Western Cinema Example

Western cinema, also known as cowboy cinema, was born as a form of expression for or against politics during the Second World War. This genre is characterized by falsely describing the colonization of the old west, always having as main characters bandits turned into heroes, while the Indians are depicted as wild, uncivilized and dangerous people, thus becoming the antagonists of the stories; Although the crime caused by the California Gold Rush is real, in these films we will always find exaggerated situations.

Among the most popular themes within this film genre are: good versus evil, the progress that occurred in the area with the arrival of the telegraph and the construction of railways, the constant struggle between barbarism and civilization always represented by characters Anglo-Saxons.

A characteristic of western cinema is always to have natural settings, in which productions built towns in which they developed the stories, in which the cowboys, outlaws, judges, Indians, travelers, pioneers, miners, soldiers, sheriffs and even businessmen.

The antecedents of western cinema are focused on three films: Assault and robbery of the train (1903, Porter), Across the plañís (1911, Harper) and The diligence (1939, John Ford).

Some of the most representative films of western cinema are:

• Alone in Danger (1951, Fred Zinnemann)
• The Lawless Prairie (1954, King Vidor)
• Broken Arrow (1950, Delmer Daves)
• Apache (1954, Robert Almich)