The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly [R]

A bandit (The Ugly) and a bounty hunter (The Good) have a somewhat sadistic partnership: one where the hunter repeatedly catches the bandit and then rescues him from hanging in order to drive the price up in his head. Just as the partnership begins to grow sour, the two discover the existence of a buried cache of $200,000 and team up again to embark upon and dangerous hunt, not even letting the battles of the warring factions of the Civil War stand in their way. Unfortunately, they are not the only ones after the gold and, inevitably, a great standoff will take place between The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. 

Made in the 1960s, a time where the Western was fast seeping out of popular cinematic culture, The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly is a wonderful reinvention of a timeless genre, bringing with it a stronger sense of danger, tension, testosterone, and grit. The macho bravado of this movie is palpable, making it both hugely suspenseful and at the same time very funny. It’s a surprisingly engaging and mesmerising film, employing many fascinating filmmaking tricks that both compel and avert the attention of the audience. It’s really good. 

A bandit (The Ugly) and a bounty hunter (The Good) have a somewhat sadistic partnership: one where the hunter repeatedly catches the bandit and then rescues him from hanging in order to drive the price up in his head. Just as the partnership begins to grow sour, the two discover the existence of a buried cache of $200,000 and team up again to embark upon and dangerous hunt, not even letting the battles of the warring factions of the Civil War stand in their way. Unfortunately, they are not the only ones after the gold and, inevitably, a great standoff will take place between The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. 

I first have to talk about the immortal soundtrack composed by Ennio Morricone. The title track of the film with its haunting pipe trills and vocal whines is one that is instantly recognisable: one of my earliest childhood memories is actually hearing this music on the TV or radio when I was five and being really, really frightened by it. Listening to it again as an adult, I still find the music really creepy, more so that any stabbing staccato violin or slow and incoherent choir. The combination of that high-pitched wind instrument, the vocal “wah-wah”, and the harsh electric guitar is wholly jarring and impressionable; it’s a soundtrack that is both repelling and compelling at the same time. 

As director Sergio Leone is obviously not very big on plot, the intrigue of the movie is achieved through its repertoire of inventive and atmospheric camera tricks. The brunt of the tension and delicious suspense is achieved through extreme close-ups, with most of them occurring right at the end during the climactic three-way duel between the three central “heroes”. The extreme close-ups of their squinty eyes, sweat-soaked faces, and slightly twitching hands create a marvellous sense of danger and severity. Another scene that got me was The Ugly’s desperate search for the grave where the gold is buried. We see him rushing through a huge cemetery and then the camera proceeds to spin around in circles making the graves all look a rushed blue of colour. I found that this particular use of the camera really hammered home a feeling desperation and want, it was great. 

Starring Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallace, and Lee Van Cleef as the central protagonists, The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly is a great movie packed with action, violence, gunplay, warfare, suspense, treasure, and mucho testosterone. I found it surprisingly captivating and a wonderful reinvention of a genre phased out.