From: peter@cs.vu.nl (Grunwald PD)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies
Subject: Re: Sergio Leone and his characters
Date: 13 Apr 92 10:41:09 GMT

minor SPOILERS for The Good, The Bad and The Ugly in the following

uril@yang.earlham.edu writes:

<In article <1992Apr6.214937.2393@fid.morgan.com<, maus@fid.morgan.com (Malcolm Austin) writes:
<< SPOILERS for "Once Upon a Time in the West" in the following:
<< 
<< 
<< In article <1992Apr3.204346.27038@daimi.aau.dk< rorschak@daimi.aau.dk (Jesper Lauridsen) writes:
<<<peter@cs.vu.nl (Grunwald PD) writes:
<<<
<<<<In article <1992Mar31.180628.6426@gn.ecn.purdue.edu< mbrockma@gn.ecn.purdue.edu (Matt Brockman) writes:

[lots deleted]

<< You lost me here.  Cheyenne does draw this distinction between "players"
<< 

<Hold on.  Just a second guys.  You guys are messing the catagories of the 
<various characters in Leone's films.  Leone in his films sets up 4 
<different types of characters, and two different settings of beings.

<I. GODS
<All of the major gunfighters in his westerns are Gods.  There are also 
<three different types of Gods.  These Gods, are powerful, independent and 
<ruthless in everything they do.  The three subsections are
<	
<	A. Good-  This is the character that Clint Eastwood played in A 
<	Fistfull of Dollars, and The Good, The Bad And The Ugly.  Lee Van
<	Cleef played the good in For A Few Dollars More, and Charles 
<	Bronson played him in Once Upon a Time in the West.  These are the
<	men who's goal is to kill evil; to hunt it down and destroy it. 
<	Whether it is a personal vendeta or a case of justice.

The Good's goal in the Good, the Bad and the Ugly is to 'kill evil' ?

I'm sorry, but I do not agree at all!!!

Let the following quotation speak for itself:

(several bountymen point their guns at the Ugly. One of them says:
'hey gringo, you know your face is worth a lot 'a money !!!'
(before the Ugly can answer, we hear Clint's voice; it is the first time we
 hear it in the movie; we haven't even seen him yet)
'yeah, but you don't look like the guys who're gonna collect it!'

BANG BANG BANG (and all bountymen are dead: at least three innocent people
killed just like that by this 'good' person - he surely isn't after evil here -
he's just after the money!)

The Good isn't so good after all. He's just better than the other two - and
he makes a much better impression on people!

<	B. Bad- This character was played by Italian unknowns in A Fistfull
<	Of Dollars and For A Few Dollars More, Lee Van Cleef played him in
<	The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, and Henry Fonda played him in Once
<	Upon a Time in the West.  These men kill for money, but more 
<	importantly pleasure.  They are clever, never decietfull, yet, well
<	evil!

<	C. The Ugly- There was no ugly in Fistful of Dollars.  Clint Eastwood
<	was the ugly in For A Few Dollars More, Eli Wallach was the ugly in
<	The Good, The Bad and the Ugly.  These men are the most human gods
<	discoverable.  They tend to talk too much and think too little.  They
<	are usually after only one thing, money.  These men are flawed, yet
<	they are still gods, because they are mighty and powerful.

<II.  The humans are everyone else.  Leone concentrates on the dirty grungy
<faces of humans.  Working for a living, as farmers, railroaders, workers, or
<gunmen, these men must overcome all odds just to survive nature, wars and
<evil forces.

<This is the standard Leone set-up.  For more information about Leone's 
<characters, read Danny Peary's criticizm of Once Upon a Time in the West in
<his book Cult Classics II.

With the rest I can fairly agree.

<-- 
<_____________________________________________________________________________
<Uri J. Lessing | Earlham College | Richmond Indiana | Psychology Major
<-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
<		Spam in a Cabin | Happy! Happy! Joy! Joy!
<
Ciao,

Peter
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