Greatest Films of All Time 2022: 95=

Once Upon a Time in the West

C’era una volta il West

Sergio Leone’s epic western features the rise of the railroads and a major struggle for power.

  • Director

    Sergio Leone

  • With

    Henry Fonda, Charles Bronson, Claudia Cardinale, Jason Robards

  • USA-Italy 1968. 165min

  • Digital

  • Certificate

    15

Conflict over a parcel of land with a vital water source, resulting in a standoff between three characters (played by Claudia Cardinale, Jason Robards and Charles Bronson) and the interests of a rapacious railroad company, is the focus of this epic that helped redefine notions about the West. Working from a story co-written with Bernardo Bertolucci and Dario Argento, Leone drew inspiration from many key Westerns to construct his masterpiece. It works as an homage to what came before, a deconstruction of capitalism at its most aggressive and a riveting addition to the genre. It also features another mesmerising score by the great Ennio Morricone.

Justin Johnson

Also screening at BFI Southbank.

Part of our Sight and Sound Greatest Films of All Time season.