Mus468 Essay 1 - 941 Words

James Le
010091313
Mus468
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly is a 1966 Italian western film directed by Sergio Leone. The music score for the film was composed by Ennio Morricone. The main theme of the film, which resembles the howling of a coyote, is a melody that is a frequent leitmotif for the three main characters. All of the characters were bounty hunters and they all required a powerful musical theme. Ennio Morricone did a fantastic job utilizing the theme to accompany scenes where one of the three main characters were about to square off. Thematic transformation was used to individualize the theme for each person. A different instrument would be used for each of the main character: a flute for Blondie, an Ocarina for Angel Eyes, and human voices for Tuco. Another version of the theme named, "Fine Di Una Spia", was used to actually depict a relaxed mood. It was often used after a suspenseful scene to represent the relief the characters felt. The opening credits also utilized this theme, which is also titled "The Good, the bad, and the Ugly", to set the mood that will remain constant throughout the film. It is used several times throughout the movie to help support the plot as well. During the majority of the shooting scenes, the theme would also be played to build the suspense. Ennio Morricone utilized a lot of underscoring in this film. He wanted the tension that was set from the opening credits to stay relevant and constant. When Angel Eyes was about to murder Stevens, the underscoring was used to foreshadow the events that was about to occur. The music was tense, eerie and dramatic and was a good indication that Stevens was about to be shot. Another time the movie used underscoring was during Tuco's revenge on Blondie for abandoning him in the desert. The underscoring added a dark mood to the scene. The majority of the underscoring that occurred for scenes with Angel Eyes and Tuco were mainly dark and evil. It gave us the impression that these characters were malevolent. However, as Tuco's personality shifted from his selfish arrogant ways to a more sincere and dependable person, the music also shifted. His change is mostly due to Blondie's forgiveness and their mutual enemy Angel Eyes. For example, a common underscore for Tuco near the beginning of the movie was, "Fuga A Cavallo." This song is very fast paced and eerie and gave a sense of uneasiness. Near the end of the film, when Tuco and Blondie were searching for the money, "The Ecstacy of Gold" was used, which is much easier going. Near the end of the movie, during the showdown between the three main characters of the film, the song "The Trio" was used to represent the climax of the movie. This final scene was what the entire movie was building up to and the song did a fantastic job helping guide the mood of the showdown. Although the film did lack source music, there was an instance where Ennio utilized source music to heighten the mood. When the Union army was marching, they were playing music and drums. The music really complemented the war setting that the movie was taking place in. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly is a movie that takes place during the civil war and several of the scores complemented this setting. For example, when Angel eyes was torturing Tuco, "The Story of the Soldier", was being sung by the prisoners. The song conveyed the sorrow the prisoners endured and it illustrated the pain and suffering that accompanied the war. The song, however, actually ran counter to the action because the song

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