In the mid to late 1950s, classic westerns where becoming obsolete paving the way for a revolutionary Italian director Sergio Leone. The new style of westerns known as “Spaghetti Westerns” was too many Americans ludicrous, no spaghetti westerns delves into the grotesque perspective better than the Dollar Trilogy films starring Clint Eastwood as the “Man with no Name”. Leone’s innovative cinematic style is brought to life through his unorthodox characters and their pursuit for fortune. Leone’s grotesque approach to his characters in the Dollar Trilogy films are quite uncanny because of their lack of morals (good & bad), anti-hero fights and twisted plots. Leone’s leading characters actions are reinforced through his use of extreme-close ups during moments of violence. These aspects are showcased to perfection in Leone`s final part of the Dollar Trilogy films, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly 1966. (Theme of greed)
Before delving into Sergio`s Spaghetti westerns it is fundamental that we clearly distinguish classic westerns characteristics opposed to Leone`s westerns. One of the main differences is the theme and the distinct division between good and bad characters. This division brings out the concept of heroes which are often cowboys, marshals or skilled gunfighters with a set of well-defined morals. The most noticeable of these westerns frequently featured John Wayne as the fearless cowboy who unmistakably saves the day. These aspects state that “Leone may admire Hollywood westerns, but he does not believe in the dreams they embody” and I will analyse these aspects in the following paragraphs beginning with the morally corrupt characters.
Clint Eastwood as the “Man with No Name” in Dollar Trilogy Films is not the typical heroic c...
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...and nothing else, this was unseen in westerns because it went against everything a classic western stood for.
To conclude, Sergio Leone Spaghetti Westerns was grotesque during its release because of his unique style of storytelling. Throughout his career he was famous for three films: A Fistful of Dollar, For a Few more Dollars and The Good, The Bad and The Ugly which is known as the Dollar Trilogy. In Leone’s westerns he parodies the classis westerns in many way which include his unorthodox ant-hero, twisted plots focused on revenge, violence and his use of extreme close-ups. Leone unique style changed the way we look at westerns forever and he felt that “when he went to the cinema, he was often frustrated because he could get what was about to happen ten minutes into the screening.” This led his revolutionary style that shifted the direction of westerns forever.
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
In the article “The Thematic Paradigm” exerted from his book, A Certain Tendency of the Hollywood Cinema, Robert Ray provides a description of the two types of heroes depicted in American film: the outlaw hero and the official hero. Although the outlaw hero is more risky and lonely, he cherishes liberty and sovereignty. The official hero on the other hand, generally poses the role of an average ordinary person, claiming an image of a “civilized person.” While the outlaw hero creates an image of a rough-cut person likely to commit a crime, the official hero has a legend perception. In this essay, I will reflect on Ray’s work, along with demonstrating where I observe ideologies and themes.
1959 was an exciting year in the history of filmmaking. An extraordinary conjunction of talent throughout the globe exists. In France, Truffaut, Godard, Chabrol, Rohmer, Rivette, and Resnais all directed their first films, thus establishing the French New Wave. In Italy, Fellini created the elegant La Dolce Vita, and Antonioni gave us L’avventura. Most importantly, though, in America, famed British director Alfred Hitchcock gave us the classic thriller North by Northwest, the father of the modern action film.
In “The Thematic Paradigm,” Robert Ray explains how there are two vastly different heroes: the outlaw hero and the official hero. The official hero has common values and traditional beliefs. The outlaw hero has a clear view of right and wrong but unlike the official hero, works above the law. Ray explains how the role of an outlaw hero has many traits. The morals of these heroes can be compared clearly. Films that contain official heroes and outlaw heroes are effective because they promise viewer’s strength, power, intelligence, and authority whether you are above the law or below it.
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.
I believe that the film does indeed conform to a certain type of narrative structure expected by other films of this style. This film, through and through, is a Western, even starring one of biggest names in Hollywood Westerns, John Wayne. We’re thrown into a world of sturdy, rugged men riding around on horses, decked out in cowboy hats and belt buckles. Wayne portrays the archetypal man, honorable, reliable and
The 1992 film Unforgiven, directed by and starring Clint Eastwood, has a central theme that is one of good versus evil in which good overcomes evil by bringing justice to those who are evil. Munny has changed from the vicious murderer he was in the past and now wishes to bring justice to evil men who harmed the innocent prostitute Delilah and his friend Ned. The film is not quite the traditional Western film by any means as Eastwood’s character Will Munny has not always been a moral man. Nevertheless, Will Munny through the use of violence sets out to balance out the battle of good and evil by seeing that evil men get what is coming to them, even though Munny is no saint himself.
Everson, William K., and George N. Fenin. The Western: from silents to the seventies. New
Think about your favorite movie. When watching that movie, was there anything about the style of the movie that makes it your favorite? Have you ever thought about why that movie is just so darn good? The answer is because of the the Auteur. An Auteur is the artists behind the movie. They have and individual style and control over all elements of production, which make their movies exclusively unique. If you could put a finger on who the director of a movie is without even seeing the whole film, then the person that made the movie is most likely an auteur director. They have a unique stamp on each of their movies. This essay will be covering Martin Scorsese, you will soon find out that he is one of the best auteur directors in the film industry. This paper will include, but is not limited to two of his movies, Good Fellas, and The Wolf of Wall Street. We will also cover the details on what makes Martin Scorsese's movies unique, such as the common themes, recurring motifs, and filming practices found in their work. Then on
The storyline is normally about a hero who comes to a town to bring peace and drive the villains out. A hero is usually seen as a vigilante as he is not told to come to help but does anyway. The hero often appears as a quiet, secretive, mysterious person who may make the audience admire him one minute and dislike him the next, he is also a very smart, cunning and adaptable which are all good values in a hero. The villain is usually fixed to one idea he thinks it is a smart cunning person but in the end is always defeated. Many scenes are set around the Saloon (bar) and there is quite often a romance involved with the hero and a local girl, the villain competing for her affections! There are two different types of villains in typical westerns Native Americans and white villains (cowboys).
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.
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.
But it was their collaborations, and in particular the Dollars trilogy – A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly – that established his reputation and allowed him to pursue other projects. Rather than writing music to fit Leone’s footage, Morricone would start composing before filming began, with the director using the music on set to get his characters into the mood of the film. His scores build in three stages, from earthy percussion and humble folkish instruments – such as harmonica, panpipes or the Jew’s harp and whistles of For a Few Dollars More – to rock-influenced electronic guitars to orchestrations, featuring trumpets for the final showdowns, and expansive strings and chorus that perfectly match the epic journeys and widescreen compositions of Leone’s films. Instrumental colour is key. Conveying a distinct sense of character and place, these ramped-up themes deliver us into the world of the Old American West, where Clint Eastwood’s “Man with No Name” – a man so quick on the draw he’ll put his order in with the local coffin maker on his way into town, and add to it, after the shootout, on his way out – loom both heroically and absurdly larger than life. But the reason his tunes have lasted so well, says Morricone, is that the
From Casablanca to The Dark Knight, the majority of global audience has adored melodrama as a genre since the beginning of the golden age of Hollywood. We appreciate these dramas for strong appeal to our emotions. As a result, melodramas are a tremendous tool to evaluate the tides of society’s value. Male melodramas, usually driven by the characters’ masculinity, therefore, are not only useful to assess our preference for an engaging thriller, but also means to determine the sameness in our humanity for the strong emphasize on masculinity as a storytelling device. Gran Torino and The Hustler are two films from the two completely different periods (modernist and classical); however, they carry resemblance similarities for introducing the salvation
Classic narrative cinema is what Bordwell, Staiger and Thompson (The classic Hollywood Cinema, Columbia University press 1985) 1, calls “an excessively obvious cinema”1 in which cinematic style serves to explain and not to obscure the narrative. In this way it is made up of motivated events that lead the spectator to its inevitable conclusion. It causes the spectator to have an emotional investment in this conclusion coming to pass which in turn makes the predictable the most desirable outcome. The films are structured to create an atmosphere of verisimilitude, which is to give a perception of reality. On closer inspection it they are often far from realistic in a social sense but possibly portray a realism desired by the patriarchal and family value orientated society of the time. I feel that it is often the black and white representation of good and evil that creates such an atmosphere of predic...