The Spaghetti Western Once Upon a Time in the West and the modern western 3:10 to Yuma are examples of the western genre and have been filmed almost forty years apart, yet both movies operate with the same preconceptions how a western has to operate.
Sergio Leone, the Italian director, uses the Italian widescreen format Techniscope, which is according to Toronto Star’s Peter Howell, “A cheapo wide-screen process that used less film but delivered a grainier image” (Howell, L09). Leone came from the Italian tradition of “Sword and Sandal” movies, and many Hollywood productions, such as Ben Hur were filmed in Rome in the 1950’s and 1960’s (Hughes, xi). Hollywood mostly ceased the production of westerns for the big screen while television shows, such as Gunsmoke and Rawhide were successful. The movie The Magnificent Seven had only modest success in the USA, while it was a huge hit in Europe. Therefore, Europeans started looking into making westerns, and many countries made western films, which were hugely successful at the box office, such as the film adaptations of immensely popular German writer, Karl May (Hughes, xii). Many westerns were filmed in Europe and due to the success; big Hollywood movie stars went over the water and filmed in the old continent, such as Tarzan’s Lex Barker and an emerging star named Clint Eastwood. Leone filmed his movies, as many other European directors did, in the Andalusian province of Almeria, Europe’s only desert; “At La Calahorra, the town of ‘Flagstone City’ was built beside the railway line to film Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)” (Hughes xviii). Leone was so successful filming the “Dollars Trilogy” with Clint Eastwood, which consisted of A Fistful of Dollars, For A Few Dollars More and The G...
... middle of paper ...
... why America is such a gun loving country, people are nostalgic for the seemingly easier times of the western frontier? It is also interesting to contemplate why especially Germany and Italy are in love with westerns, both countries that had fascist dictatorships. Maybe the men felt after losing World War II marginalized and were longing for being strong and masculine again, and not occupied by foreign male forces, who took their women away.
Works Cited
Ebert, Roger. "Once Upon a Time in the West." Roger Ebert.com. Ebert LLC, n.d. Web. 30 Mar 2014. .
Howell, Peter. "ROBINSON CRUSOE ON MARS." Toronto Star [Toronto] 25 September 2007, Pg. L09. Web. 30 Mar. 2014.
Hughes, Howard. Once Upon a Time in the Italian West: The Filmgoer's Guide to Spaghetti Westerns. London: I.B. Tauris, 01/2005 . eBook.
In “The Thematic Paradigm,” University of Florida professor of film studies, Robert Ray, defines two types of heroes pervading American films, the outlaw hero and the official hero. Often the two types are merged in a reconciliatory pattern, he argues. In fact, this
The film is beautifully shot in black and white, using Ford’s trademark of great depth of field that visually displays the stunning geography, combined with chiaroscuro lighting by cinematographer Joseph MacDonald and edited by Dorothy Spencer. The film has a wonderful film noir quality, moody, and dramatic night shots. By dawn, the camera captures the magnificent desert landscape that seems tailored made for Ford’s romantic action western film. Enhanced by the musical direction by Alfred Newman and music score by Cyril Mockridge and (uncredited) David Buttolph blends well into each scene.
Grainge, P., Jancovich, M., & Monteith, S. (2012). Film Histories; An introduction and reader. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
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.
In 1962 MGM (Metro-Goldwyn Mayer Films) released “How The West Was Won”, projected in a movie theater with three panels that needed to be projected by three different movie projectors at the same time. In a time where the classic western genre was about to be extinct. This ambitious project filmed by three different directors ended in a huge success, and it made investors believe that the movie industry could compete with the TV.
Classic film noir originated after World War II. This is the time where post World War II pessimism, anxiety, and suspicion was taking the world by storm. Many films that were released in the U.S. Between 1939s and 1940s were considered propaganda films that were designed for entertainment during the Depression and World War II. During the 1930s many German and Europeans immigrated to the U.S. and helped the American film industry with powerf...
Thus, the reason why British Westerns have an unconventional tradition of being sympathetic towards Native Americans is clear. Although directors certainly bring their own personal artistic vision to their projects, mainstream film production is still ultimately governed by commercial interests, as both Nowell-Smith and Neale attest. In order to make a profit at the box-office, movies have to meet the expectations and desires of their viewers, ensuring positive reviews and word of mouth endorsement. With government approval high in the United States during the 1950s, there was very little incentive for production companies to release a movie which challenged the dominant myth of the nation’s founding and its virtuousness, as it is unlikely that audiences would have been open to these ideas. Consequently, during the “Golden
Gallagher, Edward J. “The Thematic Structure of ‘The Martian Chronicles.’” DISCovering Authors. Online ed. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 3 March 2011.
Over the years some of the reasons to own guns have changed. As Americans moved west fulfilling Manifest Destiny, making new towns along the way which were far away from any established law. These people made laws through the barrel of a gun. Of course crime still happened, but not nearly as often, when the townspeople simply hunted down and shot the criminal. Eventually, police forces arose in the Midwest, and fewer people carried guns with them on the street but they were still there, visible or not.
During the course of this essay it is my intention to discuss the differences between Classical Hollywood and post-Classical Hollywood. Although these terms refer to theoretical movements of which they are not definitive it is my goal to show that they are applicable in a broad way to a cinema tradition that dominated Hollywood production between 1916 and 1960 and which also pervaded Western Mainstream Cinema (Classical Hollywood or Classic Narrative Cinema) and to the movement and changes that came about following this time period (Post-Classical or New Hollywood). I intend to do this by first analysing and defining aspects of Classical Hollywood and having done that, examining post classical at which time the relationship between them will become evident. It is my intention to reference films from both movements and also published texts relative to the subject matter. In order to illustrate the structures involved I will be writing about the subjects of genre and genre transformation, the representation of gender, postmodernism and the relationship between style, form and content.
The Godfather is the “dark-side of the American dream story” (Turan, pp2). The film follows the practices of a fictional Italian mafia family, the Corleone’s. Though most Americans do not condone the practices of the Italian mafia, they cannot deny that Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather is a cinematic masterpiece. This film gave insight to a mysterious way of life that the average person does not have knowledge of. As the audience is educated about the mafia they also are introduced to many stereotypes.
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.
... The Web. 18 Nov. 2011. Dirks, Tim. A. The "Film History of the 1970s.
Meneghetti, Michael. “Review: Ellis Cashmore (2009) Martin Scorsese’s America.” Film Philosophy 14.2 (2010). 161-168. Web. 6 Apr. 2014
Barsam, Richard. Looking at Movies An Introduction to Film, Second Edition (Set with DVD). New York: W. W. Norton, 2006. Print.