4 Star

Cold, Cold Lead.

Eureka Classics brought us The Specialists, now Eureka Masters of Cinema brings another piece of cinematic history with the definitive Spaghetti Western in The Great Silence. Once again written and directed by the maestro Sergio Corbucci (Duel of the Titans, Son of Spartacus, Django), who gives us a dark subversive Spaghetti Western, veering from the anti-hero plot lines to give us a story about the senseless deaths that were occurring at the time (Che Guevara and Malcolm X) and also when the film was set.

High in the mountains of Utah, a man rides through the deep snow left by a severe blizzard that has swept the frontier. This blizzard has caused the inhabitants of Snow Hill to be cut off from supply lines and they have had to revert to base instincts of thieving and killing animals (horses) just to survive.

These actions have made the residence outlaws in the eyes of the local banker/ judge of peace Henry Pollicut (Luigi Pistilli, For a Few Dollars More, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly). There is a bounty on every man in the town, and this has attracted a large band of ‘Bounty Killers’, who would rather kill than take you in alive. This band of licensed killers is led by the ruthless Loco (Tigrero) (Klaus Kinski, For a Few Dollars More, Doctor Zhivago) who kill for the fun of it and for the dollar.

It seems the towns folk are doomed to a leaded death, but there is hope in ‘Silence’, a young man with a very fast trigger finger to his semi-automatic Mauser C96, and he fights for the little man, against the corrupt. They try to ambush Silence, but he is too wise to this tactic, and he soon dispatches six of them.

The Bounty killers will use any scheme to get their bounty, even posing as lawyers to claim their $1000.

One of the outlaws is determined to see his wife Pauline (Vonetta McGee, Blacula, Shaft in Africa). But Loco is lying in wait, and takes Pauline hostage to get James to come out under false pretenses, but for gunning him down in cold blood. You shouldn’t do that to a woman, and she swears vengeance on Loco. She has heard of a man who fights for justice. This man is Silence.

Prepare yourselves for a dark tale set in the stark white of the mountains of Utah. A true hidden gem.

The Great Silence is available on Blu-ray

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LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY CONTAINS

Limited Edition (3000 Copies Only)
O-Card Slipcase
Reversible Poster featuring the film’s original artwork
Set of 4 facsimile lobby cards
1080p presentation on Blu-ray from a 2K restoration undertaken and completed for the 50th anniversary of the film’s original release
English and Italian audio options
Optional English Subtitles
Brand new audio commentary with author Howard Hughes and filmmaker Richard Knew
Brand new audio commentary by filmmaker Mike Siegel
Audio commentary by director and Spaghetti Western aficionado Alex Cox, recorded live at the Hollywood Theatre, Portland in 2021. Included with kind permission of 36 Chambers LLC.
Brand new interview with Austin Fisher, author of Radical Frontiers in the Spaghetti Western: Politics, Violence and Popular Italian Cinema
Cox on Corbucci – filmmaker Alex Cox talks about Sergio Corbucci [15 mins]
Western, Italian Style – 1968 documentary [38 mins]
Two Alternate Endings (both fully restored in 2K), with optional audio commentaries
Trailers
Stills Galleries
PLUS: A Collector’s Booklet featuring new writing by Western expert Howard Hughes