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Open Range Brokeback Mountain
The Assassination of Jesse James
by the Coward Robert Ford
Serenity
appear in such random Science-Fiction films as world was cause for very little concern. film No Country For Old Men is a modern-day
Westworld (1973) and Star Wars (1977). From The Western film is quintessentially American Western set in 1980 and based on a novel by
the 1970s to the present day, traits of the genre and since the 60s the genre seems to have the acclaimed US author Cormac McCarthy. It is
(whether it is the vast and dusty US landscape, cropped up at times of political and social unrest, interesting to see how the Coen Brothers present
the anti-hero lawman figure, the disillusioned suggesting, perhaps, that when the Western and rework the conventions and themes in these
female lead, or the corrupt sheriff) have cropped sporadically manifests itself in cinematic form it is disillusioned times.
up in such contrasting films as Back To The acting as a type of ‘therapy session’ for Americans
Future III (1990,) Desperado (1995,) Last Man disillusioned with their country and its place in
2007 fires 3 bullets of glory ...
Standing (1996) and Serenity (2005.) the world.
2007 has been an exciting year for fans of the
Throughout his controversial career, cult
traditional Western. The question is, ‘Why this
filmmaker Sam Peckinpah made several great
Westerns post-9/11 resurgence now?’
Westerns such as The Wild Bunch in 1969 but
An argument can also be constructed about
Clearly, given the concerns and paranoia in the
even in his other films (for example, 1974’s
the flurry of Westerns made after the terrorist
world after September 11th, 2001, America can
Bring Me The Head Of Alfredo Garcia), Western
attacks on American soil on September 11th,
relate to some of the themes of the Western, such
generic traits are certainly more than evident. The
2001. In recent years a posse of Western stories
as a distrust of ‘foreigners’, and an obvious enemy.
genre has had a profound effect on cinema. Like
have appeared on celluloid at a time when
Let’s look at the Western films of 2007.
Peckinpah, Walter Hill has made a number of
Americans are forced for various reasons to
The Assassination Of Jesse James
entertaining Westerns but has also incorporated
revise their opinions about their status in the
• Outlaw Jesse James is perhaps the most
Western conventions in many of his non-Western
‘international community’, and about their
famous of real-life characters in the history
films such as The Warriors (1979), Southern
own Government. In this context the Western
of the Western; he’s been portrayed literally
Comfort (1981) and Last Man Standing.
– showcasing the beauty of the American
countless times along with such legendary
landscape and the powerful American cowboy
figures as Wyatt Earp, Wild Bill Hickok and
Westerns in the 90s figure and the sassy, good-looking babe
Buffalo Bill. After an allegedly troublesome
Clint Eastwood’s superlative 1992 Oscar winner – could be seen as a cinematic return to a less production, The Assassination Of Jesse James,
The Unforgiven began a brief resurgence of complicated, heroic version of America’s history starring Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck, was
moderately successful ‘traditional’ Westerns in the and to a more ‘organic’ looking motion picture. finally released in 2007 to moderate rounds of
early-to-mid-1990s with such films as Tombstone Films made after September 11th, 2001, applause by film critics. But in these post-9/11
(1993), Posse (1993), Wyatt Earp (1994) and include the critically lauded Open Range years, critics noticed how the film looks at
Wild Bill (1995). Perhaps in the aftermath of the (2003,) The Alamo (2004) and 2005’s Brokeback many social issues that remain prevalent: the
Gulf War of 1991, patriotic Americans were more Mountain and The Three Burials Of Melquades paranoia and fear of loneliness, the subject of
inclined to revisit their past, yearning for a time Estrada. Interestingly, Australia spawned Ned celebrity, the perpetually controversial issue of
ado
when things seemed more black-and-white (i.e. Kelly in 2003 and The Proposition in 2005. firearms and how/why villains are often turned
esper
good guys versus bad guys) and the rest of the The Coen Brothers’ latest and critically lauded into national cult icons and anti-heroes.
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