The Good The Bad and the Ugly (1966)

The Good The Bad and the Ugly (1966)

aka Il buono il brutto il cattivo (1966)

The best of director Sergio Leone’s spaghetti Westerns (although Once Upon a Time in the West (1969) is a close second) and easily one of the top 10 of the genre it features Clint Eastwood Lee Van Cleef and Eli Wallach (respectively) in the title roles. The story by Leone and Luciano Vincenzoni (both also adapted it with Agenore Incrocci and Furio Scarpelli) isn’t overly complex: Tuco (Wallach) Blondie (Eastwood) and Angel Eyes (Van Cleef) are competing (though sometimes reluctantly cooperating) to find the Confederacy’s treasury – gold buried in a cemetery grave – which is complicated by the ongoing Civil War. In fact every time it seems that there’s a direct path to any element of the story (and especially to the treasure) it turns out that it’s not as simple as it looks. Hence the film runs 160+ minutes. The director’s penchant for a paucity of dialogue – relying instead on facial close-ups to reveal character and story – is enhanced by cinematographer Tonino Delli Colli’s vast and largely barren landscape shots and punctuated by Ennio Morricone’s classic unforgettable score.

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