The Great Silence
The Great Silence is a 1968 film from France and Italy, directed by Sergio Corbucci, running 105 minutes. reelscum files it under spaghetti western.
- Year
- 1968 · 1960s films
- Runtime
- 105 min
- Director
- Sergio Corbucci
- Updated
- 29 Oct 2026
- Obscurity
- known (25/100)
- Also known as
- The Big Silence
Defined in the glossary: Spaghetti western
Corbucci in the snow. The ending would never have cleared an American studio.
Bounty hunters operating legally, a mute gunfighter, and Klaus Kinski at his most reptilian, all shot in deep snow in the Dolomites rather than the usual Almería dust.
Corbucci said he was thinking about the deaths of Che Guevara and Malcolm X while making it, and it shows. The film has no interest in the idea that a lone gunman can fix anything.
The ending is famous for being the bleakest in the genre. Producers demanded an alternative for some territories, and Corbucci shot one so obviously sarcastic that nobody used it.
Morricone's score is one of his three or four best.
Trailer
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