Sweeney, I sympathize with your reaction to the film, but in subsequent viewings, its grown into an epic which I admire tremendously.
I really detested it, or at least felt incredibly disappointed, the first time I saw it for what were probably the same reasons you objected to it (although I at least finished it). One of the more fascinating aspects of Leone's filmic perspective is his approach to female characters: at once they are assertive and quick-witted and able to stand on the same plane as their male contemporaries, but they are also inexorably linked to their sexuality.
The way Tuesday Weld's (and Elizabeth McGovern's to a certain extent) scene is shot is certainly unpleasant, but not exploitative, and it is certainly not sealed with Leone's stamp of approval. Rape is an inexcusable, detestable act obviously, but I think there are certain truths (in a VERY SMALL AMOUNT OF CASES. Just want to make that clear) in the idea that the victim becomes attached to their victimizer. I think Weld's character was meant to enjoy her gang rape, not because that a number of men were involved with her sexually, but because (as we learn later in the film), she has an insecurity about not being wanted, about being utterly alone. Perhaps that's a bit crude, sociologically speaking, but I feel that's what Leone was trying to get at.
One has to look at the treatment of women in Leone's film beyond their surface value. His epics about the growth of America touch on many corners, especially the way women have been treated by such a male-centric society.
I hope I haven't said anything too incendiary. I know a lot of this can be taken the wrong way. It's a touchy, touchy subject about a touchy, touchy scene.
I really detested it, or at least felt incredibly disappointed, the first time I saw it for what were probably the same reasons you objected to it (although I at least finished it). One of the more fascinating aspects of Leone's filmic perspective is his approach to female characters: at once they are assertive and quick-witted and able to stand on the same plane as their male contemporaries, but they are also inexorably linked to their sexuality.
The way Tuesday Weld's (and Elizabeth McGovern's to a certain extent) scene is shot is certainly unpleasant, but not exploitative, and it is certainly not sealed with Leone's stamp of approval. Rape is an inexcusable, detestable act obviously, but I think there are certain truths (in a VERY SMALL AMOUNT OF CASES. Just want to make that clear) in the idea that the victim becomes attached to their victimizer. I think Weld's character was meant to enjoy her gang rape, not because that a number of men were involved with her sexually, but because (as we learn later in the film), she has an insecurity about not being wanted, about being utterly alone. Perhaps that's a bit crude, sociologically speaking, but I feel that's what Leone was trying to get at.
One has to look at the treatment of women in Leone's film beyond their surface value. His epics about the growth of America touch on many corners, especially the way women have been treated by such a male-centric society.
I hope I haven't said anything too incendiary. I know a lot of this can be taken the wrong way. It's a touchy, touchy subject about a touchy, touchy scene.
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