I have a confession to make: I HATE WESTERNS. Actually, that is a bit misleading to say. I once held a contempt for westerns as a kid due to how boring I thought they were. With TV and movies containing giant robots, monsters, and aliens as a child, why would I want to see a bunch of scruffy, dirty looking men waiting forever and a day to shoot each other? My opinions have changed on the genre as I got older, and after spending over seven hours watching The Dollars Trilogy shows how misplaced my opinions on the genre were.
For those who didn't know, The Dollars Trilogy is a trilogy of Italian Spaghetti Westerns directed by the late Sergio Leone, and starring Clint Eastwood in his breakthrough role as The Man with no Name. The first movie of The Dollars Trilogy is A Fistful of Dollars, which introduces The Man with No Name as he enters the town of San Miguel, where two major gangs, the Rojos Brothers and the Baxter Gang, feud. Seeing opportunity in this feud, he uses his gun slinging ability to convince both sides to secretly recruit him as he tries to destroy both gangs and acquire stolen money from the Rojos Brothers. Inspired by Akira Kurosawa's Yojimbo, Leone weaves a story without a plot, focusing on how The Man with No Name ultimately rids of both gangs by a slew of loosely tied events. While thin in regards to its story, the movie is just a wonder to behold by way of acting, music, and action. The camerawork here is second to none, with tense shots perfectly taken during shootouts, cutting at the right moments and focusing on the carnage The Man with no Name leaves behind. One effective example of the expert use of camera involves the final showdown between No Name and the last surviving Rojos brother. No Name wins the duel, and the camera is now in the remaining Rojos' point of view as he stammers and struggles to regain his balance. Ennio Morricone's music simply cannot be ignored in this movie, as his music always kicks in at the right time and delivers on the mood tenfold. Eastwood's portrayal of The Man with No Name easily defines the anti-hero archetype as he plays a man who seems to be out for himself, but is willing to put his life on the line for something more than just money. Examples include the rescue of a Rojos mistress being kept away from her real family, and arriving into town to save his newfound innkeeper friend from being killed by the Rojos gang.
The trilogy continues with A Few Dollars More, where No Name meets another bounty hunter by the name of Mortimer, played by Lee Van Cleef, as they both hunt down a vicious killer and gang leader by the name of El Indio, played by Gian Maria Volente. Unlike A Fistful of Dollars, the morality line is better defined here as El Indio is a man not deserving of any sympathy. He kills his victims after the chimes of his mysterious pocket watch stop playing. However, El Indio is frequently tormented by the memories of a young woman he raped who later kills herself, resulting in the use of drugs to drown out those memories. With the inspiration of Yojimbo out of the way, Sergio Leone was able to branch out and expand on the violent world he create. Here, even if the bad guys are obviously bad, the supposed good guys can be just as, if not more so, destructive. What I found interesting here is not so much the action, which is still outstanding, but the subtle hints of emotion in every major character. No Name swiftly comes to the aid of Mortimer in a moment of near death towards the end of the movie despite the rivalry between the two. Mortimer, normally a calm and collected bounty hunter, bursts out in a moment of anger, yelling out to El Indio, "This is Colonel Mortimer! Douglas Mortimer! Does the name mean anything to you?!", clearly connecting the two to a past event. El Indio, despite his crimes, is somehow haunted by the memories of the woman he raped. Why, as a man who has killed so many, is he so tortured by this one memory? With Indio's mysterious pocket being revealed as the dead woman's pocket watch, more questions arise. Leone never answers the questions, however, which works in the movie's benefit, making El Indio a very well rounded and interesting villain. The tradition of memorable scenes doesn't let up with A Few Dollars More, one of them being No Name collecting dozens of dead bandits he killed and stacking them into a cart as he estimates how much they are worth in total, which had me laughing long past the ending.
The series reaches its finale with The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, arguably the most influential Western of all time. The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly is actually the prequel of the series, going as far as showing where The Man with No Name got his trademark poncho and revealing his real name, which is Blondie. By far the most plot driven movie of the series, The Man with No Name (Blondie, also known as "The Good") and a bandit by the name of Tuco (Known as "The Ugly"), played by Eli Wallach, search for gold hidden away in a cemetery that only Tuco knows the name of, but needs Blondie since only he knows the name of the grave that holds the gold. In their way are the horrors of the Civil War, and a Union mercenary by the name of Angel Eyes (Known as "The Bad"), played by Lee Van Cleef, who also wants the gold for himself. Surprisingly, Sergio Leone took the time to develop one of the characters, Tuco. As the comic relief of the movie with a one tracked mind, he has a moment in the film where he meets with his brother, a Catholic Friar helping the victims of the war. The clear contrast between both brothers is pretty shocking, and the conversation between the two about how they have chosen their paths was very well done. As for the other two characters, Angel Eyes and Blondie, they remain mysterious yet interesting. Angel Eyes is quite the formidable enemy, picking and choosing who he kills and how he goes about gathering his information on the gold's location. Blondie is still pretty much the Blondie he always was in the series, though his sympathy towards the victims of war, and to a lesser extent Tuco, keeps him from being bland and predictable. One memorable scene involves a dying young soldier in his final moments of life. Blondie takes off his trench coat to cover the young man, and offering him his cigar as he slowly dies. Once their bizarre adventure leads them to the cemetery and the grave the gold resides in, both Blondie and Tuco meets up with Angel Eyes, who is ready and eager to kill them both for the gold. However, they all decided to "earn" the gold via a three way standoff, which has got to be the longest and most tense standoff in cinema history. This was the highlight of the movie and it is Sergio at his series' best, with constant cuts to each character who nervously awaits the final draw which lasted for 5 minutes straight! What made this scene what it was were the facial expressions of each character, particularly Angel Eyes and Blondie. As Blondie remains cool and collected, so did Angel Eyes, until time passed by. He soon became uncomfortable and scared as he looked at Blondie's cool demeanor, probably thinking that Tuco and Blondie would team on him. The progression of this thought turning into something that can be seen without the need for dialog reinforces the belief that The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly is among the best movies ever made, and with good reason.
I started this review stating that I hated westerns. Movies like The Dollars Trilogy are good examples why I'm so wrong. I love these films and I plan to buy the trilogy for myself when I get the chance. Sergio Leone once was a name I was not familiar with, but now I am tempted to look up more of his movies. It's a damn shame he could not be with us for much longer, since Appaloosa seems to be the only recent western being released lately, and I would just love it if Leone can show how everybody how westerns should be done.