What a dark and magnificent movieā¦ I think this is the most tragical film Iāve ever seen :ā(, and one of the best westerns.
The Dark Side of the Spaghetti 
Poor Silenzio. He couldnāt do anythingā¦ :ā( :ā( :ā(
Klaus Kinski is not only evil. Heās the Satan himself. ;D
My favorite Corbucci. Jean Louis T? Well, since he didnāt need to do dialogue, he probably worked cheap.
It is my understanding that he didnāt want any dialogue. He demanded this, otherwise he wouldnāt be in the picture. So they came up with this character who had his throat slit and wasnāt able to speak. But, Iām not exactly sure whether this is all true. Maybe somebody else can shed some light on this?
[quote=āBad Lieutenant, post:83, topic:122ā]It is my understanding that he didnāt want any dialogue. He demanded this, otherwise he wouldnāt be in the picture. So they came up with this character who had his throat slit and wasnāt able to speak. But, Iām not exactly sure whether this is all true. Maybe somebody else can shed some light on this?[/quote]I recall it was Marcello Mastroianni who suggested the idea of mute gunslinger to Corbucci.
Corbucci wanted Franco Nero to play Silence at first but Nero was making some other film at the time. I think Trigninant is perfect in his role. Thereās something sad in his face which fits to his role.
You are spot on there Bill. there is something in the sadness of Trigninantās face which makes the ending almost inevitable.
Do you think with Nero in the lead, the film would be different?
I like Trintignant always, and he is great as Silence. But I think Nero could have played it equally.
He he, your spelling is completely wrong. But, fuck, mine was too, had to change it after looking in a book.
Speaking his name is also tricky.
[quote=āstanton, post:87, topic:122ā]He he, your spelling is completely wrong. But, fuck, mine was too, had to change it after looking in a book.
Speaking his name is also tricky.[/quote]Usually Iām kind of precise about names but I wrote that in hurry and didnāt have time to check it. I have never learnt to pronounce his name correctly.
most French names are a handful to pronounce
I think that it wouldāve been quite different. I canāt see Nero playing Silence. Jean Louis was perfect for the part.
A fantastic film and one that gets better with every viewing. I donāt mind the happy ending, itās great to see the bounty killers get theirs, but I do prefer the original unhappy ending, quite unique. Morriconeās music is brilliant in this film, unusual for a SW but perfect for the snowy setting. A true classic of the genre, itās a pity they didnāt make a prequel 
I found this Corbucci quote about the happy ending of TGS.
āI couldnāt do anything about it, I had no choice but to film it again otherwise Iād have had real problems. But, in agreement with Trintignant and the other actors, I filmed it almost as if it were to be a comedy, filming with less frames than necessary so really it was impossible to edit it. In fact, they didnāt edit it.ā
- on being forced to re-shoot the ending of āIl Grande Silenzioā
That happy ending is really comic. Itās on youtube, when you want to laugh ;D ;D ;D
Thank God they didnāt make it so. It would ruin everythingā¦ the tragic ending makes this movie so unique.
Here it is:
[url]The great silence - alternative ending - YouTube
You can even see Trintignant laughing at one point 
Just finished watching this film, I gave it 4 out 5. I canāt really add anything new to whatās been said other than I think I enjoy this film for the same reasons most of us do: the unusual setting, the heroās disability and the ending, among other things.
That happy ending is a complete flop - glad to have watched it but glad they used the unhappy ending. I couldnāt see it ending any other way. Plus when Trintignant smiles that great big smile it just doesnāt fit!!!
Strange isnāt it how we all canāt imagine any other ending now but when I first saw it I was genuinely shocked at it. I mean Corbucci subverts a very heavy genre convention of the hero winning in the end even if not āhappilyā. I remember being quite stunned by it at first but now Iām like everyone else and think itās the ārightā ending.
Credit to Corbucci for successfully pulling that off so well.
Recent blogger review of the film, here.[url]http://drunkenoncelluloid.blogspot.com/2007/09/great-silence-sergio-corbucci-1968.html[/url] Marginal, in my opinion, but happy to see the film given some attention.
Iām probably the only one here who thinks this, but I wasnāt too crazy about the negative ending. It was just too damn depressing! Maybe Iām just an old fashioned gringoā¦but I prefer the traditional āgood guy wins, bad guy losesā scenario.
However, the alternative happy ending was so rediculous that Iām glad they kept the unhappy ending.
I think my ideal scenario would be that Silence dies, but the bad guys also die. Or the girl lives.
Update:
Call me crazy but I just saw the happy alternative ending again. The more I see it the more I think its not so bad. The metal hand protector was pure genius, and very Spaghetti-like.
If you have the DVD try to watch the alternative ending again and give it a chance. It took me a while to actually appreciate it for what it was. I know Corbucci purposely tried to make it look bad so that the producers would have no other choice but to use the unhappy ending, but I think thats part of the genius of it. Itās actually half decent !
Completely disagree. The ending as it is, in my opinion is essential to the feel of the movie. The alternate ending would have fucked the movieās message as well as itās distinctieve atmosphere in the ass. We even see Silenzio laughing and talking. What a load of crap!