Ask any Nigerian movie fan his best Western movie(In Nigeria we call the genre the more unpretentious "cowboy movie") and nine out of ten will tell you without hesitation The Good, The Bad & The Ugly. In a country where cowboy movies are at the bottom of ladder in the scale of movie genres, it is amazing that The Good remains an evergreen classic in Nigeria.
But then, The Good, The Bad & The Ugly is an amazing film and with each viewing, the film simply becomes better and better.
The plot is a bit lacklustre and maybe a bit confusing, with countless other sub plots that may or may not drive the main narrative and is too long with paced out scenes. But despite all this-or maybe because of it-the film is a three hour spectacle of shameless thrills that will glue you to your seat.
The film revolves around three crooks searching for $200,000 in stolen gold. It is not "good guys against the bad guys", but who will win among the bad guys. Don't expect morality tales like Dancing With Wolves, Shane or John Wayne movies. All the protagonists are mainly selfish opportunistic greedy killers wanting to steal the proceeds of a heist by another bunch of killers.
Clint Eastwood is "The Good", an anti-hero, a crook who masquerades himself as a bounty hunter. He is The Man With No Name (Nicknamed Blondie by his Mexican ally) who has his own code of honour. He does not hesitate to kill without mercy when threatened but is not a sadist. In fact, he shows little acts of kindness like when he shares his cigar with a dying confederate soldier. He does not talk much, using his eyes and his gun to do the talking for him. In all of Eastwood's strong silent roles, I consider this his most riveting.
Lee Van Cleef "The Bad", paradoxically named "Angeleyes" is the opposite of Clint. He is a gun for hire, a soldier of fortune(literally) and one ruthless bad ass. He relishes his killings and indulges in sadistic torture to get what he wants. In a brutahl scene, he kills two men who hired him to kill each other. One was a cripple with a family, the other a sick old man in his bed. Cleef played this bad ass role with an aplomb that will always make him a powerful screen presence in all his movies. His menacing evil and "don't mess with me" attitude is obvious even when he is motionless.
Eli Wallach in the role of "Tuco The Ugly" is not much better than Angeleyes, except that Angeleyes is more refined in his crimes. He is a Mexican bandit whose list of crimes include robbery, murder, rape, and having sexual relations with a "female member of a white race". He is the most complex of the characters who oscillates between being Blondie's friend/ally, and his deadliest enemy. Eli Wallah was born for this role. Even though he has third billing, he is the most recognizable character and effortlessly stole every scene he was in with his garrulous comic antics. And that makes us perversely love him, even more than Blondie.
Worthy of mention, is Ennio Morricone's score. Check out the incredibly haunting score during Tuco's mad dash in the cemetery or the mournful score in the prison camp. They were amazing but both pale to nothing in comparison to the film's incredible score in the credits. It will stick in your mind forever. It is easily the most recognizable film score in the world.
Sergio Leone delivered a masterpiece and none of his films can hold water to it. In fact no Western can be compared to Leone's masterpiece. He captured the grit of that era like no mainstream Hollywood Western can achieve. The barren landscapes, the deserts, the bleak depressing environment, the hard characters with their lined faces and hard eyes. The gun duels are exaggerated but beautifully executed and the last triangle duel had a touch of spiritual poetry which is hypnotic.
This film is stunning and remains one of my favourite film and definitely my favourite Western.
But then, The Good, The Bad & The Ugly is an amazing film and with each viewing, the film simply becomes better and better.
The plot is a bit lacklustre and maybe a bit confusing, with countless other sub plots that may or may not drive the main narrative and is too long with paced out scenes. But despite all this-or maybe because of it-the film is a three hour spectacle of shameless thrills that will glue you to your seat.
The film revolves around three crooks searching for $200,000 in stolen gold. It is not "good guys against the bad guys", but who will win among the bad guys. Don't expect morality tales like Dancing With Wolves, Shane or John Wayne movies. All the protagonists are mainly selfish opportunistic greedy killers wanting to steal the proceeds of a heist by another bunch of killers.
Clint Eastwood is "The Good", an anti-hero, a crook who masquerades himself as a bounty hunter. He is The Man With No Name (Nicknamed Blondie by his Mexican ally) who has his own code of honour. He does not hesitate to kill without mercy when threatened but is not a sadist. In fact, he shows little acts of kindness like when he shares his cigar with a dying confederate soldier. He does not talk much, using his eyes and his gun to do the talking for him. In all of Eastwood's strong silent roles, I consider this his most riveting.
Lee Van Cleef "The Bad", paradoxically named "Angeleyes" is the opposite of Clint. He is a gun for hire, a soldier of fortune(literally) and one ruthless bad ass. He relishes his killings and indulges in sadistic torture to get what he wants. In a brutahl scene, he kills two men who hired him to kill each other. One was a cripple with a family, the other a sick old man in his bed. Cleef played this bad ass role with an aplomb that will always make him a powerful screen presence in all his movies. His menacing evil and "don't mess with me" attitude is obvious even when he is motionless.
Eli Wallach in the role of "Tuco The Ugly" is not much better than Angeleyes, except that Angeleyes is more refined in his crimes. He is a Mexican bandit whose list of crimes include robbery, murder, rape, and having sexual relations with a "female member of a white race". He is the most complex of the characters who oscillates between being Blondie's friend/ally, and his deadliest enemy. Eli Wallah was born for this role. Even though he has third billing, he is the most recognizable character and effortlessly stole every scene he was in with his garrulous comic antics. And that makes us perversely love him, even more than Blondie.
Worthy of mention, is Ennio Morricone's score. Check out the incredibly haunting score during Tuco's mad dash in the cemetery or the mournful score in the prison camp. They were amazing but both pale to nothing in comparison to the film's incredible score in the credits. It will stick in your mind forever. It is easily the most recognizable film score in the world.
Sergio Leone delivered a masterpiece and none of his films can hold water to it. In fact no Western can be compared to Leone's masterpiece. He captured the grit of that era like no mainstream Hollywood Western can achieve. The barren landscapes, the deserts, the bleak depressing environment, the hard characters with their lined faces and hard eyes. The gun duels are exaggerated but beautifully executed and the last triangle duel had a touch of spiritual poetry which is hypnotic.
This film is stunning and remains one of my favourite film and definitely my favourite Western.