western - conventions, history and examples
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Western Movies
Conventions, History and Examples
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An OverviewKey Points
Telling stories set in the American West
Often portray films in a romanticised light
Nostalgic historical feel
Genre has been popular throughout the
history of the movies
Has diminished in importance as the
United States moves further away from
the period depicted in these movies.
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Setting and Time
Set in the American West Almost always in the 19th Century
Incorporate the Civil War into the film
directly, or the background May extend further back into the colonial
period
Or forward into the mid-twentieth century May range geographically from Mexico to
Canada
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The Hero
Semi nomadic characters Sole possessions consist of clothing, a
gun and maybe a horse
Some high technology of the era present,e.g. telegraph, printing press, railroad
Occasionally these referred to as adevelopment just arriving, symbolising theend of frontier lifestyle and the march ofcivilisation
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Some general conventions
Each movie is a morality tale
Usually set against stunning American
landscapes
In some movies the landscapes are morethe stars than the actors
Stress the harshness of the landscape, or
juxtapose the beauty of it with thedirtiness of a town
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Some possible locations
Isolated forts
Ranch houses
Isolated homestead
Saloon
Jail
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Iconography
Stetsons Spurs
Colt. 45s
Prostitutes Saloon
Sheriff
Faithful Steed Indians
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Common themes
Conquest of the wilderness and thesubordination of nature, or the capture ofterritory from the natives.
Depicts a society based on a code of honour
rather than law. Social status is only achieved through acts of
violence, or generosity.
These themes are forefront, as in the western,
the arrival of the law is often seen asregrettable.
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Evolution
Structure drawn from 19th Century melodramaticliterature involving virtuous hero and a wickedvillain who menaces a virginal heroine
Action story, composed of violence, chases and
crimes Introduction of the history of migration
westwards and opening of frontier films likeThe Covered Wagon(1924)
Revenge structure, present in films like Billy theKid(1930)
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Sub-genres
Classical Western
Epic Western
Shoot em up
Singing Cowboy Westerns
Spaghetti Westerns
Revisionist Western
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Classic Westerns
The Great Train Robbery(1903) was the firstnarrative film produced in US
Starred Bronco Billy Anderson
He then starred in hundreds of western shorts Genre epitomised by work of two directors
John Ford who used John Wayne as his lead
directed Stagecoach(1939), which is
considered one of the best westerns ever made.
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Spaghetti Westerns
Revival of the western genre in Italy Low budget affairs
Locations chosen for their cheapness, andsimilarity to mid-West (southern Spain was often
chosen) More action and violence than Hollywood
westerns.
Sergio Leones contributions were the mostnotableOnce Upon A Time in the West.
Clint Eastwood started his career in these
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Revisionist Westerns
Questioned the role of native as a savage Questioned the hero versus villain theme
Some gave women much larger roles
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Clint Eastwood
http://affiliates.allposters.com/link/redirect.asp?aid=270661&item=274931http://affiliates.allposters.com/link/redirect.asp?aid=270661&item=274929http://affiliates.allposters.com/link/redirect.asp?aid=270661&item=274935http://affiliates.allposters.com/link/redirect.asp?aid=270661&item=274927 -
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Critical Thinking
Long derided for simplicity Later came to be seen as a series of
linked films which convey meaning this
links with Todorovs theories ofconventions of genre.
Worked on the principle of semiotics as
well e.g. a white hat represented thegood guy
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Influences
After 1960, heavily influenced by JapaneseSamurai movies
Magnificent Seven was remake of SevenSamurai (Dir. Akira)
Western was a strong influence on Eastern bloccinema
Superheroes like Spiderman are modern, urbanrepresentations of the western hero
Star Wars films use many codes andconventions of the western
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And Finally
As far as Im concerned, Americans dont
have any original art except westernmovies and jazz
Clint Eastwood