WESTERNS

WESTERNS• A major defining genre of American films

• One of the oldest, most enduring, and flexible genres

• An indigenous American art form

• Usually set on the American frontier during the last part of the 19th century (1865 – 1900)

• May extend back to the American colonial period or forward to the mid-20th century

• May extend geographically to Mexico and Canada

• The western film genre often portrays the conquest of the wilderness and the subordination of nature, in the name of civilization, or the confiscation of the territorial rights of the original inhabitants of the frontier (inhumanely portrayed as savage Indians)

SPECIFIC SETTINGS INCLUDE:

• Lonely isolated forts

• Ranch houses

• Isolated homesteads

• The saloon

• The jail

• The livery stable

• Small town main streets

• Frontier towns on the edges of civilization

ICONIC ELEMENTS• The hanging tree• Stetsons & spurs• Saddles• Lassos• Colt 45s• Bandanas• Canteens

• Stagecoaches• Gamblers• Long-horned cattle• Cattle drives• Prostitutes with

hearts of gold• And more

PLOTThe central plot of the western film is the classic, simple goal of maintaining law and order on the frontier in a fast-paced action story

ARCHETYPAL CONFLICTS• Good vs. bad• Virtue vs. evil• White hat vs. black

hat• Man vs. man• New arrivals vs.

Native Americans• Settlers vs. Indians

• Humanity vs. nature

• Civilization vs. lawlessness

• Villains vs. heroes• Lawman vs. outlaw• Law and order vs.

anarchy

ARCHETYPAL CONFLICTS• Rugged

individualist vs. the community

• Cultivated East vs. West

• Settler vs. nomad• Farmer vs. rancher

TYPICAL ELEMENTS• Hostile elements

(often Native Americans)

• Guns and gunfights• Violence• Horses• Trains (and train

robberies)

• Bank robberies and holdups

• Runaway stagecoaches

• Shootouts and showdowns

• Outlaws and sheriffs

• Cattle drives

TYPICAL ELEMENTS• Cattle rustlings• Stampedes• Posses Barroom

brawls

• Open landscapes• Distinctive western

clothing

THE WESTERN HEROWestern heroes often

are local lawmen, ranchers, army officers, cowboys, marshals, or skilled gunfighters

THE WESTERN HEROThey are normally

masculine persons of integrity and principle – courageous, moral, tough, solid, and self-sufficient

THE WESTERN HEROCan face danger on

his own and stand alone against the forces of lawlessness

SUBGENRES OF WESTERNSThe epic western

(i.e. The Big Country (1958) )

SUBGENRES OF WESTERNSThe “singing cowboy” western

( films of Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, etc.)

SUBGENRES OF WESTERNSThe “spaghetti” western(films of Sergio Leone)

SUBGENRES OF WESTERNSThe “contemporary” western

(i.e. Hud (1963) )

SUBGENRES OF WESTERNSThe “revisionistic” western

(i.e. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid 1969 )(The Wild Bunch 1969 )

SUBGENRES OF WESTERNSThe “comedy” western

(i.e Cat Ballou 1965 )(Blazing Saddles 1974 )

SUBGENRES OF WESTERNSThe “Post-apocalyptic” Western

(i.e. The Road Warrior (1981))(The Postman (1997))

SUBGENRES OF WESTERNSThe “Science-fiction” Western

(i.e. Outland (1981))