Watched.
My rating: 8.5/10.
I don't think I've ever enjoyed myself so much during a talking-heads documentary. By the end of this film, my face and eyes were burning, my cheeks ached from the widest grin, and, to top it all off, my cold as steel, profusely sweating feet and hands gave my excitement away. Maybe I'm saying it because I haven't watched any films in the past few days, but, I believe, this film has a very, very satisfying climax.
Climax! Its all about one classic film's climax and the location where it was shot: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (1966). Il Buono, Il Brutto, Il Cattivo (Yes, its so good, you've to name it twice!) is a film much loved by me and so many others like me. The music, the editing, the camera work, , the sets, the performances-- don't get me started!
The cemetery where the exhilarating Mexican stand-off was shot, was a set built for the film in Spain. Just a few years ago, the place had become unrecognizable because of the vegetation. Nature had reclaimed the 'Arena of Destiny', as Sergio Leone himself liked to call it. But, as it happens, a group of people who love and worship the film, came together to restore the sacred place. People traveled from other countries to volunteer and breath in new life to this mythic place, ancient in its stature.
Brick by brick, they remade it. Just so you could stand on the stones where Clint Eastwood must've stood; fall on the ground, where Lee Van Cleef must've fallen; and put your neck through the noose where Eli Wallach must've been hung. Cinema can be a "spiritual" experience, and the story of Sad Hill just goes to show how it can and does affect people. To say that a particular piece of art had such a profound affect on an individual, that they are willing to dig and dig and dig, day in and day out, just so they can preserve that experience for others? Man... that is something. The passion just seeps through the screen.
What I love the most about it is how Good, Bad, Ugly sort of parallels the stature and history of another non-American Western, called Sholay (1975). Both films have cemented themselves in our culture. Their characters have evolved into these mythic figures of folklore. I can't go into much detail here, but I would encourage you to watch both movies and read up on their histories; you'd be surprised how similar they were. (P.S, my dad visited Gabbar's (Sholay's antagonist) den; unfortunately, it is slowly drowning in nature)
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