Spaghetti

When Watching Navajo Joe and The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, there are clear differences between these and traditional American Westerns. The clearest difference comes from Navajo Joe. The main character, and apparent alpha male, is a native American. This is an immediate departure from American westers, where native americans were basically props in the background. Throughout the film, Joe is mistreated. This starts with Duncan killing everyone in his village. Then, the villages say they don't want to deal with a native american when offered help by Joe. Later on, Joe is tortured by the gang. Throughout the film, the injustices done against Joe are a clear representation of what the Europeans think of the way Americans Native Americans. While American films did not show Native Americans in a sympathetic light, the European films were not afraid to do this. In Navajo joe, we see a lot of the motivation for the characters revolving around money. Duncan is robbing a train to steal money, and Joe asks for $1 for each man he kills. However, this is even clearer in The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. The film starts out early with Angel Eyes killing for money, even finishing the job for someone who is already dead. Later on, we see Blondie turning in Tuco, only to save him and turn him in again for more money, showing a disregard for justice but great regard for wealth. But, after the story develops a little, all three characters begin to be driven by the gold that the soldiers stole. This is their only goal, and they are completely oblivious to anything else going on. They couldn't even be bothered by a war. The atrocities are only something that slow them down. This represents Sergio Leone believing that America is a ruthless capitalist state. He clearly paints a picture of Americans that only care about money, and are willing to kill for it.