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The Great Silence

The Great Silence

1968
Drama, Western
1h 45m
Bounty killers led by Loco prey on outlaws hiding out in the snowbound Utah mountains. After Pauline's husband becomes Loco's latest victim, she hires a gunman for revenge; Silence, mute since his throat was cut as a child. (imdb)
Your probable score
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The Great Silence

1968
Drama, Western
1h 45m
Your probable score
Avg Percentile 68.66% from 656 total ratings

Ratings & Reviews

(656)
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Rated 14 Aug 2007
68
32nd
Particularly awful dubbing, especially because I hate hearing Klaus Kinski dubbed with some American bozo's voice. There are a few intriguing moments, especially the ending, but on the whole the movie is dull as dirt. Each minute felt like two or three. The cinematography is okay, although the camerawork is rather sloppy at times. The Morricone score is excellent, if not very memorable. I just wasn't that impressed.
Rated 18 Jul 2010
94
98th
This may well be the best Spaghetti Western. The two leads could not be better, Kinski as the ruthless bounty hunter and Trintignant as the mute avenger go all out to create larger than life characters. The cinematography is stunning, with the snow providing a unique setting for a Western. What brings it all together is the fantastic writing, from start to finish it both abides by and defies conventions leading to a fantastic ending.
Rated 10 Jan 2008
99
99th
You know what, this is by no means the greatest film ever made, and I dont even think that, but this film to me is so entertaining, and i felt so attached after watching it, I pretty much fell in love with it. Sure it has awful dubbing, and cannot compare to a lot of other westerns, but the performances are great, as well as the cinematography, and that ending, amazing. My guiltiest pleasure
Rated 01 Jan 2009
4
74th
A little rough around the edges, but ultimately a very memorable western with a good story and lots of great imagery. The characters are somewhat archetypal, though Kinksi and Trintignant both act wonderfully. The surprising final scene forced me to re-evaluate everything I'd just watched, and I realized what a pessimistic, almost nihilistic film this is.
Rated 04 Jun 2012
73
71st
most shocking finale in cinema history.
Rated 01 Oct 2012
70
49th
Man, was I annoyed at first, thinking that this film by far had the most ridiculous contrivance of any Italian Western I'd seen: the man that only shoots in self defense. How could that work? What stupid trickery akin to Superman thwarting Mister Mxyzptlk would this hero have to pull off to defeat the far more cunning Loco? And then the movie finishes, and I go "Ohhhhhh." I'm not sure I've seen anything remotely as bleak in the genre, and it's a pretty ingenious direction for it to go.
Rated 30 Apr 2009
3
74th
Bleak spaghetti-western played out in snowy landscapes, with Kinski as the bad guy and Morricone providing the music. These factors obviously can't result in a bad movie, and this is good, albeit flawed fun.
Rated 17 Mar 2010
79
84th
I feel kind of dirty for liking this movie so much. It's ugly, nihilistic and full of awful dubbing, but it feels a lot more real than most other spaghetti and american western of the time. Kinski is wonderfully restrained (shame about the dubbing).
Rated 19 Aug 2020
80
68th
I'm a little surprised to say this, but this movie came down a notch for me on re-watching. Now that I'm not completely surprised by the ending, it feels a little arbitrary and unearned. It doesn't feel like a film that's crafted to lead to a downer ending. It feels like a fairly normal western of the period with a last minute rug pull.
Rated 10 Apr 2022
88
95th
A tremendous unsung spaghetti western. Silence oozes character without saying a single word the entire movie, he has more depth than The Man With No Name or Trinity. While I had my reservations about Kinski, who always seems to phone it in when not with Herzog, but this is honestly the best I've seen of him outside of a Herzog movie. I wholeheartedly recommend this to any one with a taste for westerns.
Rated 25 Apr 2023
60
71st
(THE QUIET & THE DEAD)
Rated 02 Feb 2007
68
70th
The less said about Silence, the better. Suffice it to say it plays with your expectations. Badly written dialogues bog it down, as well as bad acting from first-timer Vonetta McGee, but otherwise it is a well-above-average western and perhaps Corbucci's most daring. Features excellent theme music by Ennio Morricone.
Rated 16 Feb 2007
95
98th
Corbucci's masterpiece. Some sloppy camera work, but so moody and grim, you have to love it. Kinksi is a monster.
Rated 16 Feb 2007
70
52nd
A mean little spaghetti western. Mostly enjoyable despite how grim it is.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
80
92nd
Awesome Klaus western with some serious brutality.
Rated 14 Feb 2008
93
79th
Kinski and Trintignant are awesome. That's all I'm going to say about that. (Also, the opening sequence is fucking great)
Rated 28 Apr 2008
65
47th
Frank, frigid and flawed spaghetti.
Rated 23 Sep 2008
85
77th
Unique in that it's set in the dead of winter in Utah and the cold, snowy terrain is as much of a character as Silence himself. If you've seen all of Leone's movies and are just itchin' to see another spaghetti western, this is your best choice as far as I am concerned. The DVD extra features contain a happy ending which is downright hilarious, too.
Rated 23 Nov 2008
80
91st
Powerful great and brutal action and again beautiful music of Morricone. I was a bit disappointed of the end, a big surprise for me, but that's the director's choice. I expected an other end. After all a gorgious western in the snow.
Rated 07 Dec 2008
22
8th
Attempted to cash in on the western genre, but doesn't get it right. Only the cinematography is redeeming.
Rated 27 Dec 2008
98
97th
O vingador silencioso estreava há 55 anos em Roma. Acho que nessa revisão ficou inegável que essa é a grande obra-prima do Corbucci, cinema político de primeira que calha ser um dos mais esteticamente perfeitos westerns spaghetti. Box Versátil A Arte de Sergio Corbucci.
Rated 15 Aug 2009
47
44th
flawed snowy spaghetti western that's made worth watching by the Ennio score, the vintage Kinski and the surprisingly badass final 10 minutes. still, i don't think it's the masterpiece some make it out to be.
Rated 19 May 2010
86
98th
The cold atmosphere created by corbucci is impressing. The music of Morricone is wonderfull. The ending will blow you away and leaves you shocked.
Rated 13 Oct 2010
80
78th
Deserving of its praise, this bleak snow-bound Spaghetti western is one of the best from any country.
Rated 22 Mar 2011
89
82nd
I always loved movies with the snow settings. To watch western under layer of snow was even more intriguing. I am not sure the end perfectly fits the general concept of the genre but the rest of the movie I really enjoyed, as well as, Kinski as a main villain.
Rated 15 Jun 2011
84
68th
I was surprised at how much I came to care about the Sheriff.
Rated 13 Oct 2012
55
39th
This has a reputation of being in the same league as the best spaghetti westerns (Leone's). It's not.
Rated 09 Apr 2013
80
81st
The grand finale changed my entire perception of the film. Corbucci knows how to end a film.
Rated 07 Jun 2013
70
46th
Pretty straightforward and generic at first glance. But just when you feel comfortable enough the ending truly surprises you.
Rated 16 Feb 2014
85
81st
not quite on a par with other genre greats, but it might still be one of the most memorable western movies ever made ... for its great performances, the bleak setting and the finale. Really loved the score too.
Rated 01 Apr 2014
65
43rd
The movie's cool but the ending is fucking crazy.
Rated 29 Apr 2014
60
61st
Great Morricone music, memorable ending. A few of the plot points don't make sense due to a seeming misunderstanding of the values of the American West. Feels amateurish at times (camerawork), but at the same time I feel like they were making due with what they had. Typical Spaghetti Western; cool and brutal.
Rated 29 Apr 2014
60
57th
I guess this is how the old west really was (including the finale).
Rated 23 Sep 2014
60
69th
A unique western in that it tries to reject hero worship, fatalism and all that crap. One could even argue that despite his questionable actions, Tigrero/Loco played by Klaus Kinski is the true protagonist of the movie. A resourceful survivor who gets to cut down the boring, too-good-to-be-true Clint Eastwood stereotype and importantly, being actually social while doing so.
Rated 28 Nov 2014
30
5th
Morricone's great soundtrack is wasted in this pointless, perverse "Western."
Rated 20 Dec 2014
75
81st
nothing too fancy, but then came the finale...
Rated 20 Apr 2015
90
92nd
Bleak movie. It certainly has its flaws, particularly in the dubbing and some of the camera-work, but it overcomes them with some great acting and a chilling Ennio Morricone soundtrack.
Rated 12 May 2015
85
80th
Satisfies on all fronts. Has a badass main character, some fun Western moodiness, snow (it's a nice change), it's shot well (though dubbed horribly), and even though it doesn't appear to do a whole lot different with the Western at first, the ending displays a set of balls that most movies today can't even imagine having. What a depressing and violent ending. It takes what may have been an 80 or 85 and turns it into a hard 90. One of the more memorable endings I think I've seen.
Rated 28 Aug 2015
75
65th
The Great Silence may end up waiting some time before it's commonly regarded as one of the greatest Westerns, which is unfortunate as the film's effect is immediate. The unique snowy backdrops impact the dialogue and scenes wonderfully, Kinski plays a suitably psychotic and manipulative villain, and for its modest length the film has many fully realized subplots and tension. Daring in seemingly small ways at first, and traditional when it knows that's what's most effective.
Rated 14 Apr 2018
90
94th
A nihilistic nightmare.
Rated 06 Jul 2019
85
84th
Curiosamente, o filme é bastante tosco mas é marcante. Além de algumas sutilezas sociais interessantes, a ideia de um pistoleiro mudo é interessante. O ponto negativo é ser bem maniqueísta, mas o final é bem inesperado, especialmente dado o ritmo convencional no qual o filme evolui.
Rated 03 Aug 2019
90
77th
Revenge is a circle.
Rated 29 Dec 2020
40
22nd
This movie suffers from bad dubbing, a sluggish pace and tons of "idiot plot". You're constantly distracted by things. Why does this town only seem to have a dozen people living in it? Is the banker meant to be a stereotypical Jew? Why do people constantly act so unrealistically? It just doesn't work.
Rated 01 Aug 2021
75
56th
I've seen better spaghetti westerns honestly. The story is good, but it is about 20 min too long (too many horse riding scenes) and has scenes where horses are clearly being abused.
Rated 27 Sep 2021
74
75th
“All according to the law!†A captivating, unusual movie that adresses the flexibility of not only law also the western as a genre. That stupefying yet fitting climax is another nail on the coffin of western cliches. It's undeniable that the winter setting and the portrayal of bounty hunters had a huge impact on RDR2 team. But the dubbing is poorly done and distracting. Likewise, acting is often atrocious. Had Klaus Kinski not put a spell on the audience with his acting, it would be unbearab
Rated 25 Nov 2021
85
92nd
deve ser uma beleza no telão
Rated 04 Dec 2022
78
53rd
It's an interesting approach to the genre, but not being a fan of the genre itself, it's a difficult one to get through. The ending is worth it, but the almost farcical tone throughout is a little frustrating.
Rated 20 Dec 2022
80
78th
There are some nice parts here: the snowy Western, Kinski as an unhinged (but amazingly restrained) bounty hunter. But there's something about the timing of the events in the finale that just bugs me (one bit seems way too slow, another way too fast), and the quick reversal of expectations. Even with its faults, it will stay with you for a while.
Rated 17 Aug 2023
80
85th
A very brutal Spaghetti Western set in a landscape filled with ice and snow, it offers some beautiful vistas and sweeping shots of mountains, horses running in the snow, and of course, plenty of blood being spilled for the simple motivation of greed. It's a very subdued movie where silence (obviously) often speaks more than words ever could. I saw that different versions of the ending were shot due to the bleakness of the one that remained, but I liked this version the best for sure.
Rated 03 Sep 2023
64
69th
The ending feels totally unearned, and that seems to be the strongest selling point for most people who hold it in high regard. Still, some nice cinematography and Kinski is notable for how restrained he plays it.

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