The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966)

 Sergio Leone's "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly"

In sitting down to watch "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly," the notion of having already watched it twice before had not been lost on me. It was something that had always been on TV all my life and there had been multiple occasions in which I acquired a DVD copy of the film for my own personal viewing. However, it also occurred to me that despite having watched the film before, I never truly actually paid attention to it.

It felt like I was watching the film for the very first time. Some plot point had been known to me, but the characters' intentions, their adventures through the Civil War-touched Western landscape, and their ultimate goal unraveled before like a brand new day. I knew instantly that I had always taken advantage of the film and its universal comfort.

"The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" is the third and final film in a Leone's trilogy centering on Clint Eastwood's unnamed traveler. It differs from its predecessors due to its clearer intentions. Specifically, its backdrop being the civil war - which forms the film's thematic nucleus. The war and violence that become merely incidental to our trio of characters paints their selfish and greedy actions as inherent to the human condition and its relationship to the landscape. 

In by making the film set during the Civil War, it becomes somewhat of a prequel to its predecessors. Perhaps this tidbit of information would serve as an interest point in the story, however, knowing this bit of information does nothing for the film's context. One can sit down and watch and not even know it's connected to anything else at all.

The film follows Eastwood's unnamed man, affectionately called "Blondie." He assists a man named Tuco in securing bounty for his arrest. After saving him from hanging, the two split the money. However, after Blondie decides to turn on Tuco and take the sum for himself, Tuco seeks vengeance. In the middle of acquiring vengeance, the two happen upon information as to the whereabouts of $200,000 - with Tuco knowing the location of the graveyard the money is buried and Blondie knowing the name of the grave. As they venture out across the wasteland of the desert, they race for the treasure with a fellow bounty hunter in pursuit.

In extending some of his ideas employed in "A Fistful of Dollars" and "For a Few Dollars More," Leone infuses "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" with metatextual post-modernism. The film is clearly a 'Western,' but it also deconstructs the Western and its various tropes. For example, the typical John Wayne-esque hero that has been come to identity the Western is now turned on its head, with our titular "good" white man hero not really living up to his moral identifier.

While watching the film, there were a few other films that came to my mind: Eric von Stroheim's 1924 silent masterpiece, "Greed," and John Huston's 1948 classic "The Treasures of the Sierra Madre." Both films seem to have some level of influence on Leone's film, perhaps even subconsciously. All three films deal with greed and the unmeasurable journey travelled to acquire untold riches, even to the hottest reaches of the desert.

Leone takes these foundational concepts and elevates them into a contemporary filmmaking format. By the 1960s, post-modernism had taken root in film, with Leone being partially to thank and/or blame. However, the tropes that Leone attempts to mimic and undoubtedly loved by Leone himself. There is a certain revelry with the orchestration of blocking, of camera movement, and scale. Leone seems to be rolling around in these Western tropes like Daffy Duck rolling around in his money piles. And more than anything, he uses them to the highest levels of entertaining and artistic titillation possible. The film is completely enthralling from beginning to end and Leone keeps his viewers engaged with his endless bags of cinematic treats.

"The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" was not only able to fully grab and keep my attention, it elevated my sensory experience into the realms of a full-on cinematic experience. Its tension, its sense of adventure, its moral complexity, Leone's endless camera magic, and its iconic score all synthesize into an experience that is incomparable. As a result, it has become one of the most famous and celebrated works in cinematic history. It has even reached its talons into the very fabric of American culture.