The Great Silence

Sergio Corbucci  |  105 min  |  Italy  |  1968  |  Spaghetti Western  |  15

A mute gunslinger fights in the defense of a group of outlaws and a vengeful young widow, against a group of ruthless bounty hunters. In Sergio Corbucci’s The Great Silence, survival and greed meet in a bleak, political reimagining of the Spaghetti Western.

The story is set in Snow Hill, Utah, during the brutal winter of 1898–1899, as a blizzard traps outlaws in the mountains. A gang of bounty hunters exploit the chaos, preying on those forced into hiding, while the mute gunslinger Silence (Jean-Louis Trintignant) stands against them. His confrontation with their leader, the ruthless Loco (Klaus Kinski), plays out against a frozen landscape where corruption and violence feel inescapable.

Directed by Corbucci, often seen as the second great Sergio of Spaghetti Western after Leone, The Great Silence replaces the genre’s usual heroics with bleak realism and sharp political anger. Its morally ambiguous characters and critique of corrupt capitalism dismantle the usual myths of the American West, offering instead a story that feels raw, urgent, and strikingly contemporary. Paired with stark, snowbound imagery and Ennio Morricone’s haunting score, the film stands as both a Spaghetti Western landmark and a powerful deconstruction of Hollywood’s ideals.

In Italian with English Subtitles

Doors: 7.45pm

Screening: 8.00pm