While both the classic and spaghetti Westerns share many of the same characteristics, it is the way in which each genre portrays the West that differentiates the two. The variation is noticed from the films' beginnings. Both The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly and Navajo Jo consist of a lengthy opening scene in which the Italian landscape is showcased with only music playing in the background, no dialogue is exchanged. Filmed in Italy and Spain, spaghetti Westerns always make the European mountains and desert land the focal point of the film. Music also plays a prominent role in both films. A character's appearance is anticipated by the audience with a song. This is exhibited with Blondie in The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. Each time he makes an appearance in the misc-en-scene a particular sound plays; it is as if someone is announcing his arrival onto the screen.
Many of the classic westerns tell of the lives of the cowboy on the frontier. They consist of the alpha cowboy who remains focused on accomplishing a task throughout the film while encountering "the other": women, African Americans or Native Americans. In Navajo Jo, the Native American is the alpha male of the film; he is no longer an object standing in the alpha male cowboy's way. This can be attributed to the time period in which the spaghetti Westerns were created. The 1960s brought about cultural revolutions, in which the line separating the rights of races and genders was slowly disappearing. It seems natural that a Native American would play the protagonist.
The Vietnam War was also occurring during this time period of the Cultural Revolution. The violence associated with war is what makes the spaghetti Westerns seen to be more adventure seeking than the plots of the classic Westerns. One of the first scenes of Navajo Jo involves Duncan's massive gang raiding the train headed to Esperanza with half a million dollars on board. This draws a connection to war, such as Vietnam, in which two sides with many people shoot mercilessly and fight each other. These films also portray the capitalistic society and its obsession with wealth. The main characters are motivated solely by their greed and the monetary rewards. Blondie, Tuco and Angel Eyes, along with Jo, only perform their tasks to gain wealth and did not care who they had to kill to do so, as long as they come out prosperous. In order to save the town, Navajo Jo tells the townspeople he will kill Duncan "for a price." Angel Eyes kills a father and son because he was hired to do so. He completes another man's task with greed as his motivation. These main characters are extremely deceiving when it comes to accomplishing a task and will use violence to kill anyone standing in their way of a reward.
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While both the classic and spaghetti Westerns share many of the same characteristics, it is the portrayal of the West that differentiates the two. The variation is noticed from the films’ beginnings. Both The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly and Navajo Jo consist of a lengthy opening scene in which the Italian landscape is showcased with only music playing in the background, no dialogue is exchanged. Filmed in Italy and Spain, Spaghetti Westerns always make the European mountains and desert landscape the focal point of the film. Music also played a prominent role in both films. A character’s appearance could be anticipated by the audience with a song. This is exhibited with Blondie in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Each time he emerges in the misc-en-scene a particular sound plays; it is as if someone is announcing his arrival onto the screen.
ReplyDeleteMany of the classic Westerns tell of the lives of the cowboy on the frontier. They consist of the alpha cowboy focused on accomplishing one task throughout the film while encountering “the other”: women, African Americans or Native Americans. In Navajo Jo, the Native American is the alpha male of the film; he is not just an extra character in the film. This can be attributed to the time period in which the spaghetti Westerns were created. The 1960s brought about cultural revolutions, in which the line separating the rights of races and genders was slowly disappearing. It seems natural that a Native American would play the protagonist.
The Vietnam War was also occurring during this time period of the Cultural Revolution. The violence associated with war is what makes the Spaghetti Westerns seem to be more adventure seeking than the plots of classic Westerns. One of the first scenes of Navajo Jo involves Duncan’s massive gang raiding the train headed to Esperanza with half of a million dollars on board. This draws a connection to war, such as Vietnam, in which two sides with many people shooting and mercilessly fighting each other. These films also portray the violent, capitalistic, American society and its obsession with wealth. The main characters are motivated solely by their greed and the monetary reward. Blondie, Tuco and Angel Eyes along with Jo both only performed their tasks and do not care who they have to kill as long as they come out prosperous. In order to save the town, Navajo Jo tells the townspeople he will kill Duncan “for a price.” Angel Eyes kills a father and a son because he was hired to do so. He only completes this task after being motivated by greed. These main characters are extremely deceiving when it comes to accomplishing a task with a reward and will use violence kill anyone standing in their way of money.