This is going to be brief because I'd already posted a full 10/10 review but it has disappeared.
Last night I went to a rare-as-hen's-teeth big screen showing of this. There were seven people in the cinema watching it. Seven.
Last year I saw a fight break out as people queued to get in to see Slumdog Millionaire. The show had sold out but these people already had tickets, they were fighting just to get into the theatre first and get the best seats.
There are people I know who would be thrilled by this. They want the best films and music and books and TV shows to be exclusive, secret, their own personal property. I'm not of that mindset at all, I want to share The Good, The Bad and The Ugly with everyone. I want people to develop the same love and respect and admiration and sheer exhilaration that I do for it. I can't tell you how excited I was for the whole day knowing that I would be seeing this that evening.
Leone's direction of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly is masterful. Everything about it. I love the patient way that the scene is set for each event, the build-up being far more important than the set-piece itself. The extreme close-ups on the eyes of the protagonists, the silence, the tension. This is going to sound embarrassingly pseudy but what the fuck, I believe it. Leone's direction here reminds me of a big cat stalking its prey. It moves slowly and gradually, sinews tensed, eyes alert, silently, stealthily awaiting the perfect moment and then in an instant the violence is over. In that way Leone is the opposite of Peckinpah whose violent scenes are extended as far as possible with repetitions from multiple angles and slow-motion sequences. Where Peckinpah invites the viewer to gorge on the blood and destruction, Leone despatches it as quickly as possible. For Leone, the act is trivial in comparison with the circumstances surrounding it- eyes filled with fear and determination, quivering hands poised to draw- and what is behind that. Much as I love Peckinpah's great westerns, Leone's approach is better.
I must have seen this fifty times and (aside from some unglued make-up on Clint's dehydrated neck and the ropey title sequence) I can't find a flaw. Brilliant, beautiful, brutal. 10/10
