From: uril@yang.earlham.edu
Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies
Subject: Sergio Leone and his characters
Date: 9 Apr 92 22:32:16 GMT
 <1992Apr3.204346.27038@daimi.aau.dk> <1992Apr6.214937.2393@fid.morgan.com>
Organization: Earlham College, Richmond, Indiana

In article <1992Apr6.214937.2393@fid.morgan.com>, maus@fid.morgan.com (Malcolm Austin) writes:
> SPOILERS for "Once Upon a Time in the West" in the following:
> 
> 
> In article <1992Apr3.204346.27038@daimi.aau.dk> rorschak@daimi.aau.dk (Jesper Lauridsen) writes:
>>peter@cs.vu.nl (Grunwald PD) writes:
>>
>>>In article <1992Mar31.180628.6426@gn.ecn.purdue.edu> mbrockma@gn.ecn.purdue.edu (Matt Brockman) writes:
> 
>>   This scene encapsulates the philosophy of the Leone westerns, the
>>partition of the world into 3 groups: Real Men (Harmonica, Man with 
>>no name etc), followers (gunmen with short lifespans) and background.
>>Cheyenne knows, at the moment he enters the tavern, who "knows how to
>>play" and who doesn't. Consequently he ignores anyone, even if they
>>are pointing a loaded gun at him, but Harmonica. 
> 
> You lost me here.  Cheyenne does draw this distinction between "players"
> and "non-players", but I saw no clear tripartite division.  It is notable,
> however, that just as Cheyenne ignores everyone in the room except Harmonica,
> everyone in the room is also unaffected by his visit.  As soon as he leaves,
> the bartender blithely continues his story about New Orleans, and everyone
> starts talking again, without missing a beat.  I found that interesting.
> 
> Cheyenne's presence is almost like a visitation--he suspends "real life" for
> actions occurring on a higher, sharper plane, and then he leaves, and 
> normal life resumes with no change except the relief that everyone must
> feel that no one has been killed.  Great scene.
> 
> These roles of "player" and "non-player" are not clean-cut, either.  Consider
> Mr. Choo-Choo, who is a player only when in his railroad car, and loses all
> power outside of it.  (Is it accidental that he dies outside of the car?)
> 
> The widow McBain and her late husband also "play" on a different level than
> Cheyenne and Harmonica, more on the level of Mr. Choo-Choo, where dollars
> and land can trump bullets and blood.  And in the end, with the railroad
> coming through like a force of nature, the Real Men seem like an diminished,
> insignificant sideshow.  
> 
> Frank (Henry Fonda) is a pathetic link between these two worlds, trying to 
> transform himself from one to the other, and losing everything.
> 

Hold on.  Just a second guys.  You guys are messing the catagories of the 
various characters in Leone's films.  Leone in his films sets up 4 
different types of characters, and two different settings of beings.

I. GODS
All of the major gunfighters in his westerns are Gods.  There are also 
three different types of Gods.  These Gods, are powerful, independent and 
ruthless in everything they do.  The three subsections are
	
	A. Good-  This is the character that Clint Eastwood played in A 
	Fistfull of Dollars, and The Good, The Bad And The Ugly.  Lee Van
	Cleef played the good in For A Few Dollars More, and Charles 
	Bronson played him in Once Upon a Time in the West.  These are the
	men who's goal is to kill evil; to hunt it down and destroy it. 
	Whether it is a personal vendeta or a case of justice.

	B. Bad- This character was played by Italian unknowns in A Fistfull
	Of Dollars and For A Few Dollars More, Lee Van Cleef played him in
	The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, and Henry Fonda played him in Once
	Upon a Time in the West.  These men kill for money, but more 
	importantly pleasure.  They are clever, never decietfull, yet, well
	evil!

	C. The Ugly- There was no ugly in Fistful of Dollars.  Clint Eastwood
	was the ugly in For A Few Dollars More, Eli Wallach was the ugly in
	The Good, The Bad and the Ugly.  These men are the most human gods
	discoverable.  They tend to talk too much and think too little.  They
	are usually after only one thing, money.  These men are flawed, yet
	they are still gods, because they are mighty and powerful.

II.  The humans are everyone else.  Leone concentrates on the dirty grungy
faces of humans.  Working for a living, as farmers, railroaders, workers, or
gunmen, these men must overcome all odds just to survive nature, wars and
evil forces.

This is the standard Leone set-up.  For more information about Leone's 
characters, read Danny Peary's criticizm of Once Upon a Time in the West in
his book Cult Classics II.

-- 
_____________________________________________________________________________
Uri J. Lessing | Earlham College | Richmond Indiana | Psychology Major
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