THE GREAT SILENCE (1968) + Paper Jays
Advertisement
Experience one of the greatest Italian Westerns ever made! Our Far-Out West Finale is a politically-provocative masterpiece intended as protest against the assassinations of the revolutionaries Che Guevara and Malcolm X. Preshow by Paper Jays, weaving avant-garde string textures into hypnotic folk.
Il grande silenzio (The Great Silence). 1968, Directed by Sergio Corbucci, 105 min. On an unforgiving, snow-swept frontier, a group of bloodthirsty bounty hunters, led by the vicious Loco (Klaus Kinski at his most unhinged!) prey on a band of persecuted outlaws who have taken to the hills. Only a mute gunslinger named Silence (Jean-Louis Trintignant) stands between the innocent refugees and the corrupt killers. But, in this harsh, brutal world, the lines between right and wrong are not always clear, and good does not always triumph.
Featuring superb cinematography in the spare and annihilating wintry landscapes of the Dolomites, a shocking climax and haunting score from maestro Ennio Morricone, director Sergio Corbucci’s bleak, brilliant and violent vision of an immoral, honour-less West, is widely considered to be among the best and most influential Westerns ever made.
CRITICAL ACCLAIM:
“I regret the loss of a certain kind of craziness that used to flourish in movies — the kind that is on rich and ripe display in The Great Silence… It’s anarchic and rigorous, sophisticated and goofy, heartfelt and cynical. The score, by Ennio Morricone, is as mellow as wine. The action is raw, nasty and blood-soaked. The story is preposterous, the politics sincere… The mood is sometimes jaunty, but The Great Silence is no joke, and the fatalism of its ending serves as an implicit critique of the sentimental optimism of many Hollywood westerns. Power speaks louder than silence.”– A.O. Scott, The New York Times. Read the full review here.
“Still hurts so good a half-century later… Goes out with a devastating bang.”– Simon Abrams, The Village Voice
“A STUNNING RESTORATION. Twists a revenge melodrama into a searing tract about race and class… The snowy landscapes are shot in gorgeous widescreen by Silvano Ippolito, and the film restoration is so crisp, the production looks like it was finished yesterday. Almost as unexpected as having a harsh winter setting for a western, Ennio Morricone’s score is subtler and more plaintive and intricate than his better-known works for Leone… Even 50 years later, The Great Silence stands majestically as both a blistering comment about its era and a creatively revisionist genre piece.”– Eric Monder, Film Journal International
“The most violent, surreal and pitiless landscape of any director in the history of the genre.”– Quentin Tarantino
“Corbucci’s tightest, most relentless Western... Tigrero is Klaus Kinski’s finest role in any Western. Polite, patient, always laughing to himself at the absurdity of it all, he keeps a little book, wets his pencil and adds up his tally of souls. This is great acting — as is the work of Trintignant, [who] has to convey everything via action or expression. He pulls it off flawlessly… The score is one of Morricone’s finest: light, restrained, affecting, entirely different from his other Western work.”– Alex Cox
Paper Jays is an experimental folk rock band based out of Providence, Rhode Island. The group's history began in 2015, when guitarists Jesse Cohen and Justin Hubbard crossed paths at a local record store and bonded over open tunings, pre-war blues, and global string traditions. Over the next few years, the duo developed a distinct sound built around acoustic fingerpicking underpinned by a hypnotic feedback drone.
The lineup expanded when they encountered percussionist Matt Crane backing Linda Sharrock at a local House of Pizza venue, resulting in their self-titled debut on the historic ESP-Disk' label. Tracked completely live in one room with pure microphone bleed — and marking the very first time the trio had ever played together — the album gained critical acclaim and was named to All Music's 2024 Favorite Folk/Americana list. Following Matt Crane's departure, the group expanded to a quartet. In 2025, violist Jeremy Fortier and drummer Phoebe Summersquash joined the band, introducing avant-garde string textures and a brand-new rhythmic drive to the group's signature blend of traditional folk structures juxtaposed with open improvisation.
Il grande silenzio (The Great Silence). 1968, Directed by Sergio Corbucci, 105 min. On an unforgiving, snow-swept frontier, a group of bloodthirsty bounty hunters, led by the vicious Loco (Klaus Kinski at his most unhinged!) prey on a band of persecuted outlaws who have taken to the hills. Only a mute gunslinger named Silence (Jean-Louis Trintignant) stands between the innocent refugees and the corrupt killers. But, in this harsh, brutal world, the lines between right and wrong are not always clear, and good does not always triumph.
Featuring superb cinematography in the spare and annihilating wintry landscapes of the Dolomites, a shocking climax and haunting score from maestro Ennio Morricone, director Sergio Corbucci’s bleak, brilliant and violent vision of an immoral, honour-less West, is widely considered to be among the best and most influential Westerns ever made.
CRITICAL ACCLAIM:
“I regret the loss of a certain kind of craziness that used to flourish in movies — the kind that is on rich and ripe display in The Great Silence… It’s anarchic and rigorous, sophisticated and goofy, heartfelt and cynical. The score, by Ennio Morricone, is as mellow as wine. The action is raw, nasty and blood-soaked. The story is preposterous, the politics sincere… The mood is sometimes jaunty, but The Great Silence is no joke, and the fatalism of its ending serves as an implicit critique of the sentimental optimism of many Hollywood westerns. Power speaks louder than silence.”– A.O. Scott, The New York Times. Read the full review here.
“Still hurts so good a half-century later… Goes out with a devastating bang.”– Simon Abrams, The Village Voice
“A STUNNING RESTORATION. Twists a revenge melodrama into a searing tract about race and class… The snowy landscapes are shot in gorgeous widescreen by Silvano Ippolito, and the film restoration is so crisp, the production looks like it was finished yesterday. Almost as unexpected as having a harsh winter setting for a western, Ennio Morricone’s score is subtler and more plaintive and intricate than his better-known works for Leone… Even 50 years later, The Great Silence stands majestically as both a blistering comment about its era and a creatively revisionist genre piece.”– Eric Monder, Film Journal International
“The most violent, surreal and pitiless landscape of any director in the history of the genre.”– Quentin Tarantino
“Corbucci’s tightest, most relentless Western... Tigrero is Klaus Kinski’s finest role in any Western. Polite, patient, always laughing to himself at the absurdity of it all, he keeps a little book, wets his pencil and adds up his tally of souls. This is great acting — as is the work of Trintignant, [who] has to convey everything via action or expression. He pulls it off flawlessly… The score is one of Morricone’s finest: light, restrained, affecting, entirely different from his other Western work.”– Alex Cox
Paper Jays is an experimental folk rock band based out of Providence, Rhode Island. The group's history began in 2015, when guitarists Jesse Cohen and Justin Hubbard crossed paths at a local record store and bonded over open tunings, pre-war blues, and global string traditions. Over the next few years, the duo developed a distinct sound built around acoustic fingerpicking underpinned by a hypnotic feedback drone.
The lineup expanded when they encountered percussionist Matt Crane backing Linda Sharrock at a local House of Pizza venue, resulting in their self-titled debut on the historic ESP-Disk' label. Tracked completely live in one room with pure microphone bleed — and marking the very first time the trio had ever played together — the album gained critical acclaim and was named to All Music's 2024 Favorite Folk/Americana list. Following Matt Crane's departure, the group expanded to a quartet. In 2025, violist Jeremy Fortier and drummer Phoebe Summersquash joined the band, introducing avant-garde string textures and a brand-new rhythmic drive to the group's signature blend of traditional folk structures juxtaposed with open improvisation.
Advertisement
Where is it happening?
Epsilon Spires, 190 Main St, Brattleboro, VT 05301-2837, United States
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.
Host or PublisherEpsilon Spires
