernardo Bertolucci, and Dario Argento paid homage to the Western in the holy land of the Western. By bringing dry realism and strong stylized beauty to the film, "Once Upon a Time in the West" opened up new horizons for Western films.

* "Homage to Bernardo Bertolucci (Cinealbum)" (translated by Kazuhiro Yanagisawa, Haga Shoten)

** "Sergio Leone - The Italian Bad Boy Who Shot the Western Myth" (translated by Daisuke Onitsuka, Film Art Publishing)

Text: Rui Takeshima

A pop culture writer who wants to be kicked by Hit Girl. Host of the web magazine "POP MASTER".

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(c) Photofest / Getty Images