A History of the Western Genre

Рет қаралды 8,488

Күн бұрын

#videoessay #western #cinema
For the first fifty years or so of cinema's life span, the Western was a major genre, dominating the industry up until the 1970s. But as cinema entered into a new era, it left the Western behind, with modern filmmaking rendering the frontier setting stale when compared to alien worlds or alternate dimensions. This video tracks the life cycle of the Western, from its humble beginnings to its end, looking at how it represents America as a country, and why we might benefit from its return.
Timestamps:
00:00 - The Great Train Robbery (1903)
01:36 - Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
03:28 - Pre-war
05:11 - Post-war
06:01 - Revisionism
07:00 - 80s Decline
08:37 - 90s Resurgence
09:35 - How Westerns Reflect America

Пікірлер: 24

@Signorellielli 7 ай бұрын

New favorite KZfaq channel. You're such a clear an effective communicator!

@FERALDOG4 4 ай бұрын

Excellent thank You

@meghasyamsayimpu5878 Жыл бұрын

Great video dude, be proud of yourself

@leecambell5487 2 ай бұрын

New sub btw. Beautifully and thoughtfully done

@IanBourn Жыл бұрын

Would love to see an update/response to this video now that The English is out, I think it really speaks to the last bit you said at the end of the video. Also subbed

@Johan-ej8xb Жыл бұрын

Bro you make great videos. Keep going.

@thetruth1862 7 ай бұрын

Yellowstone is the NeoWeastern

@romarssieverything9667 Жыл бұрын

wait why do you have so less subscribers? You should have at least 100k subs.

@ArcherGreen Жыл бұрын

Thank you so much!

@leecambell5487 2 ай бұрын

Tombstone????? An awesome film.

@HeinousMarlborough 4 күн бұрын

Despite it not being film, any thoughts on Breaking Bad?

@wtcben Жыл бұрын

It's great to see you make a video on the Western once again, and it's clear from this video just how much thought you have put into the subject. I was hoping you'd make this ever since I saw you re-watched "Once Upon a Time in the West" on Letterboxd. I was surprised by Tarantino's stance on John Ford, though I suppose it does make sense considering how implicitly racist many of his works are. It's good to know that Tarantino doesn't condone that, though it wouldn't surprise me if he was willing to look past it, given his track record. I hate how "The Searchers" still ranks so highly on so many critics lists, as to me the work is nowhere near as interesting or innovative as what Leone (or even Tarantino) was doing with the genre. I hope that its standing drops in the next Sight and Sound critics poll, as to have that film sitting at number 7 whilst "Once Upon a Time in the West" sits at number 78 is quite frankly disgusting. The quality of the two isn't even remotely comparable in my mind, and it just goes to show how willing American critics still are to uphold that overly conservative, rose-tinted view of its past. I think you're right that the Western is overdue a comeback, though I am also sceptical as to its prospects. I remember getting excited as Yorgos Lanthimos was due to direct an adaptation of "The Hawkline Monster", though I'm not sure whether this is still going ahead. I hope it does, so we can witness the resurgence of the weird Western.

@ArcherGreen Жыл бұрын

Thanks! Frankly I couldn't make it through The Searchers when I put it on about two years ago, didn't really interest me and I've not been tempted to revisit it since. I'll check out that poll, Once Upon a Time at the West at 78 seems ludicrously low.

@wtcben Жыл бұрын

@@ArcherGreen I was the same but I figured that I must have been missing something so I sat through the whole thing only to find out that it was just as generic, boring, and racist throughout as it had been in the first half. The new poll is due to come out in November this year I think, they do it once every 10 years.

@Zed-fq3lj 7 ай бұрын

Spot on everything you've said!

@Garrett1240 Ай бұрын

For goodness sake, American critics don’t like the movie because they have a rose tinted view of the past. They’re the last people who’d be so naive given a multitude of reasons. If anything, they tend to be too eager to cheerlead liberal consensus in film. No offense, but daft comment, even though I agree it’s not better than OUATITW.

@SalamiKing7 Жыл бұрын

Good video! But I really don’t think Heaven’s Gate has been widely regarded as the worst film ever made. One of the biggest flops for sure though! :) Keep up the good work.

@cyanes 7 ай бұрын

Normally I like Tarantino but that quote at the end was some of the dumbest shit I’ve ever heard

@anuardarusanuar571 Жыл бұрын

Western movie..no1...

@rutiloromero446 Жыл бұрын

Young Guns was alright.

@bezerkerkrankenhaus7769 Ай бұрын

Thank you, I appreciate your work and your efforts and you make solid video essays. Just a couple of small things. Pursuit is the correct spelling, not “persuit” also you pronounce every word ending in “ing” without the “g” sound, it’s not runnin, jumpin, closin etcetera. Small gripes, you do fine work and best wishes to you in all sincerity.

@Garrett1240 Ай бұрын

It’s called an accent.

@theodorerooseveltsantlers270 11 ай бұрын

Not being able to separate John Ford the man from the artist is really sad. He made a number of great films, and he, along with the Duke were raised with that American exceptionalism ideology. A way of thinking that was destroyed by Vietnam War pessimism. Are people this politically correct nowadays? Can't watch Chinatown because of what Polanski did, can't watch Ferris Bueller's Day Off because of what Jeffery Jones did, I mean seriously?