Runtime: 166 minutes
Directed by: Sergio Leone
Starring: Claudia Cardinale, Charles Bronson, Jason Robards, Henry Fonda, Gabriele Ferzetti
From: Paramount
A.K.A. My 2000th movie logged on Letterboxd.
It was only a few days ago that I noticed this milestone was coming up; since February of 2013 I have done 2,000 reviews of movies and shorts, whether live action or animated. Even more hard to believe is that almost 900 people follow me at of this moment despite me rarely deciding to follow someone first. I'll thank everyone for all the follows and likes... even if to an embarrassing degree, when I look back at what was written in the past, mistakes, poor syntax and lackluster grammar are noticed. Anyhow, my 1,500 movie logged here was The Good, the Bad and the Ugly-besides this being another Leone joint, it is a legendary film last seen by me many years ago and I can finally tip my cap to the late Ennio Morricone by hearing what many say is among his best scores he ever created during his prolific career.
This is a film that seems deceptively simple if you just hear the basic plot synopsis. Several characters are followed: a young lady moving from New Orleans to the middle of nowhere... a bandit who has a gang of ruffians, a mysterious gunman who is always introduced to a scene if it doesn't begin with him by helpfully playing his harmonica (in fact he is only referred to as Harmonica) and a hired gun who you discover in his first scene is a ruthless villain via a shocking act. What a shock it must have been in '68 for viewers to discover that the almost always heroic Henry Fonda is the bad guy. Turns out, he must have relished the change of pace as it was a great performance-although the movie is full of those. Getting to work with Fonda was the main reason why Leone did the film... at the time he did not want to direct another Western.
The chief takeaway is that the movie takes its time and yet is never boring; it is a 180 from the pace in the Dollars trilogy. I have no idea if the average American who isn't a movie buff and is part of the ADD generation (which I say as it's a popular description, not an insult against anyone who actually has ADD) will have the patience for it but it is something which shouldn't be a concern of mine. The first 10 minutes are done with no music and it's just three bad guys sitting and waiting at a train depot in the middle of nowhere, waiting for someone to show up. Yet it is not dull as there is background noise and such moments as Jack Elam trying to get rid of a fly on his face without swatting it away. The first third of this is not full of exposition... instead you sit back for the ride as you see how the characters interact with each other and your opinion of them is formed before the story unfurls and you realize that-among many other things-all the leads are full of ambition & big dreams; of course all those goals will be incredibly difficult to reach.
Many people here and elsewhere have written a cornucopia of tremendous reviews which go into detail concerning the film's greatness and why for plenty of people the near three hour runtime will just fly on by. It was a tribute to the Westerns of old (many were watched by the incredible trio of Leone, Argento and Bertolucci before they created the script) which sometimes inverts or does its own thing. It has great vistas-filmed in Europe and the American Southwest-a score by Morricone that is incredible and sets the mood & a main cast that is all great... props go to Charles Bronson, Jason Robards and Claudia Cardinale for their performances. I do not want to spoil anything else as I realize that even here, there are those who at least like the Western genre yet haven't set the time to give this a shot. The 166 minute runtime, I do get why you need to set aside a night to see it all at once (as this most assuredly deserves) but for most, this should be an incredibly rewarding journey. A wise choice for my 2,000th entry here and one of the several ways I hope to tip my cap to Ennio Morricone, in other words.
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