THE CITY OF CANNES: THE SUMMER MUSEUM –SERGIO LEONE

…    IL ETAIT UNE FOIS SERGIO LEONE…

On July 28, 2019, I paid a visit to the City of Cannes, France, to enjoy the beaches, the good food of the wine. Splendid time –but the best part of my stay was the visit to the Summer Museum viewing the exhibition of the work of the famous Italian movie producer and director, Sergio Leone. The exhibition is co-produced by the Cinematheque  Francaise and the Fondation Cineteca di Bologna. The title of the exhibition is “ Il etait une fois Sergio Leone “- “ Once Upon a Time Sergio Leone”. The exhibition is the story of the famous artist and film director Sergio Leone.

He was loved by the audiences worldwide for his movies. Sergio Leone ( 1929-1989) was underestimated by critics for many years. He was the first post-modern film director. The exhibition is aiming at paying a homage to Leone’s talent as a film creator and to his capacity to revitalize the cinema by making use of elements from the culture of his times.  The list of movies made by Leone is short one. In Norway he is most known for his new way of presenting the life and the myth of the West: “ The Dollar Trilogy”:A Fistful of Dollars, For a few Dollars More and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. The young American actor Clint Eastwood had the leading role of each film.

Leone’s last epic film , “ Once Upon a Time in America  and Once Upon a Time in the West.

After having enjoyed my stay in Cannes I went back to the City of Nice viewing French television in my flat. To my surprise one of the movies of Leone was shown on TV.

The music and the sound made for his movies are an interesting study. Ennio Morricone wrote some of the most original soundtracks for his movies. When I came home to Oslo I viewed the movie , Once Upon a Time in the West, at home. Famous actors like Henry Fonda, Jason Robards, Charles Bronson and Claudia Cardinale and above all: Eli Wallach who I think was the best actors of them all. The movie deals with people who are facing death in one or another way. The movie is killing entertainment of the worst kind:Killing, killing and more killing. Charles Bronson is the good guy aiming at searching for the man who killed his father. He is paying a harmonica all the time. Splendid body language made by Charles Bronson who survived all the killing. The move mentioned is a masterpiece I think. The music is very important to the movie. Harmonica is an instrument important to the plot of the movie.