Eastwood's Use Of Violence In Western Film

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In Hollywood, Westerns have a history nearly as long as cinema itself, and have frequently been very significant in the evolution of its artistic, social and technological advancements. In 1903 Edwin S. Porter made The Great Train Robbery, argued by John Saunders as “one of the first narrative films of any kind.” It was filmed on three reels rather than just one which was the standard at the time. It was also the starting point of a regular feature of western style films, i.e. based upon actual event and people, albeit usually with varying degrees of sensationalism. The United States already had a fascination with tales of outlaws and bandits that was continually popularized in the many pulp-style Dime Novels and newspapers of the era. …show more content…

In much the same way as violence is analyzed in film noir and Gangster films, the society depicted in Clint Eastwood’s Westerns is seemingly symbiotic with violence and uses it to solve many of its problems, either via the protagonist individually or through organized posses. This dynamic essentially divides violence into lawful and unlawful actions, yet leaves it the only possible solution to the problems at hand. The message these views invoked in the people of the era spoke above the pieces of the Spaghetti Western formula that the social order of the 1960’s was programmed to resist, like the genre’s foreign influences on a proud and unique time frame in American history. A Fistful of Dollars undoubtedly paved the way for spaghetti westerns as we know them to be now. These darker and often less expensively produced movies offered a lawless and desolate atmosphere compared to other Hollywood westerns as well as offering a unique shift of focus. There are certain dominant themes that occur again and again in Eastwood’s movies. From the shortsightedness of bureaucrats to scummy attorneys all the way to the need for swift independent justice, these themes can be unearthed and agreed upon by many who are familiar with the West and its essential role in American antiquity. Clint Eastwood’s charisma and acting ability as well as his masculine ideology as an actor were subsequently combined with foreign film-making techniques that together helped familiarize Spaghetti Westerns as an important catalyst to which we use to reflect on the American

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