Spaghetti Westerns

Spaghetti Westerns differ significantly from the standard American Western. Firstly, Spaghetti Westerns were made by Italian directors and usually filmed in Spain (because the Spanish terrestrial was very similar to that of the United States). The influence of a foreign director also shows us the outside perception on Americans. The characters which play in Spaghetti Westerns have very different personalities than those in American Westerns. They are much more self-centered and revolve their roles around self-interest rather than the well-being of the “whole,” seen in American Westerns. I find this particularly interesting because I am European, and I can see the self-centered personalities in the movie stars that Europeans are known for. the American Westerns, however, display characters with a much more work and time oriented personality who serve to better society’s quality.

The perception of American society, from a foreign point of view, is seen in the most famous Spaghetti Western, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. The impression given by this film is that it was extremely violent. American Westerns do not seem to be as gory or feature so much murder. The plot of the film, the three main characters chasing after the large sum of money, also symbolizes the popular opinion that Americans care solely about money. The goal of getting the money was more important to the characters than anything else. They would do everything within their power (even kill mercilessly) to get to it. The second movie, Navajo Joe, was also radically different from American Westerns because it featured an alpha male who was Native American. This movie also revolved about restless chasing of money, concepts which are very different than what we see conveyed in traditional westerns.