Movies - Revisionist Western

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	Movies - Revisionist Western

The Revisionist Western or Anti Western traces to the late 1960's and early 1970's as a sub-genre of the Western movie.

What is a "revisionist Western?"

Some post WW II Western films began to question the ideals and style of the "traditional" western. New elements include:

Use of the anti-hero.
Stronger roles for women.
More sympathetic portrayal of American Indians.
Critical views of the American government, military, and their policies.
Critical views of masculine figures.
Increased use of violence.
Nontraditional sexuality.
Black humor.

Beginnings

As is the case with film noir, many filmmakers responsible for early Revisionist Western were unaware they were part of a larger trend in filmmaking and, as such, did not necessarily consider their films "revisionist."

1953's Shane is such a film, with its handsome filmmaking and conservative values, but its ambiguous ending questions the viability of the traditional western hero. 1956's The Searchers
starred John Wayne, the typical Western movie hero in what would appear on the surface to be a standard "Cowboys and Indians" conflict. Some critics and audiences, however, found the film subtly critical of the standard Wayne archetype and his accompanying racism. Martin Scorsese, for instance, cites The Searchers as an influence on his Taxi Driver
.

Hollywood Revisionist Westerns

Most westerns in the 1960's on are now considered revisionist. Many were made by emerging major filmmakers who saw the western as an opportunity to expand their criticism of American society and values into a new genre. Films in this category include Arthur Penn's Little Big Man (1970) and Robert Altman's McCabe and Mrs. Miller (1971).

Other films, such as those directed by Clint Eastwood were made by professionals familiar with the western as a criticism and expansion against and beyond the genre. Eastwood's film The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976) made use of strong supporting roles for women and Native Americans. Eastwood's later Unforgiven (1992) dramatically criticized the typical western use of violence to promote false ideals of manhood and to subjugate women and minorities.

==Spaghetti Westerns==

Foreign markets, which had imported the western since their silent film inception, began creating their own westerns early on. However, a unique brand of western emerged in Europe in the 1960's as an off-shoot of the revisionist western. Although nicknamed "Spaghetti Westerns", referring to their Italian financing, they were often made in Spain, especially Andalucia, whose dry ruggedness resembled the American south west.

The Spaghetti Western
became the nickname, originally disparingingly, for this broad sub-genre, so named because of their Italian background and financing. Originally they had in common the Italian language, low budgets, and a recognizable highly fluid, violent, minimalist cinematography that helped eschew (some said "demythologize") many of the conventions of earlier Westerns.

Red Western

The Ostern
or Red Western, was the Cold War's reply to the western, and arose in around the same period as the Revisionist Western. While many Red Westerns concentrated on aspects of Soviet/East European history, some others like the Czech Lemonade Joe
and the East German The Sons of the Great Mother Bear
tried to demythologise the Western myth in different ways: Lemonade Joe by sending up the more ridiculous aspects of marketing, and The Sons of the Great Mother Bear by showing how American natives were exploited repeatedly, and taken from the native, rather than white settler viewpoint.

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