Spaghetti Western

A broad subgenre of Western films, Spaghetti Western emerged in the mid-1960s and was mainly directed by Italian directors who were experts in Western genre. The name was coined by critics as these films were highly low-budget and directed by European, especially Italian directors.

You may find yourself questioning the difference between the traditional, American Western and Spaghetti Western, but it's quite simple.

In American Westerns, we have the frontier ideology and basically, the whole plot revolves around it. We have the crash of old versus new, civilization versus the wilderness and the characters embrace these ideologies. Villains are identifiable as bad criminals and the good is always the one who brings law and order to the untamed frontier. Themes are always justice, law, order, the triumph of civilization, and the ideology of Old vs New World.

However, in Spaghetti Westerns, the lines between good and evil are blurry. A broken anti-hero is the protagonist, and anybody can be morally vicious because now everything is gray. The towns are ruled by outlaws and lawlessness prevails with these untamed heroes pulling the strings around the town. Therefore, in such a world what prevails is violence.

Let's talk briefly about Sergio Leone and his Dollars Trilogy. Best known for his pioneering contributions to Spaghetti Western, Leone's characters are known for being morally ambiguous. To exemplify, we can elaborate on his Dollar Trilogy and his anti-hero characters.

Yes, bear with me, bear with me... Clint Eastwood! Clint Eastwood's character 'The Man with No Name' is a typical gray character who embodies the characteristics of the subgenre's archetypes. A silent anti-hero, Man with No Name is a mysterious character with no or little background info. All we know is that he is a hypermasculine known for being a skilled gunslinger.

Assuming that you are familiar with the narrative and style, The Dollars Trilogy consists of three influential movies: The Good, the Bad and The Ugly, For a Few Dollars More, and A Fistful of Dollars. These movies redefined Western and send Leone's vision and legacy to glory as the director that changed the perception of Western Cinema.

I'm on my way to listen to soundtracks of The Dollars Trilogy, anybody wanna join?