Types of Western movies

A genre in which description and dialogue are lean,				'Revisionist' is a term used in genre studies to
and the landscape spectacular, is well suited to				describe films that change traditional elements of
film. Early Westerns were mostly filmed in the				a genre.
studio like other early Hollywood movies, but				After the early 1960s, many American
when location shooting became more common,				film-makers began to question and change many
producers of Westerns used desolate corners of				traditional elements of westerns. One major
New Mexico, California, Arizona, Utah, Nevada,				change was in the increasingly positive
Kansas, Texas, Colorado or Wyoming, often				representation of Native Americans who had been
making the landscape not just a vivid backdrop,				treated as "savages" in earlier films. Audiences
but a character in the movie. Productions were				began to question the simple hero-versus-villain
also filmed on location at movie ranches.				dualism and the morality of using violence to test
The Western genre itself has sub-genres, such as				one's character or to prove oneself right. Some
the epic Western, the shoot 'em up, singing				recent Westerns give women more powerful
cowboy Westerns, and a few comedy westerns.				roles.
The Western re-invented itself in the revisionist				Contemporary Westerns
Western.				Contemporary Westerns, as the name implies,
Cowboys and gunslingers play prominent roles in				are films that have contemporary American
Western movies. Often fights with Native				settings but nevertheless utilise Old West themes
Americans are depicted. In early Westerns, the				and motifs (a rebellious antihero, open plains and
"Injuns" are frequently portrayed as dishonorable				landscapes, climactic gunfights, etc.). For the most
villains; however, many "revisionist" Westerns give				part, they still take place in the American West
the natives more sympathetic treatment. Other				and reveal the progression of the Old West
recurring themes of westerns include western				mentality into the late twentieth century.
treks and groups of bandits terrorising small				Examples include Sam Peckinpah's Bring Me the
towns such as in The Magnificent Seven.				Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974), John Sayles' Lone
The Classical Western film				Star (1996), Jim Jarmusch's Dead Man (1996),
The western film traces its roots back to 1903's				Michael Winterbottom's The Claim (2000), Robert
The Great Train Robbery, a silent film directed by				RodrÃguez's Once Upon a Time in Mexico
Edwin S. Porter and starring Broncho Billy				(2003), Tommy Lee Jones' The Three Burials of
Anderson. The film's popularity opened the door				Melquiades Estrada (2005), Ang Lee's Brokeback
for Anderson to become the screen's first				Mountain (2005) and Wim Wenders' Don't Come
cowboy star, making several hundred Western				Knocking (2005).
movie shorts. So popular was the genre that he				Genre studies and Westerns
soon had competition in the form of William S.				In the 1960s academic and critical attention to
Hart.				cinema as a legitimate art form emerged. With
In the United States, the western has had an				the increased attention, film theory was
extremely rich history that spans many genres				developed to attempt to understand the
(comedy, drama, tragedy, parody, musical,				significance of film. From this environment
science fiction, etc.). The golden age of the				emerged (in conjunction with the literary
western film is epitomised by the work of two				movement) an enclave of critical studies called
directors: John Ford (who often used John Wayne				genre studies. This was primarily a semantic and
for lead roles) and Howard Hawks.				structuralist approach to understanding how similar
Spaghetti Westerns				films convey meaning. Long derided for its
During the 1960s and 1970s, a revival of the				simplistic morality, the western film genre came
Western emerged in Italy with the "Spaghetti				to be seen instead as a series of conventions and
Westerns" or "Italo-Westerns". Many of these				codes that acted as a short-hand communication
films are low-budget affairs, shot in locations (for				methods with the audience. For example, a white
example, the Spanish desert region of				hat represents the good guy, a black hat
AlmerÃa) chosen for their inexpensive crew				represents the bad guy; two people facing each
and production costs as well as their similarity to				other on a deserted street leads to the
landscapes of the Southwestern United States.				expectation of a showdown; cattlemen are loners,
Spaghetti Westerns were characterised by the				townsfolk are family and community minded, etc.
presence of more action and violence than the				All western films can be read as a series of codes
Hollywood westerns.				and the variations on those codes.
But the best of the genre, notably the films				Since the 1970s, the western genre has been
directed by Sergio Leone, have a parodic				unraveled through a series of films that used the
dimension (the strange opening scene of Once				codes but primarily as a way of undermining them
Upon a Time in the West being a reversal of Fred				(Little Big Man and Maverick did this through
Zinnemann's High Noon opening scene) which gave				comedy). Kevin Costner's Dances with Wolves
them a different tone to the Hollywood westerns.				actually resurrects all the original codes and
Charles Bronson, Lee van Cleef and Clint				conventions but "reverses the polarities" (the
Eastwood became famous by starring in				Native Americans are good, the U.S. Cavalry is
Spaghetti Westerns, although they were also to				bad). Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven uses every one
provide a showcase for other noted actors such				of the original conventions, only reverses the
as Jason Robards, James Coburn, Klaus Kinski and				outcomes (instead of dying bravely or stoically,
Henry Fonda.				characters whine, cry, and beg; instead of a good
Ostern				guy saving the day, irredeemable characters
Westerns from the United States were popular in				execute revenge; etc.).
Communist countries, and were a particular				One of the results of genre studies is that some
favorite of Joseph Stalin. An entire genre of "Red				have argued that "Westerns" need not take place
Western" or "Ostern" films developed in Eastern				in the American West or even in the 19th
Europe. These films usually portrayed the				Century, as the codes can be found in other
American Indians sympathetically, as oppressed				types of movies. For example, a very typical
people fighting for their rights, in contrast to				Western plot is that an eastern lawman heads
American westerns of the time, which frequently				west, where he matches wits and trades bullets
portrayed the Indians as villains. They frequently				with a gang of outlaws and thugs, and is aided by
featured Yugoslavians or Turkic people in the role				a local lawman who is well-meaning but largely
of the Indians, due to the shortage of authentic				ineffective until a critical moment when he
Indians in Eastern Europe.				redeems himself by saving the hero's life. This
Gojko MitiÄ‡ is famous for his portrayals of				description can be used to describe any number
righteous, kindhearted and charming Indian chiefs				of Westerns, as well as the action film Die Hard.
("Die SÃ¶hne der groÃŸen BÃ¤rin"				Hud, starring Paul Newman, and Akira Kurosawa's
directed by Josef Mach). He became honorary				Seven Samurai, are other frequently cited
chief of the tribe of Sioux when he visited the				examples of movies that don't take place in the
United States of America in the 90s and the				American West but have many themes and
television crew accompanying him showed the				characteristics common to Westerns. Likewise, it
tribe one his movies. American actor and singer				has been pointed out that films set in the old
Dean Reed, an expatriate who lived in East				American West may not necessarily be
Germany, also starred in several films.				considered "Westerns."
Revisionist Westerns

Preceptions

Types of Western movies