Three men, one graveyard and a load of confederate gold. All of these combine to make one of the best duels within any western, and within cinema itself.
This scene, the finale in Sergio Leone's western classic "The Good, The Bad & The Ugly" set a benchmark of style and tension, with the quintessential anti-hero- Blondie, and the man behind him- Clint Eastwood, assimilating into popular culture. This scene has been referenced many times and often hailed as one of the finest scenes in film-making, cementing the feature as a staple of cinema's history.
It is perhaps for this reason that the world renowned director and master of textual poaching Quentin Tarantino chose to reference this film in his own flick "Kill Bill Vol.2" The confrontation between the bride and Budd takes place over the backdrop of the very same music from the classic scene In "The Good, The Bad & The Ugly", drawing back to a vibrant web of intertextuality as well as reinforcing the genre of the scene. From the off, many parts of the scene, particularly is mise en scene, heavily draw from the western genre, the desert setting, the cowboy boots and the vengeful hero all hark back to the glory days of lone rangers and gunfight duels. The use of Morricone's soundtrack serves to consolidate this stereotype and reference, especially seeing as this piece is perhaps the one most strongly associated with the western. The scene following this even ends up in a graveyard near the mexican border, the setting of the Leone's showdown.
In addition, the soundtrack also gives the scene additional meaning, connoting the finality of the showdown, as The Bride is wholly defeated. the characters of The Bride and Budd could also be linked back to the characters of Blondie (The Good) and Angel eyes (The Bad) with the bride being caught off guard as Blondie and Tuco (The Ugly) are caught at gun-point before the scene in The Good, The Bad & The Ugly. The Bride is characteristically Blonde as is Blondie, they have similar Anti-Hero connotations and the moral high ground within the situation. Similarly, Budd and Angel eyes have darker hair, are older than their counterparts and take the place of the villains within the situation. The resultant of this is a further sense of foreboding and further characterisation of both characters. Clued up audiences may predict how the Bride regains her positon of power as Blondie does in "The Good, the Bad & the Ugly".
The audience feel flattered by understanding and realising the reference, further increasing audience engagement and enjoyment of the film. Furthermore this is Tarantino's way of paying tribute to the classic, and showing the world one of his many influences.
An excellent commentary on the effectiveness of Tarantino's explicit reference to the showdown at the end of The Good The Bad and the Ugly. Your expression is at the highest level.
ReplyDeleteWell done Lars.