Westerns are almost a dime a dozen, but very few of them reach the quality of Sergio Leone’s play in The Song of Death. It rightly enjoys cult status and is extremely popular beyond the boundaries of its genre. The Spaghetti Western is considered one of the best films of all time, is on TV today and is also one of Quentin Tarantino’s favorite films.
Today on TV: That’s what Play Me the Song of Death is about
Farmer McBain (Frank Wolff) makes a commitment to railroad entrepreneur Morton (Gabriele Ferzetti) to build a train station. If he doesn’t do it in a short time, he loses his farm. But McBain and his children are killed by the ice-cold murderer Frank (Henry Fonda).exactly one day before the arrival of McBain’s wife Jill (Claudia Cardinale).
Afterwards, Jill not only has to try to finish the train station, but ideally she also has to find out what the murder of her husband was all about. Luckily, however, it appears mysterious harmonica player
(Charles Bronson) in the city, who supports her together with Cheyenne (Jason Robards).
Paramount
Henry Fonda as Frank is one of the nastiest villains in film history.
Play Me a Song of Death is the ultimate Western and Quentin Tarantino loves it
Play me the song of death has many qualities that are obvious. The camera work would be full of oppressive close-ups and long, wide shots. Or the fact that the film actually takes its time. Then we have the unbelievable one vicious killer and of course the outstanding soundtrack by Ennio Morricone. So it’s no wonder that the film keeps appearing in best lists.
Not surprising The director and actor Quentin Tarantino is also a fan of the film. He even wrote the foreword to a book about the filming of A Song of Death and made it a real declaration of love to Sergio Leone. According to him, the director is not only a “complete film stylist” but also a gifted storyteller. The two almost never appear in combination (via: IndieWire):
To be as great a stylist as he is, to create this operatic world and do it within a genre, paying attention to the rules of the genre and at the same time constantly breaking those rules – he gives you a wonderful Western.TV or Stream: When and where does the song of death come from?
Play me the song of death comes today January 27th at 8:15 p.m. on SWR. A repeat follows a little later at 1:00 a.m. that same night.
Of course, the exceptional western can also be admired in streaming: you can buy or rent it on Wow, Amazon, Google Play, Apple TV or Magenta TV.
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