The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood as "the Good", Lee Van Cleef as "the Bad", and Eli Wallach as "the Ugly  was released in 1966. I recall seeing it in my college days. Set in the American Civil War, and a 'Spaghetti Western' three hours long, it is considered by many as one of the greatest films in the Western genre ever made. The acting and screenplay, the cinematography and stunning visuals all go to make it a magnificent spectacle. And the musical score is famous for its haunting melody. The film may be seen on the Net, if you know where to look. Worth seeing, in these Corona times..

The best actor, in my view was Eli Wallach, who played the role of Tuco, the 'ugly' one. He's the central character, the one around whom the story turns. Van Cleef and Eastwood are good, but Wallach's part is the most challenging. Tuco is a man without any scruples whatsoever, completely untrustworthy, capable of saying anything at any time, willing to kill or befriend the same person, depending on his convenience and his interest. A bandit whose only aim is to get rich fast, a grave robber and picker of the pockets of corpses and dying soldiers. 

You have to see the film to understand the complete amorality of the man, and to appreciate Wallach's portrayal. The final scene is one of the most memorable gunfights in Hollywood Westerns, three men facing off, no-one knowing whom to shoot. The script involves a journey to a graveyard where one grave contains a fortune in gold. The moment when Tuco reaches the cemetery is metaphorically breathtaking, with him running between endless lines of graves, looking for the right one, the resting place of a corpse that would make him rich.  When the gunfight ends (and since this is such a famous film, there’s little danger of me spoiling much for my readers), there is yet another memorable scene, with Tuco’s feet on the arms of a cross, his head in a noose, and a pile of gold at his feet. If he jumps off the cross, he will hang..

See the film! But the reason I’ve written this post is that if there’s one man in the modern world who reminds me (distantly) of Tuco, that man is Donald Trump. This is especially so of the scene depicting Tuco's arrival in the cemetery, searching for gold amidst the graves of his countrymen. I say distantly for the obvious reason that while Tuco is a rascal to the core of his being, he is not a coward – he’s prepared to risk his life to get what he wants. 

That’s not so of Donald, of whom the reverse is true. For him, it matters little who or how many die - as long as it's not him and as long as he retains the presidency. Trump's personality and lack of scruple personify the big black hole at the centre of American corporate power.

Ironical, isn't it, that Clint Eastwood turned out so ambivalent about Trump. You would have thought he'd be a better judge of ugliness. But he made some great Westerns.