Peter Latham; One could describe a western as any movie featuring a cowboy with a six-gun, riding a horse. One could also argue that the classic western was based in a specific place (the American frontier) at a specific time (the latter half of the nineteenth century), but that doesn't include marginal/modern or "pseudo" westerns such as HUD or LONELY ARE THE BRAVE. The classic structure of the incorruptible loner fighting powerful and evil forces or simply trying to survive in a hostile world predates the western film, of course, so I don't feel one can hang the genre of "western" on any film which features these qualities (e.g: ROB ROY). ---------- > From: plath3 <[log in to unmask]> > To: [log in to unmask] > Subject: What is a Western? > Date: Thursday, November 04, 1999 6:19 AM > > The list's discussion of the Great American Western has led me to wonder > what exactly is a Western? > > ROB ROY, for example has all of the elements of a Western, pioneers, land > disputes, evil powerful men, and an ending in which the hero faces a > famous mercenary swordsman (swordslinger?). It is, however, set in > Scotland. > > HIGH NOON is arguably an allegory in a Western setting. > > OUTLAND, to give another example, sets the plot of HIGH NOON in deep > space, but eliminates the allegorical elements. > > The GUNFIGHTER, though set in the West, has much more in common with film > noir than with the traditional Western, while BRAVEHEART evokes the > memory of films such as I WILL FIGHT NO MORE FOREVER. > > Is the Western simply any story whose setting is the American frontier > between the Mississippi and the coast of California? Or is it any story > whose setting is a "frontier", i.e. any geographically remote and > climatically harsh environment (not necessarily American), and whose plot > concerns the efforts to "civilize" that environment? > > I would appreciate any thoughts you might have. > > Peter Latham > > ---- > Screen-L is sponsored by the Telecommunication & Film Dept., the > University of Alabama: http://www.tcf.ua.edu ---- Screen-L is sponsored by the Telecommunication & Film Dept., the University of Alabama: http://www.tcf.ua.edu