IB Film: Year Two—W47.2

Physical Space and the Film Language of the Western

Western FilmsThe Western is a genre with a long history and various sub-genres.

An excellent article on AMC's Filmsite discusses the long history of Western Films that examines the genre conventions.

Read - Western Films - Part 1

Western LandscapeAs we have seen, the way the camera treats the landscape is one of the conventions that define a genre.

A defining element of the Western is 'wide-open spaces'.  

The endless horizon, and frequently the mountains of Monument Valley, Utah USA, or other semi-arid locations, are the backdrop against which the story is told.

Oh, give me land, lots of land under starry skies above... There are very few Westerns that take place in dark rooms or confined spaces (though physical space of that sort is frequently the backdrop for the horror genre).

Of course, the iconography of the Western is important, too.

We expect to see riders on horseback with their six guns and cowboy hats.  

Common locations are the lonesome trail, the saloon, the local jail, or a sprawling ranch.  

Genre indicators like these make the Western easily recognizable to most viewers.

But the landscape itself, the physical space portrayed in the Western, and the way directors use that space, is a major element in the genre.

Director John Ford said,

"I wouldn't make a Western on the backlot. I think you can say the real star of my Westerns is the land."

Ford first used Monument Valley in his 1939 film Stagecoach and continued to use it in eight more films.

Even the low-budget Westerns produced by many studios—the 'oaters' which were churned out because the demand was so great that major films by directors like Ford and Howard Hawks were not sufficient—were still shot outside and not on sound stages.

'Movie ranches' sprang up around Hollywood within the 30-mile zone required by the unions, often in the San Fernando valley.

Why was the landscape so important to the Western?The landscape was so important to the Western that many different 'movie ranches' were established around Hollywood.

The Iconic Nature of the Genre Almost every studio had their own ranch - or access to a location that could be rented.

Wikipedia has a fascinating article on Movie Ranches.

Read - Movie Ranch

The landscape was such a key element it dictated where films in the genre would be made.

Part of the explanation is the iconic nature of the genre.

The Western, though it has international appeal with Westerns being made in many countries, is based on a fundamental American mythology.

The heroes of the Western, whether they are cattlemen or sheriffs, gamblers or outlaws, inhabit an environment that has not yet been tamed.

At its heart, the genre focuses on the actions of individuals.

Usually the plot is simple, good against evil, but the underlying assumption is—in the absence of civilization—individuals must take responsibility for their own lives.

The wide-open landscape represents both the freedom to strike out and discover your own destiny and the danger of being alone in the wilderness.

Spaghetti Westerns 

Sergio Leone directed several 'spaghetti Westerns', films which featured both American stars like Clint Eastwood and European actors.

Made by mostly Italian crews, and with the initial film based on Akira Kurosawa's chambara film Yojimbo, the movies were made in Spain because locations there were similar to the American West.

However, for his film Once Upon a Time in the West (1968), Leone did spend some time shooting in Monument Valley, Utah USA, both as an homage to John Ford, and a reference to the many Westerns shot there.

In the case of Leone, one of his signature shots shows a revealing relationship between the landscape and the heroes of the Western genre.

Leone will often use a wide shot, revealing the landscape, followed by a close-up.

In fact, sometimes the shot transitions by simply having an actor lean into the wide shot so it becomes a close-up, with his face eclipsing the landscape.

A Dangerous Frontier 

The meaning is clear.

There is the dangerous frontier where characters, men or women, must take charge of their own destiny.

It is such a dangerous landscape, it is represented by music in The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly  (1966) that echoes the cry of the coyote - a scavenger who must struggle for existence in a barren land.

Then, there are the men and women who tamed the land, legendary figures whose stature is so great - in the close-up shots - they are bigger than the land.

Cowboys and outlaws are almost characters from mythology, dwarfing the desert and the mountains, carving their own destiny out of the untamed land.

End of an Era 

Of course, throughout the history of the Western, the relationship of the Western hero and the Western landscape changed.

In later films, like Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch (1969), civilization is closing in.

Set in 1913 on the border between Mexico and Texas USA, and featuring an aging outlaw gang, the Western landscape has become limited, and the way of life the men knew is fading away.

The age of myth, the golden age, has passed, and a man can no longer find his destiny on the open range.

In The Searchers, the ability to survive in all kinds of weather and situations is a vital part of the quest on which the main characters set out.

Can you think of other genres in which the landscape is a vital part of the storytelling?