Day 33 - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly


Day 33               Il Buono, il brutto, il cattivo (The Good, the Bad and the Ugly) [1966]
                          
Screenplay                     Agenore Incrocci, Furio Scarpelli, Luciano Voncenzoni & Sergio Leone
Director                          Sergio Leone
Cinematography           Tonino Delli Colli
Music                              Ennio Morricone
Leads                               Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, Eli Wallach
Production                     Produzioni Europee Associati (PEA), Arturo González Producciones Cinematográficas, Constantin Film, United Artists.

IMDb                                      8.9/10
Rotten Tomatoes               97%

As I said on day 12, when watching a film made before 1980, I tend to prefer war films and Westerns. In this blog, Easy Rider is the only film that has bucked that trend, but it’s not a concrete rule and I’m sure there are a hundred films at least pre-1980 that I would love, that don’t involve cowboys or soldiers. However, don’t they just make it so much better? That childhood love of cowboys versus Indians and toy soldiers that whirs back into life whenever I watch a film like this. Obviously, they are not as fun now that I have learned about the historical atrocities of war and of the decline of the Native Americans but that’s a discussion for another time. How can I talk about this film without talking about the legendary Ennio Morricone? The theme in this film is surely one of the most famous in movie history as well as popular culture. He uses gunshots, whip cracks and other such sounds to create a soundtrack that perfectly accompanies this gritty Spaghetti Western. The acting is also top notch. Clint Eastwood as ‘Blondie’ (the good), Lee Van Cleef as ‘Angel Eyes’ (the bad) and Eli Wallach as Tuco (the ugly) are all great. Eastwood plays his usual cool, calm leading man, and Van Cleef plays an assassin of sorts with aplomb, but Wallach was the best for me. He is funny and oafish, but at the same time continues to work his way out of tricky situations. My favourite part of the film is the stand-off at the end, it’s brilliantly written and I was engaged from start to finish, once I had gotten past the dubbing and worked out why some people’s mouths matched what they were saying and others didn’t. Morricone, Wallach and Leone for the win.

Acting                               3 / 4
Writing                          3.5 / 4
Cinematography             3 / 4
Music                                4 / 4

HWF rating             3.5 / 4