Genre and Narrative Analysis Homework:

The genre of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly is clearly portrayed to us as a (‘spaghetti’) western film. This can be seen from the dusty, arid-looking mise-en-scene of the graveyard when the action takes place as it is a common looking backdrop for other western films similar to this film. Also, the costume and props give major hints to the genre as western films contain cowboy figures such as the ones seen in the film clip – cowboy hats, big belts, cigars, long shoes and of course guns!

The three character types that can be gathered from this clip, using Propp’s Character Theory, include; the Hero, the Villain and the Helper. The Hero in the film is ‘Man with No Name’ (nicknamed ‘Blondie’ earlier in the film) played by Clint Eastwood. The Villain in the film would be ‘Angel Eyes’ played by Lee Van Cleef. The Helper to Blondie, but also briefly the False Hero, is Tuco Ramirez played by Eli Wallach. Together, these characters make up the three parts of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

When applying Todorov’s Narrative Theory of three major stages of narrative, the film clip can easily be broken down. The brief moment of equilibrium in the clip can be interpreted as being the calmer setting of the grave-digging when Tuco Ramirez is digging ‘supervised’ by Blondie as they look for a hidden gold in one of the graves. However, enter the disruption! Angel Eyes introduces himself with a shovel-throw and gun-pointing to upset the equilibrium. The action slowly shifts into a three-way duel (another genre signifier!) between the three characters where a variety of long shots and extreme close-ups sets the scene and builds tension along with the epic western-style music. After 4 minutes of extreme tension, Angel Eyes is shot into a grave (with his hat and gun subsequently!), equilibrium is restored and the remaining two characters return to dig for the gold, just out of the clip.