Géneros Cinematográficos

The Westerner September 10, 2007

** Notes on Robert Warshow’s – Movie Chronicle : The Westerner

The title indicates that Warshow is more concerned about the westerner – the western hero-, than the genre itself. However, the western is pretty much defined by its hero and the hero, particularly in the western and in action movies, is the driving force of the film.

Warshow compares the hero of the gangster movie to that of the western in order to:
- Show the differences in both
- Discuss the parallel between both men’s use of guns
- Compare their positions as outsiders
- Contrast their melancholy and loneliness

The outcome shows that “the westerner” – the hero at the center of The western is:

1. A figure of repose
2. Sort of a zen character who understands the world and its code (comes as no surprise to us that Seven Samurai inspired The Magnificent Seven – where the samurai code is equivalent to the code of honor of the western hero)
3. His melancholy comes from the simple recognition that life is hard and serious.
4. Although we never see him working we recognize that there are no luxuries in his lifestyle, – that he has a hard life.
5. Love is not on his side in the sense that he is bound to be doomed and cannot settle for love – there tends to be something of a higher power that calls him
6. Usually the territory is lawless and the westerner is due to set precedent with his actions
7. He will protect those who are weak from the perils of the evil that surrounds the landscape and from the harshness of the landscape itself.

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Approaching genre theory form the western September 10, 2007

Westerns have occupied a very important place in the discussion on genre theory. Despite the fact that westerns are not as popular as they used to be in the 40’s and 50’s, the western is still central to the theoretical approaches to genre.

However the western’s central position in the development of genre theory is complicated because its main characteristics are unusual, meaning that they are specific to the western, rather than typical characteristics that can help define genre theory as a whole. Thus the western proves not to be a suitable model for general conceptions of genre theory.

Another complication regarding the western is the relationship it plays with American history and US culture, which makes is susceptible to formal methods of thematic, cultural and ideological analysis. The western also one of the principal points or reference for theories of iconography in the 60’s and 70’s, which proves the richness, the distinctiveness and the highly encoded characteristics of its visual conventions.

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