THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY (1966) A Film Review by Ted Prigge Copyright 1997 Ted Prigge
Director: Sergio Leone Writers: Argenore Incrocci and Furio Scarpelli (from a story by Sergio Leone and Luciano Vincenzoni) Starring: Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach, Lee Van Cleef
The classic American western, we have John Wayne, the totally, all-around good guy, being tough, beating up the outlaws, and then perhaps having a wholesome fling with some chick at the end. But in the world of the spaghetti western (a name given to the Italian-made westerns), pretty much everybody's an asswhole. Kind of life life. Of course, a lot of them suck, but the ones by one particular director stand-out for their amazing style, interesting stories, wild characters, and, of course, the music. That would be Sergio Leone, and the music was by Ennio Morricone, second greatest film composer to ever live.
"The Good" is, of course, Clint Eastwood, returning to his role he has played, The Man With No Name, who was in the previous two Leone flicks, "A Fistful of Dollars," and "For a Few Dollars More." The Man With No Name is dubbed "Blondie" by another character in this one, so they could actually call him something. Of course, he is in no way a good man. He's more of the anti-hero of the story. He's good in a sense, but he's also an amoral crook who sometimes double-crosses partners, but with good reason. With his three-day beard, his squint (that Seagal would rip-off, but not to the cool effect of Eastwood), his hushed speech, the eternal cigarette in his mouth, and the occasional mexican rug around him, the presents one of the most interesting looks and characters I've ever seen.
"The Bad" is Lee Van Cleef, also called "Angel Eyes," due to his bizarre stare. He's a totally amoral bounty hunter who screws over two different employers of his in the beginning, and goes on to screw some more people over as the film goes on. He's actually not in a lot of the film, turning up here and there, and there for the breathtaking finale.
"The Ugly" is classic actor Eli Wallach, also called "Tuco." Tuco's a ranting, raving, somewhat neurotic in a way, and kind of incompetent bandit who is working with Blondie in the beginning but keeps on going between partner and enemy throughout the film. He's one of the more interesting characters, and is even one who gets some real depth when he runs into his priest brother. He's also the loudest, in what is pretty much an almost silent film, with sometimes mechanical dialogue and one-liners. He gets to shout out obscenities to other characters, and is all around loud. He's also the funniest, of course.
The whole motivation in the storylines of all three Man With No Name films is money. Leone sees the west as a place where everybody's amoral and they're all greedy as hell. The film's plot (which takes about an hour or so to really get started) deals with a chest of gold buried in a grave at a faraway graveyard. Angel Eyes knows of it. Blondie knows which grave it's buried in. Tuco knows which graveyard. What results is a plot-twisting, satirical, and stylishly entertaining film.
The film takes place during the Civil War, so it takes a kind of satirical stance towards it. The politics really don't matter when viewed this way (one time the characters can't tell which color the soldiers' coats are), they're all just fighting a stupid cause. Blondie and Tuco run into an army fighting over a bridge, suffering many casualties. And there's even a bit in a prison camp, due to a stupid mistake by Tuco.
What's cool about this film is the style. Leone makes a film that is rich in substance, and rewards us with some bitching stylistic scenes. The editing and the music combines to create tense scenes, filled with humor, irony, and some deaths. The film is almost all full of his style, prohibiting some characters to speak in certain scenes, so the film creates tension.
And, by God, the closeups! Leone is famous (and sometimes infamous, which does NOT mean more than famous) for nearly ODing on the close-up. There are scenes where, to build tension, he shows us literally hundreds of close-ups on the characters' faces. I mean, the finale, where the three leads are all standing there with their fingers on their holsters, waiting for the first person to go for their gun(s), Leone gives us what felt like 10 minutes of close-ups on each of their faces. But the thing is that they start out slowly, and speed up as the tension increases. Filmmakers ever since have been ripping off of Leone, for this is just one cool-ass effect, and his finale is one of the all-time greatest scenes.
The music is also brilliant. Ennio Morricone (who also did such mainstream films as "Wolf" and "Bugsy," as well as all of Leone's films) has created a soundtrack that is gorgeous and barbaric. He has one underline theme going throughout which is instantly memorable: starting off with what sounds like a screaming hyena, we get then get a high-pitched phrase, repeated, and launching into a barage of high-pitched trumets, which sounds like Dick Dale's "Miserlou." Leone uses this throughout the film, especially in some of the more perfectly ironic parts in the story. His theme, like the squealing knife sounds in "Psycho," is something that is hummable (it was a big hit on Top 40 radio), and has been recycled over and over and over and over and then even over and over and over again. It's just one hell of a great soundtrack.
The film runs about two hours and forty-five minutes, but is absolutely absorbing, and goes by quickly and smoothly. Leone's scenes are drawn-out with sometimes no dialogue until a burst of it nearly three-quarters of the way through the scene, creating a film that is fascinating to watch as it unfolds in front of you. His gunfights are classic scenes, even if they're not always bloodbaths. Sometimes you don't even see the action (i.e. the first scene). But his scenes are well-directed, and are filled completely with a kind of hypnotic draw.
I don't even LIKE westerns. I mean, I liked "Rio Bravo," but I usually don't dig those kinds of films. But Leone's films are so well-directed, with such an odd quality to them, that you just have to adore them. Even if you hate westerns, you'll agree that this is one bitching film, and what I think to be the greatest Western ever made.
MY RATING (out of 4): ****
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