Happy Ending VIDEO - Il grande silenzio (1969) Discussion

[–] Sleazy_E 16 years ago

that end sucks. The real end is som much better because it's more dramatic and showes that the good guys don't always win.

.../ `---____________|]
../_==o;;;;;;;;_____.:/
.. ), --.(_((_) /
..//(.)//
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[–] speccyboy 16 years ago

Maybe so.

If you think about it, though, the bounty killers are "antivillains" - they are good bad guys :)

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[–] Professicchio 13 years ago

And that's exactly the point of Corbucci's masterpiece.

If you look really into it you realize that it's actually the "good guys" that win (they are acting legally after all) and the bad ones that die (outlaws, albeit for unspecified reasons, and people that indulge in interracial relationships).

And that's American justice all over.

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[–] sockscats 13 years ago

Corbucci had no way of knowing it but he created a character more brutal and more ruthless than the Frank character in Once upon a time in the west. Not easy to do but he does it. Neither the Henry Fonda character in ouitw or the Kinski character are fire breathing psychos. They kill with a precision for a selfish reason.

"It's our bread and butter"....."People scare better when they are dying"

In both films you have the most incredible brutality and the most beautiful music ever heard on film.

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[–] artymorty 13 years ago

Sadly, the video is no longer available on youtube. But I do think the original ending is near-perfect, and is likely the biggest reason for the movie's reputation. Not the only one, mind (there are also the setting, the atmosphere, the villain and the score), but it's a very big part of what makes The Great Silence so memorable, and in my mind far superior to Corbucci's Django.

Anyway, I would like to see the alternative ending, but I'm glad it isn't the one they went with.

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[–] ilpohirvonen 12 years ago

Yes I believe it was only made because spaghetti western was, like it or not, a commercial phenomenon for many people and therefore producers didn't want endings that would make the viewers not to watch the film. I'm quite sure they actually used the alternate ending. All is based on what I think I've read or heard so no actual proof. Fortunately Corbucci didn't lose the original ending. I honestly think that this might be the best spaghetti western ever made. There's something in it which gets to me more than Once Upon a Time in the West which is a genuine masterpiece as well, of course.

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[–] BaldyCotton 11 years ago

In the special features on my DVD, the happy ending loop is included without sound. It's definitely a much sillier finish, and Silence even gives a toothy smile after the battle is won -- plus there's a close-up of some kind of bizarre metal hand guard on his charred paw that anticipates Brewster McCloud.

In the extras, there's also a brief video of director Alex Cox talking about the film. It's mentioned that the happy ending was used in Asian countries as well as in north Africa. If the happy-happy loop was indeed distributed to some screens, then I wonder what happened to the sound, as it didn't find its way on to the disc.

Anyway, they definitely went with the better ending.

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[–] osimonide 11 years ago

It looks like Corbucci shot it in the silliest possible way, in order to make it impossible to use.

For years this ending only existed as a rumor.

The same thing happened with the alternate, happy ending from Los Olvidados (equally silly and shot at the producer's request)

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[–] cp_spandex 11 years ago

I'm in the minority opinion that this is actually the superior ending.

There's a rule in film making: If you need a post-credit text crawl to 'explain' your ending... your ending sucks.

When you really break it down, the original version of The Great Silence, with the downbeat ending intact... has no story. None.
The main character isn't Silence, its Loco.
And what's Loco's character arc? He doesn't have one.
He kills women and children for money at the beginning of the film... and he kills women and children for money at the end of the film. It's actually a terrible film, with the original ending. Because no one has a character arc. Not Silence, not Paulina, not Loco. NO ONE.

Say what you will about the cheesiness of the 'happy' ending, but at least it brings the characters full-circle. At least there's an actual dramatic arc. At least it's a movie!

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[–] SeanJoyce 11 years ago

I'm in the minority opinion that this is actually the superior ending.

That's not a "minority opinion", it's an opinion of one.

There's a rule in film making: If you need a post-credit text crawl to 'explain' your ending... your ending sucks.

AKA, I have this moronic rule I've completely assembled from scratch about the movies that I watch. And that wasn't an "explanation", it was an epigraph.

Because no one has a character arc.

Please tell me what character brings an arc full circle with this parody of a closer.

Easily the the most idiotic IMDb post I've encountered in years.

http://jmoneyyourhoney.filmaf.com/owned

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[–] shadowfax73 10 years ago

Nice post Sean......yeah, right. I agree with the OP and if you disagree then fine, just try not to show the rest of IMDB that you're a peghead.

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[–] SeanJoyce 9 years ago

I agree with the OP

Because you share a joint chromosome deficiency.

http://jmoneyyourhoney.filmaf.com/owned

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[–] highway_demon_77 9 years ago

The alternate ending sucks, ruins this film and nullifies it's message.

FURIOUS 7 - 4.3.15 That's right... Diesel-time, b!tches

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[–] JellyFish19 8 years ago

A sudden Deus ex machina ending is never a good thing, especially when it undoes the bleak nature of the original.

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[–] captainapache 8 years ago

New Link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p13gKTOpPc0

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