War, Existentialism and "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly"

I am finishing up on my back log of great movies and yesterday I watched The Good,The Bad and The Ugly. As you know, the core of the movie is a simple treasure hunt in the Wild West that intertwines the fate of Blondie( Clint Eastwood), Tuco(Eli Wallace) and Angel Eyes(Lee Van Cleef). What wraps this basic plot are crisp dialogues, pure style and the best Original Sound Track ever. Imagine that the lead actor hasn't got a name and has to do with the name Blondie!! I am not sure if I understood what makes Blondie Good except for one scene in which he shows empathy for a dying soldier but frankly, it doesn't matter.

First fascinating sequence happens in New Mexico. Tuco and Blondie are caught in the middle of the American Civil War fought between Confederate and Union soldiers. These soldiers have been fighting to take control of a bridge over a river. The graveyard where the treasure is buried is near the site of the fighting. So, to end the war and make the two sides go fight somewhere else, Tuco and Blondie decide to blow up the bridge. Interestingly, the river is knee deep!!
This scene is fascinating for its symbolism. Here they are, these soldiers who have been fighting for a useless bridge when a treasure of $200,000 lies buried somewhere near them.But such is the beauty of a war. When you set this juggernaut rolling, it gains a momentum of its own. The reasons to go to war might disappear and new reasons might need to be discovered but the war goes on. What makes the situation even more interesting is the strict command and control structure in these situations where you are not supposed to question any order from your superior. We went into Iraq for WMDs, we found none. Then we decided to work for the noble cause of putting together a democratic government( Now that government representing the majority kills the members of the minority community fuelling a civil war). And, wait a minute, we also wanted cheap Iraqi oil to secure our oil supplies from the Middle East. Well, that has not happened either because of the security situation. But the war goes on...

The second fascinating sequence is the conversation between Tuco and his brother Pablo who has now become a priest. Tuco says to his brother:"Where we came from,if one did not want to die of poverty, one became a priest or a bandit. You chose your way and I chose mine. Mine was harder. You talk about mother and father. You remember when you left to become priest, I stay behind. I must have 10-12, I don't remember which but I stayed. I tried but it was no good.Now I'm gonna tell you something.You became a priest because you are too much of a coward to do what I do"...awesome...isn't it? Sartre would have smiled for the pure existentialism of this situation. For us to appreciate Pablos of the world, Tucos have to exist and for good people to exist, you need bad people to compare them with. And bad people deserve, at least, some credit for the role they play in this game of allocating moral judgements.Tuco does have a point, and in general he has one whenever he speaks, that it is not easy to be a bandit!!