I never knew that the American Civil War spread all the way to the plains of Italy, I really need to read up on my Civil War history!
Screenplay By: Agenore Incrocci, Sergio Leone, Furio Scarpelli & Luciano Vincenzoni
Directed By: Sergio Leone
So, here we are, those loyal faithful, and downright scary readers of mine voted for my 100th review and the winner was Il Buono, Il Brutto, Il Cattivo.. I was happy with the choice, because despite the fact that I am a huge Western and Clint Eastwood fan I had never seen this, or any other Eastwood/Leone collaboration. I patiently awaited my DVDs to arrive from Netflix, I am a new convert to that titan of media as well. Then my roommate brought in the mail, I popped in Il Buono, Il Brutto, Il Cattivo. and was immediately taken aback because it most certainly was not what I was expecting.
Il Buono, Il Brutto, Il Cattivo. is unlike any Western I have ever seen, that would explain it’s Spaghetti Western sub-genre. The stereotypes that pop up in even the best classical Westerns are gone, as are any so called good guys. Every character is bad in one way or another, Blondie is labeled as the good guy but you’d be hard pressed to find any good in him. Most great classical Westerns contained some theme or message, be it about humanity back then or how it relates to humanity throughout time. I’m sure some people will make the argument that Il Buono, Il Brutto, Il Cattivo. drives home a message about the inherent evil nature of humanity, but I don’t agree. Il Buono, Il Brutto, Il Cattivo. is a movie without a message, maybe that is its message, if I’m making any sense. There is no good or bad, there is no greater purpose, there is just people doing what they will and the results of their actions. There are no damsels in distress, and the violence most definitely isn’t muted. If this is what Spaghetti Westerns are all about then count me in as a fan, because they really are a great alternative to the classical Western.
Beyond the archetypes and actual definition of a Spaghetti Western what Il Buono, Il Brutto, Il Cattivo. will be remembered for until the ends of time is The Ecstasy Of Gold by Ennio Morricone, the base score used for all of the film. The score is almost as violent and uncompromising as the movie, darting in and out of the picture at will. Sometimes playing as nothing but an afterthought in the background only to explode in a high pitched hyena call replication and bring you back to rapt attentiveness. The final showdown is memorable as much for Morricone’s stirring strings as it is for the actual gun play. Along with the translated English title- The Good, The Bad and The Ugly– The Ecstasy Of Gold has entered the popular culture lexicon. People, like myself, who have never seen Il Buono, Il Brutto, Il Cattivo. still know those familiar strings and that eerie sound.
There isn’t much of a plot in Il Buono, Il Brutto, Il Cattivo.. There is a great amount of gold stashed away somewhere and three men are hell bent on getting to it. Il Buono, Il Brutto, Il Cattivo. is all about the interplay between those three men, the carnage they bring on their path, the scenarios they get into and out of, and the final showdown by the gold in a dusty cemetery. It’s important that the journey of the three men, Angel Eyes, Tuco and Blondie, looks magnificent, and it does. The plains of the Old West have never looked dirtier, dustier and less friendly. The camera angles used, the variance in shot selection, the placement of characters to enhance suspense, every facet of the production in Il Buono, Il Brutto, Il Cattivo. is handled to perfection. People want to label movies as slick, well, Il Buono, Il Brutto, Il Cattivo. is slick, possibly the slickest movie I’ve ever seen and it doesn’t even try to be slick, it just is. That’s when you know a movie has reached a transcendent quality, when it it so good at something that it doesn’t even have to try to be that thing, it just is that thing. Whoa, I went way too meta there for a second. Back to Il Buono, Il Brutto, Il Cattivo., it is full of iconic images and contains the quintessential Clint Eastwood as pure bad ass, and I do love Clint as a pure bad ass.
I love Westerns, as much as I love movies in general I was brought up on Westerns and horror movies. They will always have a special place in my heart, and now thanks to my readers I am able to add Spaghetti Westerns in with the rest of my Western affinity. I’m sure there will be some bad ones, but I look forward to exploring what is out there just as much as I used to look forward to whatever classical Western my Grandpa would bring over on Saturday nights when I was a wee lad. Il Buono, Il Brutto, Il Cattivo. may be my only exposure to the Spaghetti Western, but in the Western genre as a whole I have no problem proclaiming it the best Western I’ve ever seen. Thanks to my readers who voted because I am very glad I was able to see this picture, hopefully I’ll be around for a 200th, 300th, 400th review and beyond.
Rating:
****
Cheers,
Bill
Bill's Movie Emporium
dont you just love it?
Yep, from start to finish, I also got in the other two No Name films, so I’m looking forward to seeing those as well.
The only thing better than GB&U is Leone’s own Once Upon a Time in the West. He basically uses to deconstruct his own spaghetti Westerns and crafts the most three-dimensional characters in the genre up until that point. McCabe & Mrs. Miller is another great Western that plays against convention.
Great, great, great review. I’m saying obviously because you loved the film, just as I did. If you want to see more spaghetti westerns, Once Upon a Time in the West is a Must. Leone had this ambitious streak about him. He always wanted each movie to be bigger and bigger. Dare I say that Once Upon a Time in the West is in fact bigger than Il Buono, Il Brutto, Il Cattivo. However, if you don’t mind something on a smaller scale, go back a few years and check out the first two chapters in the ‘Man With No Name’ trilogy: A Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More, the latter featuring Lee Van Cleef in a completely different role.
As I was telling Gman, along with this one I also received the two dollar movies from Netflix, so I will be checking those out this weekend most likely.
My favourite western! Clint Eastwood is awesome and that music!!!
The music is indeed a tremendous draw, although I love Morricone’s work on Once Upon a Time in the West just a bit more.
Actually TG,TB&TU has a meaning.
Each character is determined by their reaction to the Civil War raging around them.
Blondie, the Eastwood character, is Good because it is he who decides to blow up the bridge. This action brings the pointless battle to the end, saving thousands of lives. He literally stops the War.
The Bad, by contrast, revels in the war, taking over the prison camp from the legitimate officers and turning it into a torture-concentration camp.
The Ugly, on the third hand, is comical in his reaction to tne War: he just wants to run away.
The Civil War in TG,TB&TU is in effect a stand in for America’s War in Vietnam, then at its height, and a central moral issue of the day.
That’s an interesting interpretation, but not one I buy. The pieces are all in place for your interpretation to work, and I’m always in favor of people exercising the full power of “film as a subjective art open to interpretation.” However, I simply don’t see the same connection to Vietnam that you do. Maybe you’re hoping for a deeper response, but your take is simply not something that I see in the film when I watch it.