WHAT it is…
A uniquely American and a uniquely cinematic film genre that existed between the early decades of the 20th Century and the late Fifties — till the end of the studio era — depicting life in the western part of America during the previous century. The genre was extremely popular with the audience and also made its way into television during the Fifties.
WHO its pioneers were...
The rise of the Western as a major film genre rests on the fascinating historical fact that the American film industry’s rise to prominence almost coincided with the fading of frontier myths. Filmmakers such as John Ford, Budd Boetticher and Anthon Mann and stars such as John Wayne, Gary Cooper and Ward Bond have thoroughly defined and moulded the classical American Western.
WHY it is important...
The Western as a major film genre faded out along with the disappearance of the studio system and with the rise of political activism in the 60s, when black and white morality could no longer be embraced without scruples. The rise of liberalism and disillusionment with existing systems prompted narratives with traditional values to give way to more urgent filmmaking. The Western now exists for its nostalgic value, as a token of a time when belief was possible.
WHERE to find it...
John Ford’s The Searchers (1956) is an archetypal Western about a haunted civil war veteran who sets out to avenge his murdered family and rescue his niece from a Native American tribe. Ford’s essential and frequently divisive film captures the ways of the old nomadic West, making way for more stable social structures.
HOW it is characterised…
Objectives
Many classic Westerns present man at the end of his tether confronting the wilderness of the frontier, away from the safety and security of civilisation. The more conservative of these films tell the myth about the establishment of America, whose pioneers, through individual enterprise and courage, succeed in bringing law and civility to a land governed ruled by the rules of the jungle. In these films, morality remains simple and characters are easily resolved into good and evil.
Style
Most Westerns are set and shot in deserts, rocky terrains and open landscapes (such as Monument Valley, Utah) in which action pieces like horse chases are shot with a mobile camera. These highly costumed films are marked by an emphasis on traditional masculinity and macho posturing. The iconography of Western includes cowboys and gunslingers, shanty towns and seedy salons, local sheriffs and notorious outlaws, stagecoaches and railroads.
