IL ETAIT UNE FOIS SERGIO LEONE

The Italian film director, producer and screenwriter Sergio Leone, was born on January 3^rd 1929 and died on April 30^th 1989 in Rome at the age of 60.

We visited an exhibition at the Cinémathèque of Paris on January 18. 2019. Over there, we learned that Sergio Leone is the inventor of the Spaghetti Western genre (Italian westerns).

Some of his famous movies are The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966), Once Upon a Time in the West (1968), For a Few Dollars More (1965). In his films, he shows the feelings of his characters on screen by making different shots: from the biggest to the smallest. Moreover, he granted a special importance to music. He made every music pieces before filming scenes. The music accompanies the action and adds suspense during dull moments. He never made up his actors because he wanted them to look like people of the time.

Sergio Leone depicted America in his films by using the history of the United States. He shot most of his scenes in Andalusia, in Spain, but he also had the chance to shoot some scenes in the wild West.

                                                                                                             Pratheen, 1S3

Sergio Leone was an Italian director. He got inspired by American westerns in order to make his own movies. He always wanted to be a director since his father was one. His stage name was Bob Robertson, an homage to his father’s stage name, Roberto Roberti.

The America depicted by Sergio Leone is really realistic. For instance, he made a film about the American Civil war to show the blood and the tragedy of real history. He also wanted to show the violence of humanity and that everybody has to think about themselves.

To show his characters’ feelings on screen, he chose to use close-ups on their eyes. He decided to have his actors dirty, with sweat on their faces in order to show their feelings. So, their facial expression is really important. The music also helps to show their feelings. Every character has their own musical theme, indeed, the music is made before the film and Sergio Leone had the habit of listening to these songs while he was shooting.

                                                                                                             Elise, 1S3