Sergio Leone
Sergio Leone
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
RANKED:
4. A Fistful of Dollars (1964)
What would happen if you took Akira Kurosawa's 1961 masterpiece "Yojimbo," used it to satirize the American Western genre through the lens of 1960s post-modernism, used an Italian director to turn it into an Italian opera epic, and placed an American television star front and center? Well...the result is 1964's "A Fistful of Dollars." Leone takes the classic Hollywood Western film tropes and heightens them to the levels of metatextuality. In doing this, Leone invigorates the Western genre and creates a new territory for it to explore. At a time when the Western genre had reached its cultural zenith, it felt like there was no other places it could go. Thanks to the nifty French New Wave movement, post-modernist cinema was taking hold of the 1960s. It was only a matter of time until a film like "A Fistful of Dollars" came along and utilize these film lenses. On top of this, it ushered in a new era of the Western, as well as ushering in a new visual style in Leone, who would go on to make several modern masterpieces.
3. For a Few Dollars More (1965)
After the wildly popular success of Sergio Leone's "A Fistful of Dollars" in 1964, him and his team rushed to make a follow-up a year later with "For a Few Dollars More." What its predecessor was able to do, this film upped the ante even more. With a far more complex narrative, a less mockish storyline (not borrowing from Kurosawa), a larger length, and more complex and interesting characters, "For a Few Dollars More" goes miles above. This notion was even present in the film's success, as it gained far more box office income over its former and was even the best selling film in Italy in 1967. It is safe to say that this ultra pulpy, post-modern Western landscape would be Leone's giddy playground for the next decade, much to everyone's great pleasure.
2. Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
Sergio Leone was ready to move on from the Western genre after the release of perhaps one of the genre's greatest: 1966's "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly." However, the Hollywood machine doesn't let thing simply die. Paramount enticed Leone back into the world of post-modern Westerns when they offered him Henry Fonda's contract. Getting Bernardo Bertolucci and Dario Argento to assist with the story, Leone crafted "Once Upon a Time in the West" - a film steeped in homages to others of the classic genre. The film centers on the thematic struggle between booming industry gobbling up Western land and the individuals attempting to get a piece of the action for themselves. In this way, the film could almost be seen as a 'closing of the book' on the Old West and its grand mythos. Obviously, the genre wasn't through just yet. But "Once Upon a Time in the West" cements itself as one of last great Western epics.
1. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
Although it was the third installment in a trilogy of films, "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" stands alone as a single experience. Centering on Clint Eastwood's "man with no name," the film pulls two other characters into its reaches, titling them 'Bad' and 'Ugly.' The three characters travers across the Western terrain in order to acquire a large sum of money. With the film, Leone post-modernizes the thematic experiences of von Stroheim's "Greed" and Huston's "The Treasures of the Sierra Madre" and along the way, turns universally understood Western tropes on their head. Replacing the standard John Wayne-esque hero one typically finds in a Western film with a more morally complex anti-hero, Leone's film delves into the reaches of greed and violence that lay as the foundation of America. While it can stimulate the artistic desire of the viewer, Leone makes the film entertaining as hell with his endlessly engaging camerawork, blocking, and scale. One thing is for certain in watching "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly": you will never be bored.
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