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An analysis of the editing in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) Part 1
The Wide, the Close Up, and the Score
The editing of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) is crucial to the feel of the movie as well as the emotional impact that director Sergio Leone was aiming for in his epic western. By this time it was his third western with Clint Eastwood playing a similar character and Sergio had came a long ways in his approach, film making and budget. The first two, A Fistful of Dollars (1964) and For a Few Dollars More (1965), were shot for 200,000 dollars and 600,000 dollars respectively. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) was shot for 1.2 million, a large increase, allowing Leone to undertake more challenging and innovative shots while also allowing him to shoot more complete coverage for all of the scenes and from more experimental angles. This is significant to the editing because it allows the editors a much deeper pool of shots to chose from giving them more creative freedom and ultimately creating a better movie than could otherwise be constructed in the editing room.
One of the editors, the inexperienced Eugenio Alabiso, had started out in documentary films and had only limited experience editing fiction including westerns although Alabiso had edited two prior including Sergio Leone’s For a Few Dollars (1965) a year before being called back to work for Leone. The other editor, Nino Baragli, had extensive experience editing Italian cinema (mainly action and dramas) with over 50 features to his name and someone who would partner with Sergio Leone again as their careers progressed. This combination of youth and experience combined with Eugenio’s editing on a Sergio Leone western and Nino Baragli’s broad editing knowledge combined to form a unique partnership with spectacular results. Eugenio’s previous work with Leone was especially important it was the perfect training ground and allowed for him to work on a movie with a similar genre, themes, aesthetics, and many of the same actors (Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef and Luigi Pistilli).
One of the interesting editing techniques used throughout the movie to create suspense is the super slow build-up scenes preceding the action. The shots tend to go from extreme wide to extreme close up and back again this creates a tension while maintaining the perspective. This is an often used technique throughout the film, one that can be seen in the opening sequence. It starts with the view of a striking bluff which is interrupted by a man leaning in front of the camera converting the shot into an extreme close up. This is a prelude for the rest of the movie and is an important component of the build up to the actual action. Once the action starts there tend to be very short cuts and the entire action scene is over very quickly much shorter than the build up to it. This type of editing can be found in most of the action sequences in the movie.
One of the most important editing decisions was the decision about the pacing of the film. The pacing is extremely slow, sometimes painfully so, and this was done intentionally by the editors. Both editors, Alabiso and Baragli, were trained in the classical Italian tradition which included pacing much slower than that of their American counterparts. Even the slower pace of most Italian movies doesn’t explain the length of time between each cut or the length of the movie. Stylistically, this is a very risky but also powerful choice, thankfully it works out great which is due in part to epic shots that the editors have been given to work with. Most of the shots presented are very complicated shots which present a lot of information that takes time to process. If the shots were shorter in length the audience would lose out on all of the additional information that is presented in a more subtle manner.
This is one of the greatest strengths of the film as many American directors forget that films can be a work of art unto themselves. The shots here are designed to be a portrait able to stand on their own and this careful staging and composition pays off in major ways in the form of an unbelievable beautiful work. Most are wide shots and awe inspiring due to their natural beauty and further interesting as we watch a lone rider strike off toward the horizon that gives us plenty to comprehend. More importantly we have to consider the emotional impact they have on the viewer, depending on the context. For instance we watch as Blondie and Tuco escape the hanging on a single horse and ride off into the desert. The small silhouette of a horse and rider streaking through a flat wasteland with nothing in either direction makes the emotion impact of Blondie stranding Tuco in the next scene even more powerful due to the strong set up. The XLS sets up the insignificance of the characters as well as the strength of the landscape and the resilience of the principals for overcoming it. The abandonment would have lost power if it was cut straight from the town to a medium two shot as the force of nature or the distance from civilization they had ridden wouldn’t have shown or impressed upon the audience so clearly.
A second type of extreme long shot that require time to comprehend as well are the war scenes and include the Prisoners of War camp in Battleville as well as the battle set up over the bridge. Both of these scenes are enormous in their scale and action. In both cases it’s a commentary on how humans can treat each other. Such effort and expense only to more efficiently kill and dehumanize each other. The amount of information they are trying to portray is huge and needs time to process.
These extreme longshots are also cut with extreme close ups throughout the movie. It’s unusual for editors to cut to such drastically different shots due to the disorientation the viewer feels. It’s a shock and the length of time spent on the close ups is gratuitous. This technique while disorienting to the audience also leads to a strong emotional impact for the close ups. Close ups (in this case extreme close ups) are only as powerful as the shots that come before or after them, by placing them ext to long shots these close ups are incredibly poignant and have a strong emotional impact.
Another stylistic choice is the intentional lack of strong camera movements; dollies, pans or zooms. As the pace has already been established as a slow moving piece it would have not be possible to maintain that leisurely pace and the length of shots any other way. By having a relatively static camera it allows the disorienting cuts to take effect without sickening the audience or throwing them out of the movie. This does not mean that the camera doesn’t move, zoom or pan, instead it means all three of these actions are done slowly in a deliberate time consuming manner that doesn’t draw attention to it. The editors have decided to only use shots that fit with the overall theme and that fit without disturbing the rest of the creation. The simple shots that are used by the filmmakers adequately portray what is going on but are not flashy or attention getting and combine nicely with the other techniques employed in the movie.
All of this visual beauty would be incomplete without a rousing score and as such we turn our attention to Ennio Morricone, the composer. He has written some truly moving music with a unique sound that was unconventional for westerns at that time and even today. However brilliant the score by itself it would have been worthless without the proper timing and back drop. The score is dazzling in the timing of the fade in and fade outs and the drops. The unconventional sounds backing an important development in the story serve to enhance the moment, i.e. after Blondie reads Angel Eye’s snide letter to Tuco and the score immediately drops it serves as a perfect transition as our protagonists continue their quest toward their goal. A second example would be the second time Blondie almost hits Tuco with the cannon ball and knocks him into the cemetery. As Tuco realizes where he landed perfectly scored music inhabits the background rising as we share in Tuco’s bliss and excitement as he realizes where he landed and starts running through the graveyard desperately trying to find the grave of Arch Stanton. The use of music is so strong in the film it has been rumored that Leone insisted scenes play longer to prevent cutting any of the music.
Lastly we look at music as a means to help create suspense. Looking at the final three-way shootout we see as the three gunman take their places the cuts go from long and lingering close ups to much shorter and more uniform extreme close ups of guns and faces. The music rises to a crescendo working with the editing to create a near fever pitch followed by the shooting and no music creating an emotional impact quite unlike other in the movie and one unmatched in similar movies. This use of music stems not only from Morricone’s genius but also from his experience working with Sergio Leone on his two previous westerns, A Fistful of Dollars (1964) and For a Few Dollars More (1965) and that experience allowed him to truly capture the essence of the characters.
The unnatural sounds throughout the film was a stylistic choice but also a pragmatic one. The film was shot with the principals speaking English but with the equipment in use, the extreme long shots and with only the assurance that the film would shown in Italian, on site recording was so poor it was used only as a guide track for the additional dialogue recording after the fact. Literally every piece of dialogue used was recorded at a later date which gave the editors enormous leeway in what dialogue should be left in and what should be added or changed. The editors also had this latitude with the ambiance which occasionally was strengthened to consume a scene. Given this enormous range the editors had a huge in hand the artistic quality of the film especially when taking into account the unnatural sounds were a strong component in the unnerving and discomforting of the audience. That being said merely the story telling aspect was enormous and should not be overlooked.
Another disconcerting fact for the audience was the constant breaking of 180 degree rule throughout the film. This was strategic editing decision and was used to keep the audience disoriented at certain times forcing them to constantly evaluate where they are and what’s happening in the film. Two examples of this include when Tuco is waiting outside of Blondie’s room in the monastery. As Tuco paces around the camera flip flops sides every other shot; this while not completely unnerving is enough to keep the audience outside of their comfort zone. Watching Tuco it allows us to sympathize with his uncertainty about Blondie’s health and how he is going to get the gold. A more striking example comes as Tuco and Blondie are battling Angel Eye’s gang in the deserted town. The 180 rule is flaunted and you have no idea where our protagonists stand or where their attackers are coming from. This is intentional as it matches the feeling of our heroes being surrounded on all sides. This creates a strong feeling of association with our heroes and helps deepen the emotional bond so we can more closely associate with them.
Part 2 Coming Soon
The editing of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) is crucial to the feel of the movie as well as the emotional impact that director Sergio Leone was aiming for in his epic western. By this time it was his third western with Clint Eastwood playing a similar character and Sergio had came a long ways in his approach, film making and budget. The first two, A Fistful of Dollars (1964) and For a Few Dollars More (1965), were shot for 200,000 dollars and 600,000 dollars respectively. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) was shot for 1.2 million, a large increase, allowing Leone to undertake more challenging and innovative shots while also allowing him to shoot more complete coverage for all of the scenes and from more experimental angles. This is significant to the editing because it allows the editors a much deeper pool of shots to chose from giving them more creative freedom and ultimately creating a better movie than could otherwise be constructed in the editing room.
Tuco and the Man With No Name
One of the editors, the inexperienced Eugenio Alabiso, had started out in documentary films and had only limited experience editing fiction including westerns although Alabiso had edited two prior including Sergio Leone’s For a Few Dollars (1965) a year before being called back to work for Leone. The other editor, Nino Baragli, had extensive experience editing Italian cinema (mainly action and dramas) with over 50 features to his name and someone who would partner with Sergio Leone again as their careers progressed. This combination of youth and experience combined with Eugenio’s editing on a Sergio Leone western and Nino Baragli’s broad editing knowledge combined to form a unique partnership with spectacular results. Eugenio’s previous work with Leone was especially important it was the perfect training ground and allowed for him to work on a movie with a similar genre, themes, aesthetics, and many of the same actors (Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef and Luigi Pistilli).
One of the interesting editing techniques used throughout the movie to create suspense is the super slow build-up scenes preceding the action. The shots tend to go from extreme wide to extreme close up and back again this creates a tension while maintaining the perspective. This is an often used technique throughout the film, one that can be seen in the opening sequence. It starts with the view of a striking bluff which is interrupted by a man leaning in front of the camera converting the shot into an extreme close up. This is a prelude for the rest of the movie and is an important component of the build up to the actual action. Once the action starts there tend to be very short cuts and the entire action scene is over very quickly much shorter than the build up to it. This type of editing can be found in most of the action sequences in the movie.
One of the most important editing decisions was the decision about the pacing of the film. The pacing is extremely slow, sometimes painfully so, and this was done intentionally by the editors. Both editors, Alabiso and Baragli, were trained in the classical Italian tradition which included pacing much slower than that of their American counterparts. Even the slower pace of most Italian movies doesn’t explain the length of time between each cut or the length of the movie. Stylistically, this is a very risky but also powerful choice, thankfully it works out great which is due in part to epic shots that the editors have been given to work with. Most of the shots presented are very complicated shots which present a lot of information that takes time to process. If the shots were shorter in length the audience would lose out on all of the additional information that is presented in a more subtle manner.
This is one of the greatest strengths of the film as many American directors forget that films can be a work of art unto themselves. The shots here are designed to be a portrait able to stand on their own and this careful staging and composition pays off in major ways in the form of an unbelievable beautiful work. Most are wide shots and awe inspiring due to their natural beauty and further interesting as we watch a lone rider strike off toward the horizon that gives us plenty to comprehend. More importantly we have to consider the emotional impact they have on the viewer, depending on the context. For instance we watch as Blondie and Tuco escape the hanging on a single horse and ride off into the desert. The small silhouette of a horse and rider streaking through a flat wasteland with nothing in either direction makes the emotion impact of Blondie stranding Tuco in the next scene even more powerful due to the strong set up. The XLS sets up the insignificance of the characters as well as the strength of the landscape and the resilience of the principals for overcoming it. The abandonment would have lost power if it was cut straight from the town to a medium two shot as the force of nature or the distance from civilization they had ridden wouldn’t have shown or impressed upon the audience so clearly.
A second type of extreme long shot that require time to comprehend as well are the war scenes and include the Prisoners of War camp in Battleville as well as the battle set up over the bridge. Both of these scenes are enormous in their scale and action. In both cases it’s a commentary on how humans can treat each other. Such effort and expense only to more efficiently kill and dehumanize each other. The amount of information they are trying to portray is huge and needs time to process.
These extreme longshots are also cut with extreme close ups throughout the movie. It’s unusual for editors to cut to such drastically different shots due to the disorientation the viewer feels. It’s a shock and the length of time spent on the close ups is gratuitous. This technique while disorienting to the audience also leads to a strong emotional impact for the close ups. Close ups (in this case extreme close ups) are only as powerful as the shots that come before or after them, by placing them ext to long shots these close ups are incredibly poignant and have a strong emotional impact.
Another stylistic choice is the intentional lack of strong camera movements; dollies, pans or zooms. As the pace has already been established as a slow moving piece it would have not be possible to maintain that leisurely pace and the length of shots any other way. By having a relatively static camera it allows the disorienting cuts to take effect without sickening the audience or throwing them out of the movie. This does not mean that the camera doesn’t move, zoom or pan, instead it means all three of these actions are done slowly in a deliberate time consuming manner that doesn’t draw attention to it. The editors have decided to only use shots that fit with the overall theme and that fit without disturbing the rest of the creation. The simple shots that are used by the filmmakers adequately portray what is going on but are not flashy or attention getting and combine nicely with the other techniques employed in the movie.
All of this visual beauty would be incomplete without a rousing score and as such we turn our attention to Ennio Morricone, the composer. He has written some truly moving music with a unique sound that was unconventional for westerns at that time and even today. However brilliant the score by itself it would have been worthless without the proper timing and back drop. The score is dazzling in the timing of the fade in and fade outs and the drops. The unconventional sounds backing an important development in the story serve to enhance the moment, i.e. after Blondie reads Angel Eye’s snide letter to Tuco and the score immediately drops it serves as a perfect transition as our protagonists continue their quest toward their goal. A second example would be the second time Blondie almost hits Tuco with the cannon ball and knocks him into the cemetery. As Tuco realizes where he landed perfectly scored music inhabits the background rising as we share in Tuco’s bliss and excitement as he realizes where he landed and starts running through the graveyard desperately trying to find the grave of Arch Stanton. The use of music is so strong in the film it has been rumored that Leone insisted scenes play longer to prevent cutting any of the music.
An Extreme Long shot in the Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
Lastly we look at music as a means to help create suspense. Looking at the final three-way shootout we see as the three gunman take their places the cuts go from long and lingering close ups to much shorter and more uniform extreme close ups of guns and faces. The music rises to a crescendo working with the editing to create a near fever pitch followed by the shooting and no music creating an emotional impact quite unlike other in the movie and one unmatched in similar movies. This use of music stems not only from Morricone’s genius but also from his experience working with Sergio Leone on his two previous westerns, A Fistful of Dollars (1964) and For a Few Dollars More (1965) and that experience allowed him to truly capture the essence of the characters.
The unnatural sounds throughout the film was a stylistic choice but also a pragmatic one. The film was shot with the principals speaking English but with the equipment in use, the extreme long shots and with only the assurance that the film would shown in Italian, on site recording was so poor it was used only as a guide track for the additional dialogue recording after the fact. Literally every piece of dialogue used was recorded at a later date which gave the editors enormous leeway in what dialogue should be left in and what should be added or changed. The editors also had this latitude with the ambiance which occasionally was strengthened to consume a scene. Given this enormous range the editors had a huge in hand the artistic quality of the film especially when taking into account the unnatural sounds were a strong component in the unnerving and discomforting of the audience. That being said merely the story telling aspect was enormous and should not be overlooked.
Another disconcerting fact for the audience was the constant breaking of 180 degree rule throughout the film. This was strategic editing decision and was used to keep the audience disoriented at certain times forcing them to constantly evaluate where they are and what’s happening in the film. Two examples of this include when Tuco is waiting outside of Blondie’s room in the monastery. As Tuco paces around the camera flip flops sides every other shot; this while not completely unnerving is enough to keep the audience outside of their comfort zone. Watching Tuco it allows us to sympathize with his uncertainty about Blondie’s health and how he is going to get the gold. A more striking example comes as Tuco and Blondie are battling Angel Eye’s gang in the deserted town. The 180 rule is flaunted and you have no idea where our protagonists stand or where their attackers are coming from. This is intentional as it matches the feeling of our heroes being surrounded on all sides. This creates a strong feeling of association with our heroes and helps deepen the emotional bond so we can more closely associate with them.
Part 2 Coming Soon
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