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Once Upon a Time in the West: Shooting a Masterpiece | Christopher Frayling | 2019

“Once Upon a Time in the West was the movie that made me consider filmmaking.” Quentin Tarantino

Sergio Leone’s film Once Upon a Time in the West set out to be the ultimate Western – a celebration of the power of classic Hollywood cinema, a meditation on the making of America and a lament for the decline of one of the most cherished film genres in the form of a “dance of death.” With this film, Leone said a fond farewell to the noisy and flamboyant world of the Italian Western, which he had created with A Fistful of Dollars and sequels, and aimed for something much more ambitious – an exploration of the relationship between myth (“Once Upon a Time…”), history (“…in the West”) and his own autobiography as an avid film-goer. This would be a horse opera in which the arias aren’t sung, they are stared. Once Upon a Time has since inspired several generations of filmmakers worldwide. Its combination of “film about film” with an angry historical epic, told with great style, has resonated for half a century, and its reputation has steadily grown.

This book, by the world-renowned authority on Sergio Leone, Christopher Frayling, includes revealing personal interviews with all the key players involved in the movie (in front of the camera and behind it) a wealth of never-before-published documents, designs and photographs, and the latest research into the making of a masterpiece, shot by shot.

It is introduced with a foreword by Quentin Tarantino.

This year is the 50th anniversary of Once Upon a Time in the West and this richly illustrated book is a suitably spectacular birthday tribute.

Film Stories | Issue 7 | July 2019

Cover Story: Gurinder Chada on her new film – Blinded by the Light.

Current Releases Reviewed: The Edge, Gwen, Vita & Virginia, Escape Plan: The Extractors, Die Tomorrow, Armstrong, Starfish, Apollo 11 and Blinded by the Light.

Movie Clinic: Swingers (1996)

Contributors: Shaun Alexander, Robin Bell Anton Bitel, Anna Cale, Paul Childs, Becky Clough, Dan Cooper, Hope Dickson Leach, Matt Edwards, Louis Fletcher, Elliot Groce, Oscar Harding, Charlotte Harrison, Kristen Howard, Elizabeth Howlett, Amanda Keats, Ryan Lambie, Maria Lattila, Debbie Moon, Jay Moussa, Zoe Mutter, Duncan Paveling, Ivan Radford, Romesh Ranganathan, Anna Smith, Katie Smith-Wong, Daniel Steele, Milicent Thomas, Daniela Vilu, Anna Wilczek and Marc Zammit.

Number of writers this issue who have never been paid for writing before: 6

Girls On Film @ EIFF |Episode 16 | 26 June 2019

Girls On Film goes live at Edinburgh International Film Festival with guest critics Larushka Ivan-Zadeh, Chief Film Critic at Metro – and Amber Wilkinson, co-founder and co-director of film website Eye for Film.

Together they review current releases Support The Girls (2019) and Penny Slinger: Out Of The Shadows (2019), as well as EIFF screenings The Souvenir (2019) and Marianne & Leonard: Words Of Love (2019).

Next, Anna is joined by Miranda de Pencier, the director of the Canadian hit The Grizzlies (2018), along with her star Anna Lambe. They talk about how the film provides a positive representation of indigenous communities in Canada, as well as involving the communities into the making of the film.

Films put to the Bechdel Test include Beautiful Boy (2018); Girlhood (Bande de Filles, 2014); Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile (2019); Yesterday (2019); Casino Royale (2006) and Nénette and Boni (Nénette et Boni, 1996).

Mark Kermode Live in 3D | Show 42 | June 2019

We opened the show with Here’s The Thing. Mark paid tribute to the late director Franco Zeffirelli, who was Oscar-nominated for Romeo and Juliet (1968). Mark humbly pointed out he plays the harmonica on Good Omens. We played a clip on which we can hear Mark’s skills, sadly the actors kept talking through it. We trailed Ibiza: The Silent Movie (2019) which will play at Glastonbury and whose director Julien Temple and DJ Fatboy Slim talk to Mark about the movie on Kermode On Film.

Our first of two guests in Coming Attractions was Sanjeev Bhaskar from Yesterday (2019). In Yesterday, Jack Malik is a struggling singer-songwriter who after a freak bus accident wakes up in a world where the Beatles don’t exist. Performing songs by the greatest band in history to a world that has never heard them, Jack becomes an overnight sensation. Mark gave Sanjeev credit for one of the funniest lines in the film: ‘Leave it Be’.

Mark is a fan of Peter Strickland and was hugely excited to welcome Leo Bill who appears in Strickland’s upcoming film In Fabric (2019). In true Peter Strickland style, it is close to impossible to describe the film without raising a lot of confusion. In short, we follow the journey of a cursed dress and how it ruins the lives of the people who own it. Leo talked about the wild ride it was to work with Strickland as well as the inner workings of washing machines.

Next, we welcomed Be Manzini, a Poet and Spoken Word Artist, Director of the Caramel Film Club and Poet-in-Residence at Sundance London. Be told us about touring with Bird’s Eye View’s Reclaim the Frame and shared a poem she wrote while on tour, based on the movies Wild Rose (2018) and The Kindergarten Teacher (2018). She shared a haiku she wrote in response to Apollo 11 (2019), which she saw at Sundance, and she left us with a poem of a film she enjoyed particularly for because of its representation of women of colour on screen: Late Night (2019).

Mark was chuffed to welcome to the stage Hollywood legend: Richard Dreyfuss, who had just come from the Edinburgh International Film Festival to promote his upcoming film Astronaut. Mark relished the opportunity to talk about some of his favourite films featuring Dreyfuss: Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), Jaws (1975) and The Goodbye Girl (1977). Richard was extremely witty and poetic throughout his conversation with Mark. There were moments when the entire audience was so engrossed in what was being said that you could hear a pin drop. While we could have listened to Richard speak for hours on end it was time for the show to end. We saw our first standing ovation and boy was it well deserved.

In honour of the release of Yesterday, we paid tribute in Sound and Vision to the Beatles’ I Should Have Known Better from A Hard Day’s Night (1964).

You can listen to Sanjeev Bhaskar and Leo Bill here!

  • Sanjeev Bhaskar
  • Leo Bill
  • Be Manzini
  • Richard Dreyfuss

Girls On Film @ HOME | Episode 15 | 19 June 2019

During this live episode at HOME in Manchester Anna is joined by critics Emma Jones, a reporter for BBC Talking Movies and founder of Electra Media – and Kate Muir, author, former Chief Film Critic for The Times and campaigner. Together they review Late Night (2019) and Men in Black: International (2019) and discuss other gender-flipped movies.

Award-winning actress Maxine Peake joins Girls On Film to talk about her working life and her commitment to female-led films, such as her upcoming film Gwen (2019).

Films put to the Bechdel Test range from Alladin (2019) to Desperately Seeking Susan (1985).

Anna reveals the winners of the Bumble Female Film Force

Girls On Film: Booksmart | Episode 14 | 4 June 2019

In this episode, Anna is joined by Booksmart (2019) stars Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever for a special episode celebrating Olivia Wilde’s terrific new comedy about two friends looking for a party before they graduate. Film critic Karen Krizanovich joins Girls On Film to review the movie and share hilarious highlights.

Girls On Film: Sundance London | Episode 13 | 1 June 2019

In this Sundance London festival special, three fantastic female filmmakers discuss their work.

Lulu Wang, director of The Farewell (2019), and Sophie Hyde, director of Animals (2019), talk about portraying female relationships on screen. Lulu also speaks about her hopes for the new wave of mainstream Asian-American cinema, while Sophie discusses the joys of working on a film that Caitlin Moran dubbed ‘Withnail for girls’.  Filmmaker Alison Klayman reveals how she gained the trust of notorious far-right strategist Steve Bannon for her documentary, The Brink (2019).

This episode was recorded at the Mayfair studios of Cameo, a female-run audio production house & broadcast PR consultancy. www.cameopro.com

Film Stories | Issue 6 | June 2019

Cover Story: Danny Boyle, Richard Curtis, Lily James and Himesh Patel talk about the big British romantic comedy of the summer…Yesterday.

Current Releases Reviewed: Booksmart, Diego Maradona, Batman VS. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Dirty God, Late Night, Pond Life, Support The Girls, Tucked, Thunder Road and Yesterday.

Writers: Scott Bates, Paul Childs, Becky Clough, Dan Cooper, Freda Cooper, Hope Dickson Leach, Matt Edwards, Katrina Gray, Elliot Grove, Charlotte Harrison, Mark Harrison, Kristen Howard, Alex James, Dallas King, Jordan King, Debbie Moon, Rita Osei, Duncan Paveling, Conrad Pollock, Andy Punter, Ivan Rashford, Romesh Ranganathan, Abi Silverthorne, Anna Smith, Hannah Turner, Anna Wilczek and Hannah Wright.

Number of writers who have never been paid for writing before: 5

Girls On Film: Cannes Film Festival | Episode 12 | 22 May 2019

Girls On Film hits the Cannes Film Festival with an episode recorded at the UK Film Centre in front of an industry audience.

Our guest film critics Leslie Felperin and Ella Kemp review Cannes releases by female directors, Portrait Of A Lady On Fire (Portrait de la Jeune Fille en Feu, 2019), Atlantique (2019) and Little Joe (2019). They also discuss the opening film, The Dead Don’t Die (2019) as well as Cannes classic We Need To Talk About Kevin (2011).

 Melissa Silverstein and Delphyne Besse join Anna to discuss activism at Cannes and beyond.

Mark Kermode Live in 3D | Show 41 | May 2019

In Here’s the Thing we paid tribute to two great losses: Peter Mayhew who was best known for Star Wars’ Chewbacca, and to the legendary Doris Day, best known for Calamity Jane (1953).

Mark did a ‘spoilery’ List-O-Mania: spoilers that you could only guess if you knew the film already: 10. They all did it. 9. His mom’s been dead the whole time. 8. He’s been dead the whole time. 7. He’s his father. 6. Her dad’s in the bookcase. 5. Sound like “Lucifer”. 4. Gwyneth’s head. 3. She’s a guy. 2. He’s a ghost. 1. It’s a sledge.

In One from the Vaults Professor Sir Christopher Frayling came to talk about Once Upon A Time in the West: Shooting a Masterpiece, his book about the Leone film. Mark also took the opportunity to talk about the time Sir Frayling interviewed Doris Day.

In Coming Attractions Jeanie Finlay talked about two films she made concurrently: Seahorse: the Dad Who Gave Birth (2019) and her top secret project; Game of Thrones – The Last Watch (2019). The latter of which we had the privilege of seeing the first ever footage, a week ahead of release. Dutch director Sacha Polak talked about her feature Dirty God (2019) starring Vicky Knight.

Jessica Hynes came to talk about her acting work on Jack & Dean of All Trades (2016 -), There She Goes (2018 -) and Years and Years (2019), and about her directorial debut The Fight (2018). She finished by revealing her Guilty Pleasure: Zoolander 2 (2016).

We ended the show with a Sound & Vision hommage to Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket (1987), whose exhibition is at the Design Museum and whose work is the subject of a current BFI season.

You can listen to Jessica Hynes and Sir Christopher here!

You can listen to Sacha Polak and Jeanie Finlay here!

  • Jeanie Finlay
  • Mark with Sacha Polak
  • Jessica Hynes
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