The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly

Certain serious critics have dismissed Leone's trilogy of Spaghetti Westerns as stylised and trivial concoctions of improbable violence. I watched the third of the trio again the other day and I'm here to tell you that The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly is, all things considered, a very good film. In fact I'd go a little further and label it an important movie. It utilises a wide screen but plays a trick whereby the picture you see is all the characters can see. It does not pretend realism. It plays with Western conventions and pitches into the mix three outstanding central performances from Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, and Eli Wallach. On top of that comes the fabled music and the lovingly elongated close-ups. And for those who dismiss this recipe as over-long, well, sorry I can't agree - Leone takes his scenes to the absolute limit. It is a cunning game played beautifully and prepares us for what would follow in his Hollywood masterpieces - Once Upon a Time in the West, and Once Upon a Time in America. One more thing - the sub-plot of the Civil War battle is magnificent - a tremendous evocation of trench warfare and, if you look carefully, there is even an origin story for Eastwood's Man With No Name, cunningly stiched into the fabric of the text. Yes, important. And fun. 80/100.