Sad Hill Unearthed (Guillermo de Oliveira, 2017) Spain

Reviewed by Michael Geraghty. Viewed at the Santa Barbara Film Festival, 2018.

Director Guillermo de Oliveira brings a beautiful shot documentary about the unearthed of a movie legend left and abandoned in the hills of Burgos, Spain. The documentary has wonderful imagery, great editing, and creative use of cinematography to engage the viewer through this journey. By mixing just the right amount of interviews and timing perfectly with the imagery to support it, the doc makes sure that the viewer has imagery to back up each story and sideline that is presented.

During the filming of “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” 1966, staring Clint Eastwood , the Spanish army constructed 5000 gravestones to build the cemetery that marks the final duel at the end of the film. After the filming was complete, the site was left almost untouched for the past 60+ years. The central round stoned slab remained underneath years of dust and soil waiting for someone to dig it up and restore the once glorious site. As we witness volunteers from around the world coming to help in this adventure, we are shown glimpses of the filming of “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” to bring the movie legend into the realm of today. The documentary cuts between and past and present to show the scale of not just the renovation of the site but also the building of the site in 1966.

Wrapping together interviews with some of the creators of the “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” , including Ennio Morricone and Clint Eastwood as well as archive footage of the director Sergio Leone, the film keeps the viewer engaged in the story and the process of renovation.

A great documentary that brings lovers of “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” closer to their movie icons.