The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
INTRODUCTION
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is a masterpiece that is considered as one of the best Westerns ever made; one that continues to get better and better with each viewing. This movie is an adventure of three gunfighters looking for $200,000 in gold in a remote cemetery. The Good, the bad and the ugly, directed by Sergio Leone, has influenced other Spaghetti Westerns greatly and the director’s elaborate and opulent film-making style such as close up shots and long shots can be seen in this movie. This is the third film of the Dollars Trilogy following A fistful of dollars (1964) and For a Few Dollars More (1965).
PLOT
Tuco, a Mexican criminal, teams up with Blondie, an American bounty hunter. They earn money together with a simple plan, that is, Blondie turns the Mexican in and when Tuco is about to get hung, he rescues him by shooting the rope. They carry out this trick of theirs in every town and split the reward money that Blondie gets. This lucrative money making scheme that these two had come up with comes to an end when Blondie abandons Tuco in the desert keeping all of the money. An ireful Tuco arms himself with a revolver in another town and decides to kill Blondie with the help of three other outlaws. Tuco manages to capture Blondie and they set across the desert. At this point of time, they encounter Bill Carson, the only person who knows about the whereabouts of the gold, tells Tuco that the money is buried in a grave in Sad Hill cemetery and collapses. When Tuco goes to get him some water, he tells Blondie the name of the grave and dies soon after. Blondie, being the only person to know about the name of the grave, gains leverage over Tuco who takes him to a Catholic mission run by Tuco’s older brother. Once Blondie returns to full health, they set out in search for the gold when they are captured by Union soldiers. They meet Angel Eyes, disguised as a Union Sergeant who makes a deal with Blondie and rides with him and his body of men in search of the gold. Tuco, too, escapes when he’s being transported by train for his execution. After a long series of incidents, with endless double-crossings, betrayal and changing alliances, the three men arrive at the cemetery.
The 'Good' is played by Clint Eastwood, the Man with No Name. An unscrupulous killer who’s quiet and inexpressive, only seen once with a brief moment of humanity where his classic disinterest contrasts with the real tragedy of the American Civil War.
The ‘Bad’, with his cruel voice and a deathly pale face, Lee Van Cleef delivers remarkable performance by playing ‘Angel Eyes’ who is a merciless and pitiless sociopath.
The 'Ugly' is played by Eli Wallach whose captivating and comical presence is compensated by his arrogance. Tuco is seen to have a lot of qualities, some that help him in getting closer to his goal. He’s demonstrative, sensitive, loud, wild, and unforeseeable.
The 'Ugly' is played by Eli Wallach whose captivating and comical presence is compensated by his arrogance. Tuco is seen to have a lot of qualities, some that help him in getting closer to his goal. He’s demonstrative, sensitive, loud, wild, and unforeseeable.
MUSIC
The score is composed by Ennio Morricone, whose compositions include whistling and a sound of a howling coyote. This melody is used for the three main characters; flute for Blondie, ocarina for Angel Eyes and human voices for Tuco. The music perfectly characterizes the film and it does so in a beautiful way.
RECEPTION
Though initially criticized for the depiction of violence, Leone mentions that "the killings in my films are exaggerated because I wanted to make a tongue-in-cheek satire on run-of-the-mill westerns... The west was made by violent, uncomplicated men, and it is this strength and simplicity that I try to recapture in my pictures." The film, the Good, the Bad and the Ugly failed to garner positive reception initially as Spaghetti Westerns were looked down then.
The film, however, has managed to accumulate positive feedback and a worldwide positive reception. One of the most popular westerns, it’s considered to be the greatest Spaghetti Western with the director Quentin Tarantino calling it as “the-best-directed-film of all time”. It’s also in Time’s “100 Greatest movies of the last century.
CONCLUSION
This epic Western displays style that has been copied in a multitude of movies. Long scenes of tense silences and close-ups implemented just wonderfully by the director, make it an absolute treat to watch. The whistling, that is said to be one of the greatest musical compositions is unforgettable. The integration of comedy, drama and war makes this movie a close perfection. We can also see anti-war sentiments and a soft side of Blondie when he witnesses a Civil War. As Roger Ebert puts it, this Civil War sequence can be considered as a film within a film.
