shine like a new pin: September 2010

“i have always been amazed at the way an ordinary observer lends so much more credence and attaches so much more importance to waking events than to those occurring in dreams. it is because man, when he ceases to sleep, is above all the plaything of his memory, and in its normal state memory takes pleasure in weakly retracing for him the circumstances of the dream, in stripping it of any real importance, and in dismissing the only determinant from the point where he thinks he has left it a few hours before: this firm hope, this concern. he is under the impression of continuing something that is worthwhile. thus the dream finds itself reduced to a mere parenthesis, as is the night."

- breton, manifesto of surrealism, 1924.

the "man with no name" trilogy may be, in fact, a collection of three of the greatest movies of all time. they're spaghetti westerns from the '60s, starring clint eastwood and directed by sergio leone, and they couldn't be more great. my favorite, of course, is "the good, the bad, and the ugly," but the other two, "fistful of dollars" and "for a few dollars more" are brilliant as well.

i got all three films for about $12 total, and have been hooked ever since. i've always been a big fan of westerns, like john wayne's "the searchers" and "rio bravo" and some of eastwood's other works like "high plains drifter" and "the pale rider".

what makes "the good, the bad, and the ugly" so great, in my opinion, is that all the elements in the film work well, and work well together. the cinematography of the gun battles is epic, the writing is witty as hell, and the music is borderline orgasmic. ennio morricone did the soundtrack, and i think it's one of the greatest in film. the score mixes gunfire and whistling in with booming percussion and strings and soaring vocals.

this score of this scene, "the ecstasy of gold", near the end of the film, is a great case-in-point.

blondie (the good), angel eyes (the bad), and tuco (the ugly) are three great characters, though i think my favorite might be tuco, played by eli wallach.

he has an incredibly expressive face, unlike eastwood, who has about two facial expressions in the entire film, and i love the way tuco crosses himself. one of my favorite scenes of his is when he is in the bath-tub in a destroyed building, leisurely washing himself, when a man he'd shot eight months prior confronts him. "i've been waiting for this moment for eight months, tuco," the man says, "and now i've got you just where i want you." as the man draws his pistol to shot tuco, a shot rings out from inside the bath-tub, killing the man. a naked and wet tuco, getting out of the bath-tub with a pistol tied around his neck by a little string, says, "when you have to shoot, shoot, don't talk." wise words indeed.