Because
it would seem that my area of focus regarding film genre has lately been
entirely western, I decided not to deteriorate this pattern, but strengthen it
where it before was uncomfortably lacking in experience; I decided to watch a
classic, well known and, to avoid potential mental injuries such as those I
very nearly encountered in my quest to find satisfactory indie-western films, highly
acclaimed by countless reliable sources. Given that I knew the soundtrack of
this film far more thoroughly than I know even the name of many older films
before I embarked upon watching them, and given the endless array of references
and respects paid to this film by other affiliates of the genre, I decided beforehand
that the odds of walking away from the conclusion of this film with any
significant sting of disgust or disappointment, regarding quality of entertainment
and the film as a whole, were immensely insignificant indeed. And indeed, this
approach proved to be quite rewarding, for this perhaps one the most rightfully
renowned and most heavily referenced (regarding soundtrack, characters,
behaviors and the plot as a whole) films of all time. Although admittedly, I
haven’t seen the entirety of any of Sergio Leone’s other, supposedly beautiful
western films (especially regarding what I’ve heard about “Once Upon a Time in
the West), in fact, I was completely unaware that “The Good The Band and The
Ugly” was part of the “Fist Full of Dollars” trilogy (undoubtedly, those are
now significantly higher on my “to watch” list), the structure and presentation
of this film as a whole was so cleverly and uniquely attended to, while still
retaining most clichés that all western fans would expect to find in both the
genre and Clint Eastwood’s characters, that this film would, at the very least,
would slide seamlessly into the list of top 5 western films ever drafted by the
hands of man.
Moving
on from raw compliments that may easily be justified by the artistic evidence
established by the film, I shall now do my best to describe said evidence
without offering excessive detail for those who may be interested in the genre,
while still supporting each concept with enough material to prove its value to
those who are generally unfamiliar or fairly uninterested by the genre. The way
that this film establishes every major character with dark qualities of dryness,
sarcasm, devilish greed, cold hearted blood lust and mercilessness and a lack
of concern for legal justice and equality while still managing to bring forth
and make lively qualities of humor, love and values of compassion and respect
the protection of life displayed an immensely impressive effort and attention
to detail and realism indeed. No values
or characteristics were thoughtlessly enforced without the support of
corresponding actions, explanations and dynamic behavior; of course, even with
the establishment of a realistic dynamic in emotion and interaction between
characters in varying scenarios, everything remains efficiently consistent to
the degree that all “wild-west” values are only benefitted. And with “wild-west”
scenarios in mind, this film certainly disappoint, offering hangings, fire
fights, back stabbings, horse riding, U.S. civil war reference and battles, a Mexican
stand off and plenty of things that go boom. The settings maintained an
excellent western feel all around (perhaps to be expected from westerns of this
date), both in the presentation of physical locations and emotion, there was
more than enough variation in scenarios to keep things interesting, and almost
every action scene expressed some sort of suspenseful or intriguing quality
that rendered itself fairly unpredictable. And given the clichés that almost
every films film of this genre is forced to cope with in one way or another, unpredictability
is certainly not an easy quality to achieve, although it is mutually certain
that its presence is immensely admirable. The contrast between each of the three
main characters allows for plenty of diversity in tone despite the fact that
all three feature many mutual qualities that also lead to several interesting
interactions. Despite the fact that the title of the film certainly highlights “The
Good”, “The Bad” and “The Ugly” as three separate and profound entities, and
although these characters were allotted proportionately fair segments of screen
time, the film does not spend time developing each character separately and uniquely
as much as it portrays each of these characters fitting evenly into the plot as
a whole, in a realistic manner that allowed the plot to flow at a smooth and
efficient pace. To summarize the film in that particular regard, while none of the
three major characters were focused on individually for an excessive period of
time, they were all individually given enough opportunities to develop and
express themselves as they were meant to be portrayed and recognized.
The
screen play as a whole was very well attended to, for even fairly insignificant
characters were painted with realistic, relatable and interesting qualities; minor
characters were developed just as thoroughly as more significant characters to
the extent where they not only affected the plot in intriguing, unique and
significant ways, but in application of their existence to the plot as a whole,
they seemed to demand a sort of respect and regard for their detailed and
considerable characteristics in a way that minor characters in countless films
that I have seen have both failed to constitute and failed to deserve. In fact,
it is through many of these minor characters, who are highlighted with
qualities of benevolence and other such things that contrast strongly with the
characteristics of the main three, that not only allowed the main three to be
more easily perceived as they were meant to be, but in a way, allowed the film to
express that the environments and atmospheres portrayed and heavily concentrated
on throughout the majority of the plot’s progression, were certainly not the
only tones that exist within the world of the film. Even those whose screen
time and significance lasted for less than a minute sometimes portrayed a
unique quality that altered or added to the complexity of the film in a way
that made the events of the film seem much more relatable and realistic. Parallel
to the outstanding development of both major and minor characters, the dialogue
was thoughtfully constructed and remained consistent with respective characters
and their relationships with other characters. Despite the excellence of the
dialogue, plenty of attention to plot detail and the portrayal of physical
actions and behaviors rendered all scenes lacking dialogue equally as
interesting and attention worthy as those that did.  |
| Historical cinematic moment |
Overall,
although not every aspect of the film was entirely unexpected or unpredictable,
nothing was deteriorated by flaws in revelation or suspicious inconsistencies,
the acting and portrayal of each character was phenomenal, the screen play was
excellent, everything flowed at a comfortable pace while still allowing for
griping scenes of action and suspense, many contrasting characteristics and
qualities were brushed upon, values of life and desire were praised and
criticized, and both the visual and sound effects were applied excellently and
were quite impressive, taking into consideration the effort required to achieve
such effects in this film’s time, especially regarding weapons and explosions. Cinematography
was dynamic, clean and thoroughly attended to in such a way that even the most
dull of moments of the film, which numbered immensely few indeed, were
supported by camera angles and other charms that matched perfectly with the
mood and style of the scene in question. The soundtrack, highly enjoyable in
its own right, was mutually successful in enhancing the tone and atmosphere of
every scene it was applied to immensely, efficiently and properly. Every aspect
of the film came together in a fashion that was both provocative of
contemplation and entertaining as a whole. In fact, my only complaint is that a
few points of interest birthed by unexpected emotional expressions of certain
characters and intriguingly unique interactions between these characters and
other characters (essentially, moments and expressions that contrasted with the
more popular tones and expressions of the film) could have been brushed upon a
little more than they were initially, or even better, they could have been returned
to or developed later in the course of the film, rather than being left for
what, in the modern day, would become the task of an expected and demanded
sequel. However, this stood far more significantly as an opening for additional
content and depth, rather than as a hole in the already existing, very well
constructed and tremendously entertaining plot. For all the values this film
holds as an intriguing, suspenseful and dramatic wild-west adventure, the values portrayed successfully of life and
moral, and for the timelessness of the entertainment offered by the production
as a whole, I allot this film a 9/10.
(Dramatic, epic soundtrack begins to echo)
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