The Good, The Bad And The Ugly

The Good The Bad And The Ugly Poster
Roger Ebert said:


               “Every great film should seem new every time you see it.”


The best ones are the ones that grow with you. And when you watch them once every five years, because you’ve already seen them three-hundred times and you have to ration them because you’re worried that they’ll stop meaning something at some point, when you watch them once every five years they surprise you with how good they are when it’s finally time again and you’re impressed that the you of five and ten and fifteen years ago picked them.

Every time I watch The Good, The Bad and The Ugly I worry that it'll be the time when I realise it's no good. But it's always better.

On this most recent watch I was surprised by how funny it is. I used to be all about Clint Eastwood and Blondie’s taciturn badassery. But this last time, it's clear that I’ve been kidding myself all these years. Blondie is a dick. Tuco is where it’s at. He’s a jabbering idiot who walks like a ballet dancer and is equal parts cowardly puddle-rat and strutting cocksure rooster. If I was being objective I would say that the only difference between this recent watch and the one before it is now I’ve given up trying to be Clint Eastwood and I identify with what I clearly am. But I’m not trying to be objective. So I’ll just that Eli Wallach is very funny and that’s the reason he’s the best. And why he’s in the front of this poster that could definitely do with a little more work.

There’s no point me talking about Sergio Leone’s staggeringly brilliant direction and Ennio Morricone’s spine-strokingly epic and inspiring score because everyone knows that they’re better than everything else ever and repeating something everybody knows already is unnecessary.

Also, I defy anyone to drink a bottle of red wine and some whiskey and then not cry at the war-broken alcoholic civil war captain who pops up towards the end.


No comments:

Post a Comment