Spaghetti Western is a subgenre of Western films, mainly consisting of Italian directors, Italian/Spanish staff and American actors. Other features of this particular subgenre are the samurai movies influences and the locations, but let see it more closely:
El exito extraordinario
In the ‘60s, Italian/Spanish low budget productions start to shoot their own Western movies in Europe. The audience were really responsive and in a few years the Spaghetti Western movies became famous not only in the old Continent but in the entire world.
El jefe visionario
Like mention before, the Italian/Spanish production was one of the mainly features of the subgenre and one name above all excelled: Sergio Leone. The Italian director, producer and screenwriter was the mind behind the most acclaimed Western of all time: A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, Once Upon A Time in The West and Duck, You Sucker!
El Hombre sin nombre
The first three mentioned movies of Sergio Leone form the Dollars Trilogy, featuring the American Actor Clint Eastwood, who became a living legend of the movie industry.
The characters and the plot of a classic Spaghetti Western is pretty simple and Eastwood in the role of Joe, resumes in many ways what this subgenre is about:
- An unnamed stranger enters a town that is ruled by two outlaw gangs
- The man with no name plays the gangs one another in order to make money
- With his exceptional weapons skills, the antihero manages to save the defenceless people ruled by the criminals, and restore the normality in town
All this with irony and brutality moments.
Vista hacia el este
The characters and the plot of many Spaghetti Western were inspired by Japanese samurai movies. The Chanbara is a particular Japanese genre that usually tells stories set in historical periods and in which there are swordfights. The most influential and famous director of the genre was Akira Kurosawa, with the masterpieces Yojimbo, Sanjuro and Seven Samurai. Spaghetti Western treasure A Fistful of Dollars of Sergio Leone is explicitly coping Yojimbo for example, or the Western legend The Magnificent Seven of John Sturges remakes the Seven Samurai.
Música maestro
The music is very characteristic and another central point of the Spaghetti Western. Again the most important and influential composer come from the Dollars Trilogy: Ennio Morricone. The Italian composer, orchestrator and conductor is an absolute genius and the idol of many musician in the world. His work for the Western genre gave the pace and helped to stimulate peoples imaginary on the Western stories.
Los desiertos del oeste europeo
The environment of the Spaghetti Western movies is really representative and unique. The Italian productions did not have possibility to shoot their own movies in America, the cost was too high, so they had to think about a place that could easily look like the dry landscape of Southwestern United States and Northern Mexico. The solution was to shot in the Tabernas Desert and Cabo de Gata-Nijar Natural Park, a wide volcanic origin area in the Province of Almeria, in south-eastern Spain.
La herencia de el abuelo
Many people think that Western movies belong to the past and they are no longer produced. The legacy of this genre brings sincerely lovers as heirs and responsible of the genre continuity. Filmmakers like Tarantino and old stars like Clint Eastwood successfully tried to bring back the old glory of the Western with new stories or sequel of old masterpieces.
Here a list of Western movies, that in my opinion, deserves to be watched:
Old Western: Stagecoach, The Cavalry Trilogy, The Quiet Man, The Searchers, True Grit, Dollars Trilogy, Once Upon a Time Trilogy, Django, Death Rides a Horse, The Magnificent Seven, God Forgives… I Don’t, They Call me Trinity, The Big Gundown, The Great Silence, Compañeros, Tepepa, The mercenary, A Bullet for the General, 100’000 Dollari per Ringo, Four of the Apocalypse…
Modern Western: The Hateful Eight, Django Unchained, Cowboys and Aliens, True Grit (remake), Hell or High Water, No Country for Old Man, 3:10 To Yuma, Dance with Wolves, Unforgiven.
Últimas notas
A very few of you maybe are not understanding the reason of the Spaghetti Western article. The decision is an homage to my abuelo, who I lost a few days ago. I discovered this movie genre thanks to him and everytime I visited him I could really taste the Western environment (he lived in a old house near the Tabernas Desert, were more of the half of the Spaghetti Western were shot). I will always remember him as one of the antihero protagonists of these movies.
After this article I will change my article publication timing to stay more with my family. Our weekly appointment will be a bimonthly appointment from now on.
Thank you all to support me and continue push me to enhance this beautiful work!
¡Te hecharé de menos abuelo!
“In this world there’s two kinds of people, my friend. The ones with loaded guns and the ones who dig. You dig.”
Clint Eastwood in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)