Lo straniero della valle oscura - The Dark Valley

Another reviewer mentioned "The Great Silence" - exactly, that's the best comparison. It's a very condensed western without any frills, using little dialogue and less colour and relying on the character faces (congratulations, good casting and make-up here). In fact, the reduced colour palette gets a bit grating after a while; during the whole winter sequence (about 90% of the movie) there's not a single spot of green on the screen; everything is black, blueish-white and sepia tones. Even the shootout was shot in this muted palette - come on, blood on snow makes for such a nice contrast! And we never see a blue sky. I liked how they went for "different" when shooting those landscapes; it's rare that the mountains look that dreary, cold and inhibiting on the screen - but some scenes really could have used some colour.

Besides the dull palette, there were also some questionable (read: ridiculous) choices for music/soundtrack. And, really, there was not much tension since the story unfolds along well-trodden lines with not a single surprise anywhere. Otherwise, I can recommend this to anyone who likes a tight western. In Germany/Austria's world of streamlined TV-coproductions, this is a nice exception with its uncompromising look and story and the use of local idioms and dialect.