Western Movies Conventions, History and Examples.

Western Movies

Conventions, History and Examples

An Overview – Key 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.

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

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 a

development just arriving, symbolising the end of frontier lifestyle and the march of civilisation

Some general conventions

• Each movie is a morality tale

• Usually set against stunning American landscapes

• In some movies the landscapes are the stars more than the actors

• Stress the harshness of the landscape, or juxtapose the beauty of it with the dirtiness of a town

Some possible locations

• Isolated forts

• Ranch houses

• Isolated homestead

• Saloon

• Jail

Iconography

• Stetsons• Spurs• Colt. 45’s• Prostitutes• Saloon• Sheriff• Faithful Steed• Indians

Common themes

• Conquest of the wilderness

• Depicts code of honour rather than law.

• Social status through acts of violence, or generosity.

Evolution

• Structure drawn from 19th Century melodramatic literature involving virtuous hero and a wicked villain 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 like The Covered Wagon (1924)

• Revenge structure, present in films like Billy the Kid (1930)

Sub-genres

• Classical Western

• Epic Western

• Shoot ‘em up

• Singing Cowboy Westerns

• Spaghetti Westerns

• Revisionist Western

Classic Westerns

• The Great Train Robbery (1903) was the first narrative 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.

Spaghetti Westerns

• Revival of the western genre in Italy• Low budget affairs• Locations chosen for their cheapness, and

similarity to mid-West (southern Spain was often chosen)

• More action and violence than Hollywood westerns.

• Sergio Leone’s contributions were the most notable – Once Upon A Time in the West.

• Clint Eastwood started his career in these

Revisionist Westerns

• Questioned the role of native as a savage

• Questioned the hero versus villain theme

• Some gave women much larger roles

Clint Eastwood

TRUE GRIT FACTS

ROOSTER COGBURN

JEFF BRIDGES

MATTIE ROSS

HAILEE STEINFELD

LA BOEUF

MATT DAMON

TOM CHANEY

JOSH BROLIN

AWARDS AND NOMINATIONS

• 2010 AFI Film Award AFI Movie of the Year

• 2011 Nominated for Oscar:Sound Mixing

Cinematography

Costume Design

Directing

Sound Editing

Picture of the Year

Leading Actor – Jeff Bridges

Supporting Actress – Hailee Steinfeld

Writing and Screenplay Adaption – Joel Coen and Ethan Coen

• 2011 Nominated Critics Choice Awards• 2011 Screen Actors Guild Award (SAG) Jeff Bridges and Hailee Stienfeld• 2011 Teen Choice Award Hailee Stienfeld

And Finally…

‘As far as I’m concerned, Americans don’t have any original art except western movies and jazz…’

Clint Eastwood