The Good, The Bad and The Ugly film poster
I’m not a big fan of Westerns (Django Unchained aside), but when I saw that Fabrizio Gianni, Assistant Director on The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, was doing a Q&A after a screening at one of my favourite cinemas I just couldn’t resist.
The Hippodrome in Bo’ness is renowned for its annual Festival of Silent Cinema, but screens a great range of films all year round and is an absolute gem. It’s part of Falkirk Community Trust, which also operates the Park Gallery among other venues.
An in-demand Assistant Director, turned fashion photographer, Fabrizio Gianni moved to Falkirk many years ago so that his wife (a former model) could return to her Scottish roots, raise their family and study law. Gillian Smith, curator of the Park Gallery, remembered an article she’d read about him in 2003 and, with skills Miss Marple would be proud of, tracked him down to stage an exhibition to commemorate the gallery’s 15th birthday this year. The space may be relatively small, but it manages to cram in a great range of Gianni’s images, personally selected by the photographer himself. Many evoke a film set and hint at stories which go far beyond their initial aim to induce the viewer to buy the latest high fashion.
Image © Falkirk Community Trust / Fabrizio Gianni archive
In a perfect bit of cross-programming, the Hippodrome screened The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, a film Fabrizio worked on almost fifty years ago, to coincide with the exhibition. I don’t know if it was seeing it at the cinema or being able to glance over at Fabrizio’s face as he apparently also viewed his work on the big screen for the first time, but I loved TGTBATU. I can’t believe I haven’t before seen the film which has so clearly influenced many others that followed it. The combination of music and violence, the blurred lines between ‘good’ and ‘bad’, the scope of the story to cover so much more than mere dust-covered gunslingers. Many modern films of similar length (just shy of three hours) make me squirm and curse the self-indulgent editing skills of filmmakers, but Sergio Leone and Fabrizio Gianni had me enthralled from start to finish. It felt like being a kid at the movies again, and it was such a treat to see it on the big screen.
Alan Morrison, Group Arts Editor at The Herald, Sunday Herald and Evening Times led a lively chat with Fabrizio after the screening. He had the audience in stitches with his impressions of a laconic, slow-moving Clint Eastwood and then, in direct contrast, an increasingly irate Sergio Leone, hopping up and down and swearing vociferously in Italian when things weren’t going to plan. He also told of one poor bit-part actor who just couldn’t get his lines right; after endless takes under the punishing Spanish sun he sustained burns to his bald pate and landed himself in hospital.
Perhaps one of the most intriguing snippets of information he gave us concerned the birth of the famous Leone close-up.
Lee Van Cleef as Angel Eyes in a shot that has become synonymous with Sergio Leone films
Although this is now taught in film schools, it was created out of happenstance and necessity rather than any directorial imperative. I am not up to the technical job of explaining this in detail, but the changing number of ‘holes’ in technicolour film meant that one of the ‘claws’ feeding the film through had to be removed so the film tracked through the camera on a slant. This meant that if a wider shot had been used the scenery in the background would have looked out of kilter. As I said, not technical and I wouldn’t quote me on this, but it made perfect sense at the time and still does. In my head anyway.
Fabrizio carried out a huge amount of exacting historical research in preparation for TGTBATU which, Alan asserted, meant that the films given the derogatory moniker ‘Spaghetti’ Western were probably the most accurate on-screen portrayals of the American Civil War and Wild West up to that date. Fabrizio can still tell you the exact gun each eponymous character had and ensured that the cannons, uniforms and prison camps were completely authentic. You can see this attention to detail in his fashion photography too and I would urge you to get along to the exhibition and then (re) watch his brilliant achievement on film.
‘Fantasia’ by Fabrizio Gianni runs until 30th August at the Park Gallery. A chance to go through the exhibition with the photographer himself is available on 6th June.
multistory film 