"L'Estasi Dell'oro"

Earlier this week I downloaded the soundtrack from The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly from Amazon because I've been meaning to get it for awhile and I was looking for inspirational music for the thing I've sort of been cooking writing-wise. (Actual writing has been minimal, but I'm not unhappy about some of the research I've been doing towards the goal of writing, so that's not bad.) Once again, I was struck by just what a stunning piece of music Ennio Morricone's "L'Estasi Dell'oro" ("The Ecstasy Of Gold") is. It is, quite simply, an amazing, perfect little piece of film music.

And the scene it's used for, above, might be my favorite three minutes of film of all time. I mean, it's perfect film, pure composition of the shots and editing, with that perfect piece of music backing it up. No special effects, no dialogue, just this guy running through a cemetery while the music waxes and wanes as he searches for something (you don't need to know that it's a grave allegedly full of Confederate gold to dig the scene).

Look at the way the film's editors, Eugenio Alabiso and Nino Baragli, cut between Tuco (Eli Wallach) running, held almost still in the frame, and the wall of motion that represents Tuco's point-0f-view. That rippling green-and-brown-and-grey blur is just... visual poetry, I hate the cliché but I don't know what else you could call it. Beautiful stuff, just beautiful.

And Morricone's scoring of the scene--perfect, just perfect. Slow and quiet in the beginning, rising to this clanging, swooping crescendo, horns briefly, casually referencing the movie's main theme as a momentary leitmotif, chorus rising, bells ringing and then, BANG, it ends in an instant. If this piece of music were a woman I'd marry it.

Amazing stuff. Just amazing.