For those of you who don't know, I'm an avid cinephile, I've watched thousends of films in my short lifetime, studying their merits and flaws. For those of you who havn't been following me on twitter (@MRPITT) for long, my #2 favourite film of all time is non other than Sergio Leone's western masterpiece 'The Good, The Bad and The Ugly'. So why does this tale of greed, violence and cigars hold such a high place in my estimation? Let me explain.
Filmed in the Italian countryside, the locations and set pieces really portray the west as a savage, unmercyful land of terain (especially the desert sequence) that only the tough and vicious can survive. The story itself seems simple enough, three outlaws go in search of confederate gold buried in a graveyard, 1 knows the name on the grave whilst the other 2 know the name of the cemetery, but throughout, numerous obsticals are placed in thier way, civil war warzones and POW camps, all conveying an anti-war sentiment as our trio (mostly duo) come across corpse after corpse.
The essence of the storyline makes this 171 minute film just fly by, with the audience not straining or tiring (this is a trademark in Leone films, the epic 220 minutes of 'Once upon a time in America' seems to feel like half an hour). Yes the cavalcade of shootouts contribute but there's much more, in my opinion Leone is the true master of suspense, with build up to the gun battles being grand, this is especialy poigant in the final Mexican stand off scene in the grave yard. The wry dialogue along with great uses of repitition (look out for the noose) make the non-action scenes a thing of beauty.
Aside from a drunkard, pessimistic colonel, only the 3 main characters are truely captivating and scene stealing and given the best introductions any characters can be given (no spoilers). The man of the hour is Clint Eastwoods 'Man with no name' (despite being refered to as blondie throughout), this is a man who surely we shouldn't like, someone who murders on a whim and double crosses his partners, we'd hate him if the other characters wern't no better than he is. Blondie exerts a confidence and a slyness that has us in the palm of his hand, this is a man who seems 1 step ahead, always calculating his next move. This is another reason for the films greatness, Leone introduces the U.S to the western anti-hero, something mostly ever seen in japaneese samarai movies. Lee Van Cleef's 'Angel eyes' is the dubious 'Bad' as a gun for hire who will kill anyone who gets between him and his payday, whilst being so calm about it. The true scene stealer however is Eli Wallach's ' Tuco, a money grubbing vagrant who throws aside all morals and alliances just to get his way, this brilliantly shown when just after torturing Blondie half to death, he nurses him back to health upon learning that he knows what grave the gold is buried in. When you put these 3 character together, it accounts for must see cinema.
Leone's direction is something to be admired as the camera moves effortlessly throughout, every angle has purpose and effect, don't believe me? This is the film that inspired Quentin Tarrentino to become a film maker. The musical score is possibly one of the greatest in cinematic history, everyone knows Ennio Morricone's classic theme to the movie, as aformentioned, Leone is great at suspense, but the music helps create the suspense, slowly building it.
Despite a few problems with dubbing (most of the extras were Italian), this Is one of the best films made, with great writing, cast, direction, characters and score, this is something that deserves repeated viewings, they don't make 'em like this anymore.
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