If you are from 70s & 80s movie goers, you would remember few single screen big theatres had the ritual of raising the screen curtain when the movie is about to start. Usually red curtain that will raise to the theme music of For a Few Dollars More (FFDM). Of course, I didn’t know nothing about FFDM or Ennio Morricone that time. Saw The Mission movie in Chennai 85/86, liked the music, but IR took all my bandwidth and didn’t have much time left for others. Finally got to see FFDM in Delhi when Chanakya theatre played the famous Westerns for a week. That I would say was my first exposure to Sergio Leone and Ennio Morricone. Thanks to the move to US in early 90s, pretty much went after movies of these two legends along with many other names. A big thanks to Blockbuster rental store 😁
One of the first few things I did when I moved to US was to buy the music CDs of Ennio Morricone. I don’t have knowledge of his work outside movies but when it comes to movies, he was one of those who just lifts the scene on the screen to another plane that makes us feel and connect. Scene starts playing in your head just by listening to his track, whether it is Jill’s America, Man with harmonica, Untouchables theme, or Childhood memories. As mentioned my exposure to his work outside movies is limited. It is hard to pick my favourites from his body of work but listing a few here.
Once Upon a Time in the West: Frank intro: Introduction to Frank happens from child’s point of view. We see McBain family members getting shot. The boy comes running outside from the home and the music explodes. In long wide shot we see few bad guys emerging from the bushes in their dusters, we don’t get to see their faces. They move towards the boy and camera slowly moves to the front to show Frank’s face, played by Henry Fonda, a merciless villain in this movie. Trivia says, this was a shocker to American audience who have seen him only as a good guy in movies so far. Intro ends with a great line from Frank, now that you have called me by my name which completes his menacing character arc. You need to see this scene only once. Post that, scene unravels in your head with every little detail whenever you hear the music.
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly: The Trio: While the theme music, and Ecstasy of Gold are great too, I call out Trio here since it captures the thoughts that goes on in the heads of the three characters so beautifully. They are in a classic 3-way stand off and need to figure out who will go after whom, how to increase the chance of their survival. Not a single word spoken for 6+ minutes, Sergio Leone, the director, let the visual and music do the talking.
The Mercenary: The Arena: A variation of above Trio setup. Starts with a whistle and slowly other instruments gets in the mix adding to the intensity of the situation.
Once Upon a Time in the West: Final Duel: Frank could not figure out the identify of Harmonica. Harmonica always replied to his query with “who were alive before they knew you”. As we get to the final duel, Harmonica says he will reveal who he is “only at the point of dying”. A haunting tune captures the deep sorrow forcefully, and makes you feel the pain Harmonica has gone through.
Death rides a horse: From man to man: This is an interesting piece of music. When I first listened to it (part of legendary Italian westerns collection), I hadn’t seen the movie yet, music sounded so uneven to my ears. I wondered how this would work in a movie. I was so amazed when I saw the movie, how it fits the scene like a glove. It takes certain kind of talent to compose a number like this, goes to show how Ennio worked closely worked with directors to create a visual-acoustics harmony.
You may not have seen the movie Death rides a horse, but you would have seen and heard the same composition from Kill Bill Vol.1, ORen Ishii, you and I have unfinished business. Thanks to Quentin Tarantino, another great talent, who constructs scenes to go with the music he adores.
Once upon a time in America: Not easy to pick a favourite track from this movie. I would highly recommend to watch this and Once upon a time in the West to appreciate the wonderful magic created by Sergio Leone and Ennio Morricone. How I wish to watch these movies in big screen. I have listed two pieces from the soundtrack of this movie, Poverty and Childhood memories.
Once upon a time in America: Poverty:
Once upon a time in America: Childhood Memories:
There is nothing better than listening to an orchestra directed by the Master himself – Here’s to you song taken from the movie of the same name.
When it comes to cinema, you can have movies with no music, if the narrative calls for it. When you decide to add music, only few directors and composers succeed getting it right. Background score has to go with the narrative with its silences, mood, and emotion. Ennio Morricone was one of those few. Check the link below where the orchestra performs along with the visuals of final duel from FFDM. How magnificently the score blends with the action on the screen making us feel the thoughts and sensations the characters go through. Bravo 😀
Let me end this with where I started, FFDM title sequence. I have shared two versions, one from the movie and another the same theme performed by Danish National Symphony Orchestra which helps us to appreciate the genius and imagination of the composer – envisioning the sounds, the instruments, and the arrangement in the head, transpose them to paper and then to performers. Ennio Morricone may have left this world. But his music is everlasting and will continue to live on this and future generations to come.
FFDM Theme performed by Danish National Symphony Orchestra:
FFDM title sequence:
