The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
Watching classic like this always come with the understanding of how many movies it must have influenced over the decades. The theme of how greed corrupts and the taste of richness make people mad has been explored countless times. Even though I might have felt a bit of a dejavu watching this, everything is just so well made and what I may have watched previously are still only imitations.
I was taken aback especially by Bogarts performance with his tragic arc of transitioning from sympathetic beggar to a mad men driven by greed. I was expecting him to be the hero with his Hollywood starpower, which just made his characters descent into madness even more effective. The black and white cinematography looks stunning giving it a noir like quality. Shooting mostly on location really pays of to cement the feeling of them being all alone in the wilderness On the surface it looks like a western or adventure, but it is really more like a psychological thriller. The three way dynamics evolves (and devolves) with amazing performances from Bogart, Huston and Holt.
I must say, despite its age this movie doesn’t feel very dated (with the exception of the unflattering portrayal of Mexicans) or any less relevant today. All the perils of a gold rush and how we talk about it today is still rooted in actual gold mining. It might be stocks or cryptocurrencies today, but everything else is basically the same. Too much money can bring out the worst in people and it is impossible to achieve anything in life without the ability to trust someone.
Rating: 4