In the novel, The Jungle, Upton Sinclair reveals a parallel between a lithuanian family and hogs on their way into a slaughter house. Although when Jurgis and his family first arrived in America they believed that they had come into the land of dreams and liberty, they were soon informed of the corrupt society that would eventually become the end of their family. The parallel between the hogs and the main characters can be seen in the character’s purchase of their house, Jurgis’ motto of just working
Saloon Culture Royal Melendy writes about a rising social culture taking place at the turn of the twentieth century. He depicts this culture as the ambiance emitted in early Chicago saloons. “Saloons served many roles for the working-class during this period of American history, and were labeled as the poor man’s social clubs” (summary of saloon culture, pg. 76). Saloons were described as part of the neighborhood. An institution recognized and familiar to its people. Many laws restricted their
Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven falls into the western genre because of its untamed frontier setting, hero and villain characters, and iconic climatic ending. Unforgiven tells the story of William Munny, a retired Old West outlaw who, with the help of an old friend and a young gunslinger, returns to his old ways with one last job. The movie starts with a group of prostitutes in Big Whiskey, Wyoming offering a reward for someone to kill two cowboys who assaulted one of their own when local authorities
Visual Style and Western Theme of Shane By analysing Shane' (1953) in conjunction with its visual style and western themes, it will clearly show what aspects of western culture are apparent in the film. By looking at the visual style, this will show how the mise-en-scene informs the audience that Shane' is placed in the western genre. Firstly I will analyse the western themes that are visible in Shane'. The whole narrative of Shane' is the struggle of the homesteaders against the ranchers
Westerns have been around for many years. Some would consider westerns to be American classics because they describe early life in a mostly undiscovered America. In class two western films were watched and discussed. These two westerns were High Noon and Shane. On the surface, these movies are categorized as the same genre and look very similar but after further inspection it can be determined that the movies have a lot of differences. Of course, both movies share the same central theme of law versus
Spaghetti Westerns in the 1960’s. Eastwood iconic Man with No Name in the “Dollar Trilogies” made him an international star, and it is only fitting that he would resurrect his career in a film of this genre. “Unforgiven” was directed, produced, and stared in by Clint Eastwood and received an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, Best Director, Best Film Editing, and Best Picture in 1993. It is often credited as the best western made in the last twenty years, and for reinvigorating the western genre. Clint
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
Western movies have always been attempted and have strived for perfection. There has been a few that really captured the motion picture, history, and of course the actual story itself; but of course only one can take the cake. The movie, Tombstone is an action-filled film that is sure to entertain no matter what audience. Based on true events, the movie does an excellent job of portraying the correct history about the events that went on in Tombstone, Arizona. Everything from wardrobe, slang, props
Genre Theory and John Ford's Stagecoach The analytic theory posited by Robert Warshow in his essay "The Westerner", itemizes the elements necessary for a film to belong to the genre of the "western". Most contentiously, he mandates that the narrative focus upon the individual hero's plight to assert his identity, and diminishes the importance of secondary characters and issues, or any tendency toward "social drama." (431) He states that it is subtle variations that make successive instances
The Anti-saloon league museum is a standing testament of a period long gone. Located within the Westerville Ohio library, it houses important artifacts and memorabilia from the Prohibition era. At the height of its popularity, the league was a national organization which boasted branches across the United States.4. Along with various Christian organizations, the league was able to marshal resources that enabled it to bring the prohibition fight to congress and the senate. Tours and group presentations
Jack Schaeffer’s, Shane, is the perfect embodiment of the Western formula used to create films about the Wild, Wild West. The text has all the necessary elements to create the perfect Western movie. The first component of the formula is a threat to the community that just moved out west, whether it is Indians, other ranchers, or even nature itself. The second component is lack of defense from the community, due to the homesteaders not being able to protect themselves against the threat posed upon
definitely a western film because of the main theme of the movie. I think these two have more things in common than they do differences. Here is a little brief summary of these two movies before I compare and contrast the two. Stagecoach is a film with all the elements of a western movie. The main character is on a mission for redemption. He joins a convoy of others on a journey across the harsh western terrain while being attacked by Indians. Although Waterworld doesn’t contain any cowboys, saloons, or horses
first released, the western genre was on a decline, yet their influence on the film industry remained. The screenwriter for Lethal Weapon, Shane Black, claimed, “What I was looking to do at that time was write an urban western.” That in mind, Lethal Weapon shows many characteristics common to Westerns. It has an emphasis on scenery, upholding the law, and powerful, can-do-anything protagonists. Lethal Weapon most importantly displays attributes in Riggs similar to classic Western heroes. The epitome
In 1938, Jed Buell was a movie producer who was well known for his black and white musical westerns, but all of his movies took on an odd twist. Jed Buell was known for his westerns with singing cowboys and he produced about twelve within a four year period. He was known to produce some unique and obscure movies, but he may be best known for his comical musical cult western; The Terror of Tiny Town (O 'Connor and Rollins 65). This movie is the world’s first and only know movie to feature an all
Wild Bunch, is a Western Action film that has the potential to leave the audience with a controversially opinion about the violence displayed during the height of the Mexican Revolution with an outlaw gang called The Wild Bunch. The film is about a band of train and bank robbers looking to get away with one last heist and the lawman and his posse of bounty hunters who intend to capture or kill The Wild Bunch. The film The Wild Bunch graphically displays how audiences view western movies and in particular
The overall setting is the frontier, as it is with most old western movies. The rough, ragged, and vacant looking terrain, the mountains in the distance, the endless view of the big blue sky, the smoky war signs sent out by the Indians who live in that area as well as their authentic appearance, the run down villages they stayed in along their journey, and the dirt path that is followed by the stagecoach, all contribute to the overall western style setting of the movie. The style of dress and the mannerisms
Hondo is my favorite western, although it is the only one I have read that has nothing to do with it. It has all of the requirements to be a western, the type of western that focuses on the untamed frontier. I mean it has conflicts between the settlers and the Indians, open landscape of mountain ranges, rugged lands, and vast plains; all with with small towns (or town) and isolated homesteads. Plus the parts of the untamed frontier such as, hostile environments, shoot outs, show downs, and the classic
“Fistful of Dollars” did just that, reinvigorating the western genre while also performing well at the box office. Drawing influence from its predecessors, Fistful made the bold choice to get rid of charming heroes and focus on the Wild West and its vices. It depicted a fairytale west full to the brim with stubble, grime, desert vistas, and bloodshed; it made the west fun to fantasize about. Fistful of Dollars invigorated and permanently changed the Western genre with its gritty translation of american mythology
be like before actually watching it. For example, the Western genre is set in the American frontier often centering on the life of a cowboy armed with a rifle who rides a horse and fights a gunslinger or bandit. Western genre is one of the oldest, most endur¬ing and flexible genres and one of the most characteristically American genres in their mythic origins (Goodykoontz & Jacobs, 2014, Sec 4.2, p. 81). This paper will focus on the Western genre, specifically the film The Wild
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) and The Wild Bunch (1962) are both critically acclaimed western films, regarded as some of the best in their genre. They are both different however in their portrayal of the western myth and the characters therein. This essay will compare and contrast these movies focusing on firstly their depiction of the national identity and mythology of the old west. Secondly, it will look at the differences of the portrayal of different character types, with specific reference