Directors Cup Film Discussion The Good The Bad And The Ugly

I am just posting a short review to start the thread. Den is not competing with this film tho he will endorse it:

Well plotted but the lesser of the three in my eyes. The Good TheBad and The Ugly has a pretty simple plot, tho it can get complicated. Blondie (the good), Angel Eyes (the bad) and the Tuco (the ugly)—rival and double cross each other looking for gold and to avoid involvement in the Civil War.

The Good

Each character gets an arresting intro. Each intro (like many scenes in the film) is over the top but never boring. QT take note. And some scenes are incredible, the bridge being destroyed works as a protest of war, the bathtub shoot out and the first time Blondie and Tuco scam a town for reward money. I also enjoy the fact that Leone hired a lot of real damaged looking people for this film to give it authenticity and one has to love the score of course.

The Bad

The film is about 40mins too long and too reliant on chance (the wagon full of corpses that comes out of nowhere, the Good and Ugly failing to notice that a army is on the other side of a bush, etc),

The Ugly

shouldnt Clint be the ugly one?
Grade: B

c’mon people discussion helps us make up our minds.

I gave it a 4/5 though it’s not my favorite Western, but it is fantastic and a lot of fun to sit through.

I was most taken with the shot composition—so many beautiful frames whether it’s interiors, wide open vistas, or claustrophobic, empty streets.

I can see why this has such a high place in the canon, and though I wasn’t completely blown away with it I’ll definitely watch it again.

what kept it from a 5 JR?

I enjoy GB&U, and it has have big Western feel, but also has some good smaller moments. The cinematography is nice and they cleaned up the dubbing from what it was in the first two Dollars films.

But I think I like best is the lessons Leone learned and applied to Once Upon A Time in the West, which is Leone best film.

I guess I’m more a fan of realistic Westerns, and the gunplay in this one is almost cartoonish (surely he’s good, but no one’s that good) and some other parts are a little goofy. It’s a fun film, but I think Once Upon a Time in the West is better.

5/5 is a funny thing for me. As someone recently pointed out, I give the LOTR trilogy, as well as films like Die Hard 5/5, but not this film. It’s due to personal connections with them, which I don’t share with this film.

Had I seen it when I was younger, and grew up loving it, that might be different, but for me to give a ‘new’ film 5/5 after having given the same rating to The Mirror it will have to be a film that blows me away.

anyone else feel it was too long?

I think it easily could have ended 20 minutes before it did, but I enjoyed all the set pieces, so I’m fine with the running time. When you’re having a good time at the movies, you always want a little more.

What do you think could be cut?

I don’t know exactly (since I wanted more of The Bad character anyway) probably a few of the double crosses (maybe one of the Eastwood Wallach scam scenes at least)

If Leone had never made another western, and we know that is not the case, this film still would have been a fitting legacy. This film achieves much through the use of subversive stereotypes, parody and its’ grand, almost operatic design. The film is a moral quagmire, the characters motivated by nothing but greed. The film score by Morricone is always arresting, especially The Ecstasy of Gold and The Trio. Is the film to long? No.

I think everyone wanted more Angel Eyes.

“You see,in this world there are two kinds of people,my friend:Those with loaded guns,and those who dig.You dig.”

Leone’s classic western is the last(and possibly the best)instalment in his so called “Dollars Trilogy”,featuring also “A Fistfull of Dollars” and “For a Few Dollars More”.The film takes place during the American Civil War,when the three cahracters,Blondie/the Good(Clint Eastwood),Angel Eyes/the Bad(Lee Van Cleef) and Tuco/the Bad(Elli Wallach),mixed up in a suspenseful and adventurous treasure chest,a treasure of 200000 dollars buried in a cemetary.The film starts with a seperate introduction scene for each of the 3 main characters,and goes on for nearly 3 hours,with one memorable,extravagant scene after the other,as the three characters double-cross each other ιn almost unbelievable coincedences,they even took part in the Civil War,but finally their ways end up in the cemetery,in a really grande finale,the unforgetable triple duel.In this amazing scene,Leone and Morricone,used all of their creative force,to make one of the most exciting,suspsenseful and,why not,best scenes in history of cinema.

One of the most interesting elements of the movie,is the way Leone plays with the cliches and the conventions of the Western genre,and how he,kind of,renovates Westerns with this film(and also with his later one,“Once Upon a Time in the West”,the best western ever,in my opinion).Leone was a great admirer of American westerns,and especially of John Ford.So the film paid tribute to traditional American western movies, but significantly departed from them in storyline, plot, characterization and mood. Leone gains credit for one great breakthrough in the western genre still followed today: in traditional western films, heroes and villains alike looked as if they had just stepped out of a fashion magazine, with clearly drawn moral opposites, even down to the hero wearing a white hat and the villain wearing a black hat. Leone’s characters were, in contrast, more ‘realistic’ and complex: usually ‘lone wolves’ in their behaviour; they rarely shaved, looked dirty, sweated profusely, and there was a strong suggestion of criminal behaviour. The characters were also morally ambiguous by appearing generously compassionate, or nakedly and brutally self-serving, as the situation demanded. Some critics have noted the irony of an Italian director who could not speak English, and had never even seen the American Old West, almost single-handedly redefining the typical http://mubi.com/topics/9568vision of the American cowboy. (this great last part is from wikipedia.I thought it was so great,so I posted exactly as it was there).

Lee Van Cleef is great as Angel Eyes(the Bad),a mercilles bounty hunter,driven by greed,and willing to kill everybody,even his “partners”,to get the treasure.Lee Van Cleef manages to create a character that seems cruel in each and every one of his attributes:from his look,that mirrors his greed and obsession,to his tone of voice and his laughter.Maybe Angel Eyes is the only character of the film that is definetely one-sided.

Clint Eastwood as Blondie/The Man with no Name(the Good) is the defintion of cool.He has always a cigrette in his mouth and he rarely speaks.He prefers to shoot.Although he is typically “The Good”,he stays far-away from that characterization,as his motives are also the money and he doesn’t hesitate to betray his collaborators too.But he has a kind of strange moral code,and also some little bits of humanity(one of the most characteristic scenes for his personality,is when he gives a puff of his cigarette to an injured soldier).

And then we have Eli Wallach who delivers an amazing performance as Tuco(the Bad).Tuco is the best-developed character of the movie,and also the most complex and the most human.He’s the only character that we learn something about his past and why he became a criminal,when he meets his brother in the monastery.Tuco has the most varied personality out of the three.He is sly,fool,funny and clever at the same time.He is the one that colours the movie with funny scenes and humour.And,undoubtly,Eli Wallach gives the strongest performance of the three.From his looks,to her gestures,showing a great comic talent,he creates an unforgetable character.(By the way,I have read that Leone concentrates on Tuco’s character,cause he is the one that is closest to himself as a personality.Leone and Wallach have become good friends,although they can hardly speak to each other,considering that Leone wasn’t speaking english and Wallach’s french was very bad).

But,the most important thing of this film,the one that makes it so special and gives it his classic status,is Leone’s masterful direction.Leone had a great eye for grand,larger than life images,and an operatic view,that gave an epic scale to his westerns(all these elements will be perfected in his next film “Once Upon a Time in the West”).In this film,Leone plays masterfully with what’s in the frame and what’s not.The view,both of the audience and the characters is limited by the sides of the frame,and so Leone has the chance to surprise us(the most characteristic scene being the sudden appearance of Angel Eyes in the cemetary).Leone is also using his trademark juxtaposition of lenghty long shots with extreme close-ups on faces and items.Generally,throughout the film,Leone shows us his huge technical abilities in many scenes(one of the most impressive is surely the one where Tuco is running round the cemetary),makes the film almost an exercise in style and virtuoso direction.But,the scene that surely reveals Leone’s talent in all of his majesty,is the final duel.The epic long shot of the cemetary,as the three characters are taking their places for the duel,gradually giving his place to continuous close-ups of each character,which evolves in a furious editng of extreme close-ups of the character’s eyes and weapons.Combined with Morricone’s magnificent music,this scene has such tense,that still makes my heart beat like crazy,although I have seen it countless times.

Of course,there couldn’t be a discussion about “The Good,the Bad and the Ugly”,without referring to the wonderful music of Ennio Morricone.The score of the fiIm is as,if not more,classic as the movie,and one of the most famous and easily recognizable in the history of motion pictures.In this film,music is one of the major elements of the film,not only a way to evoke the feelings of the viewer.Leone has once said that music is around 40% of a film,and surely Morricone’s music for his films fulfill his statement.Pieces like “Ecstasy of Gold”,the one during the last duel,that contributes almost equally with Leone’s direction to create the tense atmosphere,are among these that ranked Morricone as one of the great film composers ever.(One of my favorite music pieces ever).

To sum up,“The Good,the Bad and the Ugly” is,at least in my opinion,an excellent film,although surely not Leone’s best,as “Once Upon a Time in the West” and “Once Upon in America” are for sure better and more complete and mature films.And yes,some of the scenes are extremely over the top and the narrative is too obviously depend on coincidences sometimes.But all these things,that could be considered disadvantages,are the ones that makes it so unique and enjoyable.Of course it’s not realistic,it’s a fiction film that could only exist within the frames of the big screen.An over the top story,that is also over the top entertaining,that’s what this film really is.A film that I could never be bored to see.

Well,at last,I have my review made.Sorry for being late(this was supposed to be an introduction…),I hope you’ll enjoy it.

hey,is there anybody to comment and discuss the film??Come on,I had exams today morning,so I couldn’t write my introduction yesterday,but it’s ready now!!

I dont have much to say that I have not already said.
I think QT was obviously influenced (but with 1/80th of talent).
I love westerns and this is a great addition to the genre, what makes this one stand out for u above the others in the trilogy, did Leone work with Wayne?

I’m going to be a little late. Still need to watch the movie!

-anyone else feel it was too long-

One of the thing the film is doing is exaggerating some of the classical conventions of the Western by drawing them out in duration, so that’s part of why it may feel that way.

fun, artistic and poetic
masterpiece!!!

MY FAVORITE FILM OF ALL TIME!!!

I could probably talk about it for a week straight, which almost makes it overwhelming to talk about it at all.

I think this film perfectly embodies my favorite word. “Contrast”. From the opening shots of an extreme long shot to a face stepping into the frame of an extreme close up, ever film technique in this film has its extremes put side by side for wonderful contrast. Extreme long shots to extreme close ups. Long takes to fast takes. Tense drawn out build ups of waiting to sudden and short bursts of violence. Fast moving camera shots to extreme static shots. Wild, carnal music to complete silence. Hilarious comic bits to heartwrenching bits of sorrow and fear.

Rarely in my opinion does a film warrant a running time of this length, but Leone fills this one up just perfectly. How someone could not be enthralled every from the very beginning shrieks and sounds of Morricone’s music to the very end is beyond me.

For you who said it is too long, which scenes would you dare to cut!?!?

I consider this Leone’s masterpiece. Come people call it cartoonish, but there’s nothing pejorative about this label if it’s done right. I love good cartoons. And if you look at Leone’s two westerns leading up to this you can see him perfecting his style up to this masterpiece. Once he created The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, he had gone as far as he could go in the direction he was developing. After that he still made good films, but the political nature of them conflicted with the exciting “cartoonish” action style he had perfected. In some ways I wished he had left his politics out of it, but then again I’m also not sure what other direction he should have went, since there’s no way he could have topped The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly if he tried.

Does anyone know what this film is going up against in the first round?

The Man There Was

good story_some good shots_good Cinematography_An average film_ it was fun to watch