As Johnny Cash once sung 'But
I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die’ explaining “I sat
with my pen in my hand, trying to think up the worst reason a person could have
for killing another person, and that's what came to mind[1]”.
On Monday night the RBC Film Club presented a western, which
is a rare occurrence in its self (we don’t many westerns) But its not just any
western but one of a type that in my opinion changed not only that particular
genre (the western) but also how films and TV series have been presented ever
since.
The spaghetti western[2] was
allegedly born around 1963 and its classic period lasted until 1973 although
the first was allegedly a British/Spanish co-production made in 1961/2 called Savage Guns. It was directed by Michael
Carreras, the son of the Hammer Studios founder, and was said to be the reason
for Hammer not making westerns! Incidentally
this was the first western to be made in Europe’s
only desert, located at Tabernas near Almeria in
Southern Spain[3]. It’s an unforgiving desolate landscape, barren,
hot, dry and dusty surrounded by mountains including the beautiful Sierra
Nevada range, this desert area was a mecca for spaghetti western filmmakers and
many were made in this area including A Fistful of Dollars (1964). It was
this desolate landscape that helped give the ‘Italian’ western its unique
look.
 |
| Tabernas near Almeria. |
The reason that Sergio Leone's movie made such an impact was that it did
extremely well in the box office, not only in Europe, released in 1964, where
this type of film was very popular but in the UK and America when it was
finally released in 1967. (Re-released in 1969). Turning out to be a very high
grossing movie at the box office. Leone went on to make two other films that
were to form what was known as The Dollar
Trilogy they were, as I am sure you are aware, For A Few Dollars More in 1965 and what is considered the best of
the three The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
in 1966. Each of these three movies turned out to be even more popular than the
previous one.
 |
| Leone directing on the set of A Fistful Dollars. |
These films were scored by Ennio Morricone, and his music was as unusual
as Leone’s visuals: not only did he use instruments like the trumpet, the harp
or the electric guitar, he also added whistle’s, cracking whips and gunshots to
the concoction, described by a critic as a ‘rattlesnake
in a drum kit’. Morricone went on to score over 30 Italian westerns and was
a key factor in the genre's success.
 |
| Our anti-hero softens only for the German actress Marianne Koch. |
The Dollar Trilogy starred a
virtually unknown actor called Clint Eastwood, who you may have heard of but at
that time he was in TV series called Rawhide;
in it he played a young cattle drover called Rowdy Yates. It was when various
actors turned down the role of “the man with no name”, including Leone’s
favourite James Coburn who wanted to much money, that Eastwood was offered a
chance to escape from his Rawhide image explaining in an interview that "In Rawhide I did get awfully tired
of playing the conventional white hat. The hero who kisses old ladies and dogs
and was kind to everybody. I decided it was time to be an anti-hero." And it was this anti-hero that was so
different from the standard American western in which it was made so obvious who
was the good guy (the white hat that Clint refers too) and who was the villain
(he would wear a black hat, perhaps silver spurs and pearl handled guns!).
 |
| Rawdy Yates. |
 |
| The Man With No Name. |
Leone was the best-known director in the spaghetti western
genre and went on to make three other genre films including[4]
one of his best westerns Once Upon a Time
in the West (1968) successfully casting Henry Fonda against type as a
villain, but don’t get me wrong he was not the only director of spaghetti
westerns - just the best known. But it was Sergio Leone who defined the look and
attitude of the genre. Although it was Eastwood whose chose the clothes he wore
bring them from America along with the guns he used in Rawhide. Leone’s West
was a dusty wasteland of whitewashed villages, howling winds, scraggy dogs and
cynical heroes, as unshaven as the villains.
 |
| A close up facial shot, the type Leone was famous for |
In general spaghetti westerns are more action oriented than
their American counterparts. Dialogue is sparse and some critics have pointed
out that they are constructed as operas, using the music as an illustrative
ingredient of the narrative. From a long time past westerns had been called
‘horse operas’, but like professor of cultural studies Christopher Frayling
pointed out, it took the Italians to show what the term really meant. Many
spaghetti westerns were quite violent, and several of them met with censorship
problems, causing them to be cut or even banned in certain markets.
 |
| Violence was a big ingredient of the spaghetti western. |
Quentin Tarantino has been quoted as
saying that his main inspiration for Django
Unchained (2012) ‘pretty much began
and ended with Sergio Corbucci. Corbucci made thirteen dark and brutal westerns, with characters
portrayed as sadistic anti heroes. These westerns were famous for a very high
body count and scenes of mutilation. Generally they were not as well known as Leone's
Dollars trilogy and none of them truly cracked the American market
but they were very popular in Europe. The best known of these was Django (1966) which established the masochistic aspect of the spaghetti western hero, the
use of a coffin to store something other than a body and a format that included rivalry
between two factions, in Django its between the white skinned red
hooded "fanatics" led by Major Jackson and the "Bandidos"
Mexicans led by General Hugo Rodriguez. Even our 'hero' is again far removed
from the standard American western hero who would fight for love or loyalty
where as Django and his like fought only for money and self-gratification, a cynical mercenary
who would never hesitate to kill. This prototype
spaghetti western was adjudged to have set a new level for violence in
westerns. The film was banned out right in the UK, unable to get a BBFC 18
certificate until 1993 and downgraded to a 15 certificate in 2004. Also similar to A Fistful of Dollars it was influenced by
Akira Kuroswa’s Yojimbo (1961). Yojimbo in turn had
been influenced by American westerns like High Noon (1952)
and Shane (1953). Incidentally Franco Nero, who stared in
Corbucci’s film as Django, had a cameo appearance in Django Unchained,
 |
| Tarantino based his western on Corbucci Django. |
 |
| The main influence on the Leone and Corbucci was Kuroswa's Yojimbo. |
The Civil War and its aftermath is a recurrent background
and instead of regular names such as Will Kane or Ethan Edwards, the heroes
often have bizarre names like Ringo, Sartana, Sabata, Johnny Oro, Arizona Colt
or, the most famous of all, Django. It has been alleged that the genre is
unmistakably a catholic genre (some other names in use are Hallelujah,
Cemetery, Trinity or Holy Water Joe!), with a visual style strongly influenced
by recognisable catholic images of, for instance, the crucifixion, the last
supper. The surreal extravaganza Django Kill! (1967),
by Giulio Questi, a former assistant of Fellini even has a resurrected hero who
witnesses a reflection of Judgment Day in a dusty western town.
Many spaghetti westerns have an American-Mexican border
setting and feature loud and sadistic Mexican bandits. A
sub-genre of Spaghetti Westerns known as Zapata Westerns, after the Mexican
revolutionary leader Emiliano Zapata, used the Mexican revolution as an
allegory of American imperialism past and present. The revolution lasted from
1912 up until around 1920 during which most of these films were set. Arguable
one of the best examples of this sub-genre was A
Bullet for the General (1966).
 |
| The magnificent A Bullet for the General which also starred Gian Maria Volonte. |
As I said at the
beginning of this piece the Spaghetti Western changed how films, and TV series
are presented mainly how the main protagonist is sometimes portrayed, the
excess violence, the landscape and even the soundtrack. No longer are good and
bad obvious and we the audience are invited to support a character that is not
necessarily a “good” man, or woman come to that, and generally to support his
or her violent actions. Is this reflected in the political actions of so-called
civilised countries, I can’t help but feel that the answers is yes. Perhaps A Fistful of Dollars has got more to
answer for than how we view Peaky
Blinders?
 |
| 'But I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die’ |
[2] It got its name from the fact that most of them were
directed and produced by Italians, often in collaboration with other European
countries, especially Spain and Germany. The name ‘spaghetti western’
originally was a depreciative term, given by foreign critics to these films
because they thought they were inferior to American westerns. Most of the films
were made with low budgets, but several still managed to be innovative and
artistic, although at the time they didn’t get much recognition, even in
Europe. In the eighties the reputation of the genre grew and today the term is
no longer used disparagingly, although some Italians still prefer to call the
films western all’italiana (westerns Italian style). In Japan they
are called Macaroni westerns, in Germany Italowestern. A handful of
westerns were made in Italy before Leone redefined the genre, and the Italians
were not the first to make westerns in Europe in the sixties.
In Germany a series of immensely successful westerns based on the
works of Karl May had been produced.
[3] The outdoor scenes of many spaghetti westerns,
especially those with a relatively higher budget, were shot in the Spain, in
particular the Tabernas desert of Almeria (Andalusia) and Colmenar Viejo and
Hoyo de Manzanares (near Madrid). In Italy the province of Lazio (the
surroundings of Rome) was a favourite location. Some spaghetti westerns were shot
in the Alpes, North Africa or Israel. The indoor scenes were usually shot in
the western towns of the Roman studios like Cinecittà or Elios. The Elios
studios also had a ‘Mexican town’ next to the western town.
[4] A Fistful of
Dynamite (1971) starring James Coburn ,some of which was shot in Spain, and My Name is Nobody with Terrace Hill and
Henry Fonda. Shooting this time took place in New Mexico.
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