I’m very passionate about the western film genre. Sergio Leone’s Dollars Trilogy, Once Upon a Time in the West and Il Mercenario are some of my favorite westerns and some of my favorite movies in general.
One of my favorite things about westerns is their incredible use of music and the moving image to build suspense with little to no dialogue. This is why a standoff is such a powerful and memorable scene: in this situation, a character’s eyes and body language can communicate thoughts and feelings more eloquently than dialogue could.
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly has one of the most memorable standoffs, partly because it features three gunslingers instead of two:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXldafIl5DQ
Il Mercenario features Ennio Morricone’s song L’arena, which can be heard in Kill Bill Vol. 2 as the Bride escapes from her grave:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXeBxtyF-5U
While westerns aren’t as prevalent as they were in John Wayne’s day, they are still incredibly influential: a True Grit remake was produced in 2012 by the Coen brothers, and Quentin Tarantino’s upcoming movie Django Unchained draws inspiration from the legendary western, Django, with Franco Nero even having a cameo in the film.
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