Week 4 of THEME MONTH is WESTERN THEME FILMS - Daily Reviews and Film Postings!!!

The genre of film known as the Western originated in the early 1900s and is still being produced to this very day.  Despite its American origins, this widely beloved genre would go on to capture the interest of the entire world.  

Western films originated in the silent film era and were very popular in this time period.  The films usually take place in the American Wild West during the period of time after the civil war and before the 1900s.  Often these stories depicted the struggle between settlers and the emerging technologies of the time period.  They tended to show society that was based on codes of honor and fairness.  Justice was represented by an eye for an eye type mentality rather than complex written laws.  Westerns often focused on a lone protagonist who wandered into town and would end up involved with and needing to rescue a woman.  After the end of the silent film era, studios began cranking out Western movies very quickly on low budgets, often reusing sets and shooting entire films in 5 days.  These types of films would come to be known as “B Westerns”. 

As the popularity of the Western genre spread, other
countries began making their own Western films.  They would often cast American actors as lead characters and actors from their own countries in other roles.  These became popular in Italy in particular, and were referred to as Spaghetti Westerns. Over time, Western films would start to depict life during the time period in a less positive way, showing the inequality and brutality that occurred.  Many subgenres would emerge, ranging from Horror Westerns to Comedy Westerns. As Westerns are a vital part of American culture, you should spare some time and view some of these historic films!

written by RJA for openfilmden.com 
and openflimden.blogspot.com