soundtrack intertextual references

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Soundtrack Intertextual References ‘The Good, The Bad and The Ugly’ is a 1966 Italian Spaghetti Western film, directed by Sergio Leone. The film’s trio consists of; Clint Eastwood as ‘Blondie’, The Good, Lee Van Vleef as ‘Angel Eyes’, The Bad, and Eli Wallach as Tuco Ramirez known as ‘The Rat,’ The Ugly. ‘Kill Bill 2’ is a 2004 film, directed by Quentin Tarantino. Following ‘The Bride’ who’s a former member of an assassination team seeking revenge on her ex-colleagues who massacred members of her wedding party and tried to kill her. With Uma Thurman as ‘The Bride’ or Beatrix Kiddo, David Carradine as Bill, and Michael Madsen as Budd. Both of these films feature the soundtrack from the Spaghetti Western film scores of Ennio Morricone. e Good, the Bad and the Ugly’ & ‘Kill Bill

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Soundtrack Intertextual References

‘The Good, The Bad and The Ugly’ is a 1966 Italian Spaghetti Western film, directed by Sergio Leone.

The film’s trio consists of;Clint Eastwood as ‘Blondie’, The Good,Lee Van Vleef as ‘Angel Eyes’, The Bad,

and Eli Wallach as Tuco Ramirez known as ‘The Rat,’ The Ugly.

‘Kill Bill 2’ is a 2004 film, directed by Quentin Tarantino.Following ‘The Bride’ who’s a former member of an

assassination team seeking revenge on her ex-colleagues who massacred members of her wedding

party and tried to kill her.With Uma Thurman as ‘The Bride’ or Beatrix Kiddo,

David Carradine as Bill,and Michael Madsen as Budd.

Both of these films feature the soundtrack from the Spaghetti Western film scores of Ennio

Morricone.

‘The Good, the Bad and the Ugly’ & ‘Kill Bill 2’

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly In the finale of the film, the trio gather in a graveyard on the Mexican border, the iconic hero, ‘Blondie’, takes on ‘The Bad’ and ‘The Ugly.’

The sound of vultures in terms of sound already adds to the atmosphere; connotations with being a scrounger

and only surviving from using others success. Blondie, the man with no name, the cool and collected hero of the film. Where he confronts ‘The Bad’ and ‘The

Ugly.’The soundtrack was composed by Ennio Morricone in 1964. Maurice, who was hired by Leone, created this score which

begins with the melody of ‘The Ecstasy of Gold.’ Where Tuco, ‘The Rat’, is searching for the grave which holds gold coins.

This is then followed by ‘The Triple Duel.’ Complementing the famous climax, the three-men standoff. An epic showdown which is seen by many film critics to be one of the “most

electrifying climaxes ever filmed.” The music is an integral component to create this tension.

The choice of a deserted, sparse Mexican border graveyard location creates connotations with the thriller genre conventions.

Similarly to ‘Essex Boys’ this prime-evil landscape with no borders suggests the characters intentions. That there’s no boundaries to the actions that are

occurring. The naturalistic ambient lighting makes the scene appear realistic and that the audience are watching the seen unfold in front of them, enhancing the

viewing experience.

Kill Bill 2The use of a claustrophobic location when, Beatrix Kiddo, ‘The Bride’ is buried alive links to the thriller convention of entrapment and small claustrophobic spaces, linking to the

thriller genre.The use of a point of view camera angle also helps emphasise the tight space, shifting that feeling of

uncomfortable claustrophobia to the audience. Appealing to the human fear of being buried alive, this builds the tension of Beatrix Kiddo’s actions, making the whole situation and

escape scene even more thrilling.In the Beatrix Kiddo buried alive scene, the only lighting is her torch. This character ambient prop creates the audience

attention to be focused on specifics. The emerged viewer can only see what Beatrix Kiddo herself can see. The use of shadows

created, chiaroscuro lighting, makes the space very dark and intimidating. The fear of the unknown in such a claustrophobic

setting. This single torch light being a ‘normal’ thing, but in such a tense and dramatic situation references the thriller genre.

With the deserted location already hinting at ‘The Good, The Bad and The Ugly’ the characters also reference

Sergio Leone’s film. ‘The Bride’ (The Good) takes on Bill’s (The Bad’s) trailer trash brother Budd (The Ugly.)

Budd is represented to be one cunning step ahed of Beatrix when he shoots her in the chest as she tries to attack him. He later drags the paralysed Beatrix to a

wooden coffin to bury her alive.

To those who have made a connection between the two films, may be able to predict the outcome from certain films.

When ‘The Bride’ is faced with this confrontation, the soundtrack is a clue that she’ll survive. Linking Beatrix Kiddo

to ‘Blondie’ also suggests how this heroic character will always be victorious.

Quentin Tarantino has chosen to use the Spaghetti Western soundtrack from Sergio Leone’s ‘The Good, The Bad and The Ugly’ when ‘The Bride confront Bud at the

beginning of ‘Kill Bill 2’ to highlight certain aspects of both films which link. The hint at ‘The Bride’s’ survival in two separate scenarios, linking her to ‘Blondie.’

The Soundtrack

This heroic archetype is the comparison between Beatrix Kiddo and ‘Blondie’ also is used in costume. In ‘Kill Bill 2’ Beatrix Kiddo is buried alive. A close-up of her

cowboy-style shoes is another reference to the Western character ‘Blondie’ which also hints at her survival.

If a viewer recognises this intertextual references they may have a deeper understanding of the scene and feel flattered at the recognition.Both films use extreme close-ups, a classic thriller genre convention.

In the confrontation scenes in ‘The Good, The Bad and The Ugly’ shows the three men in a standoff, quick cuts to each of the men keep the pace quick to keep the audience engrossed and immersed in the film’s action. Similarly, in ‘Kill Bill 2’ in the Beatrix Kiddo shooting scene, close ups of the faces of characters are used.

Use of close ups and zooms are common in thrillers, the convention helps to enhance or identify important objects / characters in the film.