The Good, The Bad and The Ugly Western films are the major defining genre of the American film industry, a eulogy to the early days of the expansive American frontier. They are one of the oldest, most enduring and flexible genres and one of the most characteristically American genres in their mythic origins - they focus on the West - in North America. Western films have also been called the horse opera, the oater (quickly-made, short western films which became as common place as oats for horses), or the cowboy picture. The western film genre has portrayed much about America's past, glorifying the past-fading values and aspirations of the mythical by-gone age of the West. Over time, westerns have been re-defined, re-invented and expanded, dismissed, re-discovered, and spoofed. But, most western movies ideas derived from characteristics known to the Native Americans and Mexicans way before the American culture knew about it. What you probably know as a good old western American movie originated from a culture knows as vaqueros (cowboys for Spanish). They are many misrepresentations of cultures and races shown throughout movies from as early as 1920's with silent films. Although one could argue that silent film era was more politically correct then now a day films, the movie industry should not have the right of misrepresenting cultures of Mexicans, Indians and there life styles in films known as western films. The film I picked is "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly." I first saw this movie about five years ago while a senior in high school. I loved the movie, but now after watching it I took a closer look at the stereotypes and generalizations that are being depicted in various ways like language, names, landscapes and people. I picked this film because the movie is famous and very well known by Italians, Americans, and Hispanics, and not just famous in America Hollywood (and because I had list of required films I had to pick from). While watching the movie my second time around I tried and focus on the location where the movie takes place in order to demonstrate how lands of Mexico, New Mexico and Texas generalized. I also placed attention to the names the characters are given. There is a term used in Hollywood called little man wins' but after watching The Good, The Bad and The Ugly one observe how this cliché is not used.
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Show MoreName of the movie that I selected was “Stranger in Good Company”. This movie was directed by Cynthia Scott and it was released at May 03, 1991(www.imdb.com). This movie is 105 minutes long and audience for this movie is mostly adults. I chose this movie because it is a heartwarming, slow paced reflection on life, the strong human spirit, and the meaning of true friendship when it occurs between strangers. In addition to that, this movie that show us the true unity, love, and individuality. This movie is related to the aging because almost all the actors are seniors and they truly bring their life memory to the movie. This movie shows us many sociological imagination, life course and diachronic vision that most of the older people have.
Howard Hawkes' 1948 Red River will serve as our example of the western model.The opening credits rise literally out of the landscape, and we're told in the opening narration that this is a story of the landscape, in that it recounts the first major cattle drive along the Chisholm trail from Texas to Abeline, Kansas.In the 1st scene we see a vastly open prairie with a small wagon train almost lost in its expanse.We discover immediately that Dunson (John Wayne) is leaving the wagon train to strike out on his own.The signature trait of Dunson is the first of the western hero's trademarks: once he's made up his mind, "nothing anyone says or does can change it"; despite the entreaties of the wagon master and his putative girlfriend, Dunson sets out south with only his friend, Tom Groot (played by Walter Brennan).
Many westerns contain some of the same elements. For instance, almost every western ever made involves a sheriff. He is usually the peace-keeper of a small town overrun by outlaws and cowboys, which he eventually chases out of town or kills. Another element of westerns is a gunslinger. A gunslinger is usually a young man who makes his living shooting other men in showdowns, a classic example is Billy the Kid. Railroads are also a recurring image in westerns. Since the railroad was the major mode of transportation in the old west, it is always present in westerns. Finally, westerns always have a villain. The villain, usually a man, dresses very slick and will stop at nothing in his quest for power. In addition, the villain usually has a gang to carry out his dastardly deeds. The gang is usually full of incompetent, but loyal thugs, who would love to destroy a small town just for the pleasure of wanton destruction. The elements of a western are very simple, but easily manipulated into a very interesting plot.
The story of the American West is still being told today even though most of historic events of the Wild West happened over more than a century ago. In movies, novels, television, and more ways stories of the old west are still being retold, reenacted, and replayed to relive the events of the once so wild and untamed land of the west that so many now fantasize about. After reading about the old west and watching early westerns it is amazing how much Hollywood still glorifies the history and myth of the old west. It may not be directly obvious to every one, but if you look closely there is always a hint of the Western mentality such as honor, justice, romance, drama, and violence. The most interesting thing about the Old West is the fact that history and myth have a very close relationship together in telling the story of the West.
It was incredibly difficult to not to pick one of my favorite films for this project, such as A Clockwork Orange, One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, and Jaws. However, I went out of my comfort zone and picked a genre of film I’ve never become familiar with- Western. The 1974 film Blazing Saddles was a hilarious frontier/Wild West twist about road worker named Bart, played by Cleavon Little, becoming part of character Hedley Lamarr’s (Harvey Korman) evil plan to out-run the small town of Rock Ridge by appointing an African American sheriff to the massly single-minded small town of racist’s. With the plan to destroy the town to make way for a new railroad, Lamarr is convinced that they town would be so appalled that they wouldn’t stand having an
Somewhere out in the Old West wind kicks up dust off a lone road through a lawless town, a road once dominated by men with gun belts attached at the hip, boots upon their feet and spurs that clanged as they traversed the dusty road. The gunslinger hero, a man with a violent past and present, a man who eventually would succumb to the progress of the frontier, he is the embodiment of the values of freedom and the land the he defends with his gun. Inseparable is the iconography of the West in the imagination of Americans, the figure of the gunslinger is part of this iconography, his law was through the gun and his boots with spurs signaled his arrival, commanding order by way of violent intentions. The Western also had other iconic figures that populated the Old West, the lawman, in contrast to the gunslinger, had a different weapon to yield, the law. In the frontier, his belief in law and order as well as knowledge and education, brought civility to the untamed frontier. The Western was and still is the “essential American film genre, the cornerstone of American identity.” (Holtz p. 111) There is a strong link between America’s past and the Western film genre, documenting and reflecting the nations changes through conflict in the construction of an expanding nation. Taking the genres classical conventions, such as the gunslinger, and interpret them into the ideology of America. Thus The Western’s classical gunslinger, the personification of America’s violent past to protect the freedoms of a nation, the Modernist takes the familiar convention and buries him to signify that societies attitude has change towards the use of diplomacy, by way of outmoding the gunslinger in favor of the lawman, taming the frontier with civility.
Barry, , Keith, and Grant, ed. Film Genre Reader III. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press,
Most film scholars believe the first Western to be ‘Cripple Creek Bar Room’ (W. Dickson’s 1898 tableau). To understand the origin of the Western, one must realise that the genre did not spring to life in full maturity. Its growth stemmed from various roots including Arthurian legends, oral tradition shared through generations, and frontier tales that essentially developed into folk-lore. The dime novels of the 1860s and onwards, pre-dated the advent of movies by one generation.
As a person grows to join society, they will inevitably run into the corruption of the world. The beautifully written To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a classic piece of American literature that explains this part of life. Maycomb County, Alabama is the home to southerners who seem friendly but are generally offenders of bigotry. Throughout the story, Lee describes the coexistence between good and evil in these people. People are sometimes considered either good or bad. In an imperfect world, there is some ratio between the two. Through her characters, Lee makes the reader understand the complexity of good and bad of people and society.
To begin the creation of a western film using the western formula, a threat has to come to
A “Western Film” is a film genre dedicated to this period in time, where Cowboys, Indians and Outlaws ran wild. The very first Western films showed in the 1890’s, these were; Annie Oakley, Bucking Broncho, Buffalo Bill, Buffalo Dance and Sioux Ghost Dance. They were trying to show audiences the “heroics” and the “bravery” of fake people, which I think flawed many people’s impressions of what makes a real man, as it would almost always depict the man as a hero who stands up for the weaker many, is great with a gun, can take down several men at once with just his fists, which just isn’t possible. Personally, I think this has skewed gender roles over the years, even just slightly, and only now are we “recovering” and realizing that not everyone is a macho-man.
Few Hollywood film makers have captured America’s Wild West history as depicted in the movies, Rio Bravo and El Dorado. Most Western movies had fairly simple but very similar plots, including personal conflicts, land rights, crimes and of course, failed romances that typically led to drinking more alcoholic beverages than could respectfully be consumed by any one person, as they attempted to drown their sorrows away. The 1958 Rio Bravo and 1967 El Dorado Western movies directed by Howard Hawks, and starring John Wayne have a similar theme and plot. They tell the story of a sheriff and three of his deputies, as they stand alone against adversity in the name of the law. Western movies like these two have forever left a memorable and lasting impressions in the memory of every viewer, with its gunfighters, action filled saloons and sardonic showdowns all in the name of masculinity, revenge and unlawful aggressive behavior. Featuring some of the most famous backdrops in the world ranging from the rustic Red Rock Mountains of Monument Valley in Utah, to the jagged snow capped Mountain tops of the Teton Range in Wyoming, gun-slinging cowboys out in search of mischief and most often at their own misfortune traveled far and wide, seeking one dangerous encounter after another, and unfortunately, ending in their own demise.
The movie I am going to recommend is 42. The movie 42 is about Jackie Robinson, how he cross the baseball color barrier in the late 1940's and become the first ever African American baseball player. the movie 42 is not so much about plot and suspense, it's more about powerful portrait of the man who ushered in professional sports' own civil rights movement. The reason I recommend this movie is because, this movie shows us the psychology of a nation in this context America, and its citizen. It demonstrates what others have endured, and still have to deal with it these days. It identifies how impressions, think racial attitudes, get passed down to generation and generation. It display ignorance. But it also presents America with an opportunity
My four films are 1. Black-ish, about an upper-middle class black family who live the all American Dream, start from nothing and becoming successful, and about the pros and cons they face because of their race. 2. Fresh off the Boat is about a family that are new to Florida and how the steps they take to be an all American family. 3. Charmed, which is about three sister; Phoebe, Piper, and Prue Halliwell who discover they are witches and use their powers to save the world on a daily basis. 4. Grease is a musical set in the fifties about teen’s who fall in love during the summer but unknowingly go to the same school, while being from to completely different groups. These teens change themselves so they can be together. Each of these films represent
Westerns are split down into sub genres for example classical westerns like "The Great Train Robbery" but there are also other western genres like revisionist westerns. Revisionist westerns occurred after the early 1960's, American film-makers began to change many traditional elements of Westerns. One major change was the increasingly positive representation of Native Americans who had been treated as "savages" in earlier films. Another example is Spaghetti westerns, Spaghetti westerns first came during the 1960's and 1970's, The changes were a new European, larger-than-life visual style, a harsher, more violent depiction of frontier life, choreographed gunfights and wide-screen close-ups.