Il Buono, Il Bruto, Il Cattivo Review- By Michael Carlisle

Title: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
Year: 1966
Director: Sergio Leone
Country: Italy
Language: Italian

Italian Director Sergio Leone is a legend; even those who are unfamiliar with the Western genre know his name,  more-so than John Ford and Sam Pekinpah. Influenced by Akira Kurosawa's samurai flicks (mainly Yojimbo & Sanjuro) Leone set out to make a unique type of Western, which American critics coined as "Spaghetti Western". His Dollars Trilogy (A Fistful of Dollars, For A Few Dollars More and The Good, The Bad and The Ugly) changed the face of Cinema forever, as well as made Clint Eastwood a household name.

A bounty hunting scam joins two men in an uneasy alliance against a third in a race to find a fortune in gold buried in a remote cemetery during a civil war. Blondie (The Good) is a professional gunslinger who is out trying to earn a few dollars. Angel Eyes (The Bad) is a hit man who always commits to a task and sees it through, as long as he is paid to do so. And Tuco (The Ugly) is a wanted outlaw trying to take care of his own hide. 

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly is the third installment, and the most ambitious part of Leone's trilogy. It is deeply rooted in the tradition of the picaresque novel and the commedia dell’arte, two Latin literary traditions. The picaresque story of three adventurers chasing the same treasure is punctuated by brief but poignant images of the war. We see shocking instances of death, humiliation, degradation  and torture. The cruelty of the war defines the morality of the people in it. Sure the three main characters are bastards, but in comparison to their surroundings they are not the catalysts of pain and destruction. 

John Wayne couldn't dream of acting in a Western this good, Howard Hawks couldn't possibly direct such a complex picture under the old studio system. Leone is bigger, more brutal and more stark. The film's score by Morricone is iconic; I find myself in awe whenever I hear it. It fills the gap of silence, as the picture's character study is of artaud style; meaning the characters are illustrated by means of their actions and by confronting them to each other. We feel we understand each character's motives and mind, even when nothing is said. The mexican standoff in the cemetary is pure gold, perhaps the greatest scene put into film. It is incredibly tense, mainly because the camera fills the frame with the character's desperate eyes and shaking fingers.

In conclusion, Leone's Dollar Trilogy is a must watch even if you despise the acting of Clint Eastwood or aren't a fan of Westerns. The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly breaks all the traditional rules of what people thought a Western should be, and becomes both a groundbreaking and inspiring work of art. Violent, Funny and intelligent, there's a lot to uncover in this treasure. Praise it! 5/5