Spaghetti Western
Introduction
• Spaghetti Western, AKA Italian Western, is a broad sub-genre of Western films that emerged
in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's film-making style and international box-office
success.
• The term was used by critics in USA and other countries because most of these Westerns
were produced and directed by Italians.
• 'Spaghetti Western' was coined by Italian journalist Alfonso Sancha. In the beginning the term
was used in a critical sense, but over time it has become accepted as descriptive.
• The typical Spaghetti Western team was made up of an Italian director, Italo-Spanish
technical staff, and a cast of Italian, Spanish, German and American actors, sometimes a
fading Hollywood star and sometimes a rising one like the young Clint Eastwood in three of
Sergio Leone's films.
• The demand for western films persisted overseas, where television
was not catching on as quickly. As such, Italian studios (one of the
dominant European producers of film in the 50s and 60s) quickly
increased their supply of western genre films, the bulk of which
were produced by Italian studios.
• Many of these films were often filmed in Spain, since it had
locations that could resemble that of the American southwest and
the Mexican/American border.
• The Italian westerns were stylistically distinct, featuring the pronounced use of
widescreen, heavy influences of Roman Catholic iconography (the visual
images and symbols used in a work of art or the study or interpretation of
these), huge action set-pieces, and a continuing heavy pace of action.
• Central characters defined not by their black and white moral code but,
instead, by their moral flexibility, unpredictability, and cynicism. Simply, they
were the defining anti-heroes of a genre that previously had been defined by
clear cut perceptions of morality, justice, and manifest destiny.
• Despite being Italian productions, which were
shot with actors using their native languages, the
films were dubbed for international distribution.
And, maybe most importantly, these first and
most influential Spaghetti Westerns starred Clint
Eastwood.
• Sergio Leone hired Morricone and asked him to help create
distinctive score to different version of the western.
• Because of the Fistful’s limited budget, the composer had
to get creative and thus drew on gunshots, whip cracks,
whistles, and chants, instead of an orchestral score.
• The musical effect on the film was that it added humor to
the action; it was only one of many ways in which the
Leone films broke from classical Hollywood filmmaking.
• Leone’s films replaced the classical Hollywood
look with a camera that announced itself, with
striking juxtapositions between wide vistas and
extreme close-ups, shootouts that amplified the
tension by relentlessly cutting between wide
shot, medium shot, close-up, and extreme close-
up of characters, and a camera that sits
unbearably close to character’s reaction shots.
• Films like A Fistful of Dollars and The Good,
the Bad, and the Ugly put Leone's work on the
map in the mid-1960s, but his 1968 epic Once
Upon a Time in the West is considered his
masterpiece.
Seven cinematic elements - Leone
• Actors popping into scenes
• Close ups and long shots
• The element of surprise
• Suspense
• Great music
• Great dialogue
• Economy of storytelling - pure cinema
• There's quite a lot to say about Leone's approach to filmmaking,
but perhaps the most noteworthy element in his work is his ability
to create an immense amount of tension with very little.
• This economic filmmaking includes sweeping long takes with
camera movement, elaborate blocking, and choreography—
characters that walk into frame, pop up from obscurity, or turn to
reveal their faces.
• Not only does this create depth in the scene, but it also creates
incredibly tense moments when the camera and characters are still,
where we're introduced to shifty outlaws who stand and stare
people down.
• Aside from more violence and over the top action,
Spaghetti Westerns were also marked by dark, gallows
humor, and a deep cynicism, which spoke to an
altogether different view of social codes.
• The Spaghetti Westerns were morally ambiguous, self-
interested, and driven by their own desires, rather than
an obligation to societal good.
