The Western
The Western
The Western is one of the foremost genres of the American film industry. A nostalgic eulogy of the early days of the expansive, uncultivated American frontier. It is one of the oldest, most enduring and supple genres and one of the most naturally American genres in its mythical origins. The western film genre has portrayed much about America's past, glorifying the past-fading values and aspirations of the mythical by-gone age of the West. Over time, westerns have been re-defined, re-invented and expanded, dismissed, re-discovered, and spoofed.
"There are two things that every schoolboy knows about the genre. Firstly, that the western is a commercial formula with rules as fixed and immutable as the Kabuki Theatre. The second is that the events depicted have little to do with the real nineteenth century American frontier life." Westerns Aspects of a movie genre.
The plot of the western film Consists mainly of the simple goal of maintaining law and order, in a fast-paced action story. The story usually consists of conflict between two parties, good vs. bad, lawman or sheriff vs. gunslinger, social law and order vs. anarchy, the rugged individualist vs. the community, the cultivated East vs. West, settler vs. nomad etc. With this in mind all westerns have one if not all of the following, the hero, the villain, the woman, plot vs. action, Hero vs badman, the Indians, Adventure and the law, Adventure vs. the law.( (http://www.essaybank.co.uk/free_coursework/162.html) The scenario is depicted in current film-making in many different variations, cleverly initiated from the Western Genre.
The beginning of a western film has very obvious narrative clues in the opening sequence. The lighting, the music and the cinematography give the audience a trace of what is about to happen?(http://www.filmeducation.org/secondary/concept/filmandgenre/docs/west1.html)
An integral part of most Westerns is the intense hatred...
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