The realization of the SAD HILL museum would be the perfect icing on the cake to the project of recovery of the cemetery of the "GOOD, the BAD and the UGLY"
TuVozenPinares
By Germán Martínez
September 4, 2023
Cinema is like a kiss of two lovers. As soft as a baby's
skin and as intense as the best glass of wine. Cinema is always a journey
without return that changes our lives by shaking them to reaffirm them in the
search for new values and answers. Joseba del Valle Barrio and Sergio García,
founding members of the Sad Hill Project, did not know that the journey they
undertook in 2016 would change not only their lives but the destiny of an
entire region of wonderful villages located in the historic province of Burgos.
Dressed in an Araucan poncho and a Texan hat, they left the Arlanza region to
go to the Adolfo Suárez airport. At the scheduled time Elisabetta and Giuditta
arrived, widow and daughter of the great Italian architect and set designer
Carlo Simi, architect among other unforgettable films, of the wonderful design
of the Roman circus of the cemetery of Sad Hill of the "Good, the Bad and
the Ugly", one of the best films of all time. "They were accompanied
by the Italian journalist Fabio Melelli. " I honestly believe that the
first thing they thought when they saw us was that we were crazy. Absolutely
crazy. Something normal if we take into account that they did not know us. Even
so, the return trip was a super pleasant adventure. We don't stop speaking
despite doing so in two different languages. In the end they were able to enjoy
an intense and emotional week in which they were visiting all the filming
locations remembering the great work that Carlo Simi had done in those
exteriors. It was tremendously fun the day we visited the cemetery. I decided to
take the road that leaves Santo Domingo de Silos and when I reached the
viewpoint I got quite close with the car on the edge. Elisabetta when she saw
the height was very frightened and gave a desperate cry that I can never
forget. After that wonderful experience, I have maintained together with my
colleagues a very affectionate, close, cordial and above all fruitful
communication with Giuditta that is now reflected in the enormous progress that
this great project has, "says Joseba del Valle Barrio, one of the great
promoters of the Sad Hill Project.
[Joseba del Valle Barrio and Sergio García, founding members of the Sad Hill Project, receive Giuditta Simi, Elisabetta Simi and journalist Fabio Melelli at Barajas airport in July 2016.]
Seven years later, the iconic Sad Hill cemetery where the
last scene of the legendary film "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" was
filmed, is just one step away from making a great qualitative leap at the
heritage and cultural level. And all thanks to the great effort made by a group
of fans to recover the site. A wonderful story reflected in Guillermo de
Oliveira's prodigious documentary "Unearthing Sad Hill", which has
turned the location into a point of pilgrimage for lovers of the western genre
from all over the world. Aristotle was right. Hope is always a dream that stays
awake. That is why now comes the culmination of such a wonderful dream with the
proposal of a cinematographic theme museum by the hand of the family of Carlo
Simi, architect, set designer and responsible for the design of the Sad Hill
cemetery. He was noted for his collaboration with Italian directors Sergio
Leone and Sergio Corbucci. In 2018 he received the "Leone in
Memoriam" award from the Almería Western Film Festival that his widow
Elisabetta, his daughter Giuditta and his grandson Lorenzo collected excitedly
in the town of Tabernas.
[FROM RIGHT TO LEFT: SERGIO GARCÍA, ELISABETTA SIMI, DIEGO MONTERO, JOSEBA DEL VALLE BARRIO, GIUDITTA SIMI, POLI, MONTSERRAT MONEO AND LORENZO FUGA SIMI.]
We are facing a heritage and cultural project of great
importance that is being promoted by Joseba del Valle Barrio, one of the
founding members of the recovery of the Sad Hill cemetery and author of the
iconic silhouette of Clint Eastwood that receives visitors upon arrival at the
place. Joseba del Valle has been appointed by the Simi family official
spokesperson in this museum project in which he already works together with his
colleagues. A unique and singular project that would have a great impact
throughout the region of Arlanza and Pinares de Soria and Burgos and that would
respond to the thousands of demands of visitors to the place who have always
wanted to know more about Sergio Leone's mythical film "The Good, the Bad
and the Ugly" and also about many other feature films in which Carlo Simi
participated.
[JOSEBA DEL VALLE BARRIO WITH GIUDITTA AND ELISABETTA IN THEIR VILLAGE BURGALES DE PINILLA DE LOS BARRUECOS]
"Everything has been brewing in the last two years.
We can already say that the museum's funds would have material from "The
Good, the Bad and the Ugly" and other great films in which Simi worked as
"Once Upon a Time in the West", "Once Upon a Time in
America", "Keoma", "Sabata" and the famous
"Django" that starred Franco Nero and that many years later would
emulate the great Tarantino with his masterful work on "Django Unchained.
The museum will also have the original plans of the different Burgos scenarios
of the film: the Sad Hill cemetery located in Santo Domingo de Silos, the
"Langstone Bridge" in Hortiguela and the Prison Camp of Betterville
located in Carazo. “A unique museum that would also have part of the original
costumes that were used in the filming by some of its protagonists,” he
explains.
[THE MONASTERY OF SAN PEDRO DE ARLANZA LOCATED BETWEEN COVARRUBIAS AND HORTIGUELA IS THE FIRST CHOICE TO CREATE THE SAD HILL FILM MUSEUM (PHOTO BY AQUILINO MOLINERO)]
"If we take into account all the alternatives that
we have been considering for the future location of the museum, our first
option has always been the Monastery of San Pedro de Arlanza. We are facing one
of the most important monasteries in the configuration first of the county and
then of the Kingdom of Castile. In the Castilian monastery the creation of one
of the houses of the natural park is foreseen, so this film museum would be
another exceptional incentive that would further promote the didactic activity
of this environmental institution. San Pedro de Arlanza is also an emblematic
place because it was also one of the main ones in the filming of the film
"The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" in the province of Burgos. Beatriz
Cabeza, director of the Sabinares del Arlanza-La Yecla Natural Park has also
told me that she would be delighted to be able to share space with the museum
and to promote the natural and cultural values of this beautiful valley hand in
hand with film tourism. In this sense, Juan Martín Marcos, mayor of Hortiguela
has also shown his enthusiasm for the project to go ahead. It is important to
comment that the authorizations are already being processed to provide the
monastery with electricity as soon as possible, which is an indispensable
condition for the building to be used continuously and stably and with all the
guarantees. “In the case of not being able to advance the option of housing the
museum in the Monastery of San Pedro de Arlanza, Covarrubias has offered two
magnificent options, all with an eagerness not to lose this unique opportunity
for the region,” he clarifies.
[THE GARDEN OF GOD BUILDING IN COVARRUBIAS OFFERS MANY POSSIBILITIES FOR THE SAD HILL MUSEUM]
Covarrubias is considered one of the most beautiful medieval
villages in Spain. In the tenth century the Count of Castile Fernán González
and his son García Fernández turned this beautiful Burgos town into the capital
of the Infantazgo de Covarrubias and head also of one of the most important
monastic lordships. For this reason and for other historical reasons this town
is known as the "Cradle of Castile". It was declared a National
Historic-Artistic Site in 1965. Covarrubias is currently one of the most
charming villages in Spain and a town dedicated to culture and history.
Therefore, it is a great place to house this film museum that would give a
great final boost to the Sad Hill project.
[ANOTHER POSSIBLE LOCATION IS A BUILDING THAT GIVES ACCESS TO THE PLAZA MAYOR OF COVARRUBIAS AND IS NEXT TO THE TOWN HALL OF THE CASTILIAN TOWN]
The first option to locate the museum is a municipal
management building that is located in one of the corners that give access to
the beautiful main square of the Castilian municipality. The medieval-style
house is just a few meters from the Town Hall of Covarrubias and the bar
restaurant Fernán González, one of the emblems of the hospitality industry in
Covarrubias. The second building is known in the village as the Garden of God
and also has a privileged location, although a little further away than the
first. However, this wonderful building has a large semicircular outdoor space
in which stage shows used to take place. We are undoubtedly facing a location
that offers a large number of possibilities for the new museum. And the final
goal is that this cultural institution can offer in the future all kinds of
cultural activities, talks, debates and screenings on cinema in general and on
the western in particular.
[JOSEBA DEL VALLE BARRIO AND EMETERIO MARTÍN, MAYOR OF SANTO DOMINGO DE SILOS, AT THE SAD HILL VIEWPOINT]
"The current government team of Covarrubias with its
mayor Raúl Gredilla at the head told me that it is a fantastic proposal that we
cannot miss because it is a unique opportunity for the region and that they are
delighted to be able to contribute everything in their power. For his part,
Emeterio Martín, the mayor of Santo Domingo de Silos, told me that Sad Hill
would make a huge qualitative leap with the creation of that museum, it would
be the icing on the cake of the project, a revulsive for the region and another
incentive for moviegoers who, in addition to locating the exteriors, could
enrich that visit with images and objects related to a mythical film in the
history of cinema.
Charles Chaplin, one of the greatest actors of all time,
used to say that we only achieve our dreams if we have the courage to pursue
them. That July 2016, two years after the beginning of the recovery of the Sad
Hill cemetery, two "wonderful madmen" undertook a fun and exciting
trip to pick up the Simi family and the great journalist Fabio Melelli at
Barajas airport on an adventure of rediscovery of the eternal and magical
places created by his father Carlos Simi for the film “The Good, the Bad and
the Ugly”, one of the greatest movies of all time. Since then the friendship of
Joseba del Valle Barrio and the closeness with his daughter Giuditta have
allowed that today the museum in honor of the cinematographic legacy of Carlos
Simi is a little closer. "That is why on behalf of those who have worked
and promoted the project to recover the Sad Hill cemetery, the municipalities
of the Arlanza region and the people involved in this proposal, we wish to
thank the Simi family in advance for the confidence shown for a project of such
magnitude. We also want to live up to such a relevant proposal, even more so
valuing the impact that such an extremely interesting initiative that could
have fallen anywhere else would have had for Burgos", concludes Joseba.
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