Sergio Leone's Fistful Of Dollars

Every so often, a film becomes massively popular by channeling some aspect of american mythos. In 1964, Sergio Leone’s “Fistful of Dollars” did just that, reinvigorating the western genre while also performing well at the box office. Drawing influence from its predecessors, Fistful made the bold choice to get rid of charming heroes and focus on the Wild West and its vices. It depicted a fairytale west full to the brim with stubble, grime, desert vistas, and bloodshed; it made the west fun to fantasize about. Fistful of Dollars invigorated and permanently changed the Western genre with its gritty translation of american mythology. American mythology deals with ideas of egalitarianism and rugged individualism. Evidence, both historical and

Vigilante violence is a rather sardonic attribute of the Dollars trilogy depiction of western mythology. Especially in regards to when it was released, Fistful was a violent film. It is not due to the fact there is a large quantity of deaths in the film - movies like Stagecoach accomplished this without being overtly violent - rather it is the visceral quality of much of the films violence. Whereas in Stagecoach where the deaths of numerous apache men do not draw much focus, deaths in Fistful are drawn-out and painful. When Ramone guns down the Mexican soldiers, many are seen dying in extravagant, almost darkly comedic manners. Soldiers trudging up the hill who get shot in back jump into the air and forcibly flail down the hill. These dramatic deaths, in conjunction with close ups of ramone sadistically enjoying the act of murder, notion at the absurdity of large scale acts of violence. While this particular scene is designed to make ramone a villain, the violence in this scene covers the western genre, and it is perpetrated by characters both good and bad. Later on, the deaths of major characters underscores the violent association of the film. The deaths of these characters are painfully drawn out to show suffering. Instances of major deaths again happen at the hand of ramone, and in a sense are designed to enhance his villainous qualities. The drawn-out emphasis on

Scores are unique due their ability to serve contribute to scenes impact yet remain something completely independent of the scene. A non-diegetic score can have diegetic elements to it, making it pertinent to a scene while existing entirely outside of the film’s world. Fistful’s score is one that incorporates spanish instruments along with whistles, yells, horns, percussion, and bells which all sound like they come from the wild west. It is therefore easy to imagine that the score is diegetic. When score is relevant to action on screen, it is like their is a band like the cantina in Star Wars that is setting the pace and mood of the film. When scores have this diegetic element to them, it makes them blend into cinematic elements. In the first shootout, there is a sharp whistle that goes with rising tensions in the scene. It comes just as the Stranger tilts his head up and meets the offscreen characters with his eye. Up until this, there was only dialogue, which was pretty unobtrusive in itself, and suddenly a sharp crescendo brings the tension back into focus. From this point on there is a very high pitched brass instrument that holds the tension. This high note carries the tension up until it is broken with gun fire, which is one of the most electrifying sounds in the western genre. Once the dust settles, it is silent for a period of time, up until