Kim Jee-woon’s 2008 action-Western film “The Good, the Bad, the Weird” lives up to all three adjectives in its title. That title was, of course, inspired by Sergio Leone’s celebrated 1966 Western “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly,” a film that starred — in their respective moral roles — Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, and Eli Wallach. As any cineaste can tell you, Leone’s classic, set in 1862, is about its three main characters seeking a hidden cache of Confederate gold that’s hidden in a cemetery. The film runs 161 minutes (or 171 if you’re watching the director’s cut), and it features many violent, picaresque adventures on the way to its famed three-way shootout.
In Kim’s film, the three title roles are played by — also respectively — Jung Woo-sun, Lee Byung-hun, and Song Kang-ho, although it takes place in the wilds of Manchuria in 1939 just before the widespread outbreak of World War II. Like Leone’s movie, though, “Weird” is largely about the three principles fighting over a buried treasure. This time, it’s a map that the “Bad” character attempts to steal from a Japanese train, only to be hoodwinked by the “Weird” character. The Bad (named Park Chun-yi) is soon targeted by the “Good” character (named Park Do-Wan), a pure-hearted bounty hunter more interested in bounty than treasure maps.
The treasure is eventually revealed to be the remnants of the Qing Dynasty, which didn’t come to an end until 1912. For “The Good, the Bad, the Weird,” the film deals with recent Chinese history and the echoes of Chinese imperialism. This parallels the historical themes of Leone’s original, which dealt with the racist history of the U.S. Civil War.
Oh, and did you notice how sexy Lee was? He’s the one in the long, black leather jacket, emo hair, and leather finger-holster. You might also know him for his many other roles, including Hwang In-ho in “Squid Game.”
