The Great Silence (1968)

IMDb plot summary: A mute gunfighter defends a young widow and a group of outlaws against a gang of bounty killers in the winter of 1898, and a grim, tense struggle unfolds.
Directed by Sergio Corbucci. Starring Jean-Louis Trintignant, Klaus Kinski, Frank Wolff, and Luigi Pistilli.

(Spoilers ahead.)

Westerns as a genre typically don't spark my interest at all. I find stereotypical western heroes unrelatable and unlikable, and I dislike the vibe of "don't you miss the old days of independence and vigilante justice?" vibe that so many of them give off. The few westerns I am drawn to are ones that subvert the genre, and this one definitely does that. There's such a sense throughout this of violence begetting violence -- even legal violence, even violence in the service of others, eventually it just all circles back and hurts everyone. I really didn't see the ending coming at all and found it startling and devastating.

How it entered my Flickchart:
The Great Silence > 300
The Great Silence > Henry V
The Great Silence < Vertigo
The Great Silence < Easy A
The Great Silence < Woman in the Dunes
The Great Silence < Reservoir Dogs
The Great Silence > Brooklyn
The Great Silence > Gone Girl
The Great Silence < Seven Up!
The Great Silence < The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
The Great Silence < The Cranes Are Flying
The Great Silence < Song of the Sea
Final spot: #710 out of 2981.