The Good, the Bad and the Ugly — Sergio Leone

One of the most cult films and the western by definition

Quick Summary

During the Civil War, three men, preferring to focus on personal gain, set out to find a chest containing $200,000 in gold coins stolen from the Southern army. Tuco knows the treasure is in a cemetery, while Joe knows the name on the tombstone that serves as a cache. Each needs the other. But a third man enters the race: Setenza, a brute who doesn’t hesitate to slaughter women and children to achieve his ends.

My Thoughts

This is certainly one of the most cult movies. The film that everyone knows the name of and that almost everyone loves. The soundtrack that continues to leave its mark, the actors in recognizable roles, the almost legendary direction with its breathtaking finale, the tension, the scenery, the energy. These are the ingredients that make The Good, the Bad and the Ugly the western par excellence, as mythical as it is masterful because it is simply a tour de force.

What makes the charm of the myth is its richness and that especially for these characters. A trio of cowboys, quiet, degenerate, without faith or law, acting only for bags of dollars.

The film follows these three heroes, three heroes who are however in the end very divided, all wanting something they do not want to share and often bad between them, I think in particular of Tuco who will make Blondin walk in the desert in the sun for several hours as he had done before or the multiple times when one will put the others in great danger of death.

Incredibly rich characters, each one very endearing (except maybe the bounty hunter) even if we know that they are nice scum in short. We follow them until the breathtaking finale. The film lasts more than three hours but is saved by its richness which makes us follow a very good rhythm and we can only be admiring, the whole seems so perfect… the costumes, the scenery, the actors. Eli Wallach, the simpleton not very clever but finally good boy, Clint Eastwood the handsome badass, smart and genius shooter, and inevitably Van Cleef, the guy with impeccable charisma, brutal and elegant.

The three companions offer a genius rendering of their games and the extraordinary way they are directed only increases this impression. Leone directs his film with a master’s hand and this expression has never been used so well, we are practically going back in time in a way that we can hardly believe.

The whole thing gives a cocktail that makes this film, with a scenario that at the beginning seems weak, a pure lesson of timeless and enjoyable cinema.

To Watch or Not to Watch

Obviously, to watch, if you have not watched it yet. It is typically the film that pleases everyone.

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