90 Second Short Film: Film Analysis

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (1968)

One of our influences for our short film is Clint Eastwood's, The Good, The Bad and the Ugly which is the third movie in the "Dollar Trilogy" directed by Sergio Leone and the screenplay was written by Luciano Vincenzoni. This movie is considered the ultimate western and therefore serves as an excellent influence for our short film. The western genre was at its peak during the 1960s with classic western actors like John Wayne and Clint Eastwood, who was also directing, bringing millions to the box office and basing there career on the western genre. This film was considered a financial success and made 38 million dollars in the box office. This movie, starring Clint Eastwood as Blondie, Eli Wallach as Tuco and Lee Van Cleef as Angel Eyes, is also said to have

catapulted Clint Eastwood into fame. The movie is also known for Leone's use of camera techniques such as long shots and extreme close ups, we have written these same techniques in our short film. It also includes violent gunfights and tense stand offs. During these stand offs, Leone would use classic shots such as the characters slowly reaching for there guns or an extreme close up of eyes darting and face sweating. Leone had pioneered the "Mexican Standoff" in this film and was a master of building tension as high as it could go by restricting dialogue and letting the long scene run until the violent climax. It is still considered one of the best western's of all time and even one of the best films of all time with Quinten Tarantino saying its "the best-directed film of all time."

Opening scene

The movie starts with a beautiful landscape of orange, dusty mountains in the distance, one of Leone's signature techniques, until you see a close up of a man, staring ahead. The sound of howling can be heard every few seconds but either then that you can only hear the wind. It then cuts to what the man is seeing, a run-down western building with old caravans beside it. Leone uses this moment to show another stunning background beyond the building and a lone dog walks past the scene. Quick cut to the man again looking stern and then we see two men on horses walking towards the building. You are instantly intrigued by these two characters and there story and purpose. It cuts to a close up of one of the men's face and they are both tough looking with dirt and stubble. We then see these new men's perspectives as the original guy gets off his horse

behind another stunning backdrop. There are no words spoken as these three men walk towards each other and eventually stop in front of the building door. Suddenly, there burst into the building as the camera stays outside. The glass on the building smashes and a new man flies out and the shot freezes. "The ugly" appears above his head and the Good the Bad and the Ugly theme starts to play in a great and exiting establishing shot and opening scene.

Civil War

Although 90% of western's are set in the civil war era, 90% of them also do not mention it at all. Leone, as an Italian, knew this and wanted to make his movie more realistic and comment on the way in which people perceive the war today. Its easy to say that the South are the bad guys and the North are the good guys but Leone shows that war is evil for both sides and without good reason. Angel eyes (the bad) is a union sergeant and he is the epitome of evil and has no morals. Showing the uniform you wear has no indication of your personality or, "don't judge a book by its cover." This alludes to the fact that these characters may be known as the "Good" the "Bad" or the "Ugly" but they may have a different personality completely to there labels and they are all unpredictable.

By the end of the movie, the characters realises the value of human life as they look back on the unnecessary violence and the deaths in the Civil War.

End Scene

The movie ends in a spectacular standoff which is textbook for Leone's directing style. It includes extreme close ups of the three main characters as the tension builds with another beautiful background of a graveyard behind them, foreshadowing death. There are close ups of each character's gun being slowly reached for and all the men's sweating faces. This scene perfectly builds up tension for the duel and you are on the edge of your seat for the whole thing. As the tense main theme plays, the cuts between each of their faces gets quicker and quicker until Blondie fires a shot at Angel Eyes in his gut. He is floored and we see a high angle shot showing his vulnerability in the moment. He makes a last ditch attempt to shoot back but Blondie is quicker and shoots him in the head. He poetically falls into a empty grave to show that this tyrant is finally dead. The use of quick cuts and extreme close ups builds the tension to the top and the ending of Angel Eyes is satisfying and just, showing the development of Tuco and Blondie.