What is a Spaghetti Western?
The Spaghetti Western is a term used to describe Western films made during primarily the 1960s by Italian directors. Since making Western films could often be accomplished with less expense in Europe, the Spaghetti Western became a popular alternative to westerns made in the US. In addition, the camera techniques, plot devices, and strong violence of the films ultimately redefined the genre of Western films. Some critics have argued that the key difference in the Spaghetti Western, in regards to violence, is that violence is seen as a necessary and vital part of the West. This contrasts with films predating the Spaghetti Western, where violence tends to erupt and disturb an otherwise peaceable community. Violence is the necessary evil in films directed by Western greats like John Ford. In the Spaghetti Western, violence is often “just part of life,” and is treated in a casual way or in a way that revels in death. The body counts in some films are huge, and the references to death, via
Basically a Spaghetti Western is an Italian produced Western, or commonly an Italian-Spanish co-production – Italian financed with the principle cast and crew being for the most part Italian – although these films in fact attracted stars of all nationalities. While much of the filming was done in the Italy, usually at the Cinecittà or Elios studios in Rome, the movies were primarily filmed in the Andalucia region of Spain and, because of this, many of the supporting cast and extras where Spanish. Andalucia was used (in particular the Tabernas desert around Almeria) due to its striking resemblance to the Mexican border, even down to the whitewashed villages. This is also regularly reflected in the film story lines, usually featuring Gringos and Mexicans, but rarely the Native American Indians associated with the western plains. Due to the international cast, and on-set language barriers, the films where usually dubbed afterwards regardless of the language of distribution. It is because
The spaghetti western was born in the first half of the sixties and lasted until the second half of the seventies. 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.
And how does it differ from a regular Western? Answer: The short answer is that spaghetti Westerns are Italian productions set in the American West. The longer answer involves a confluence of historical, economic and cultural forces. The popular reimagining of the American West began as the West was still being won, with pulp novels, Wild West shows and touring theater productions. Movies were the next logical step in the process, and their formative years followed so closely on the heels of the conquest of the frontier that real-life legend Wyatt Earp (1848-1929) lived long enough to act as an advisor on early Westerns. American Westerns ranged from simple adventure fables aimed at children to more psychologically and socioeconomically sophisticated stories. But by the early ’60s, after more than 40 years of movies and TV shows, American Westerns were running out of steam. European audiences had always loved Western stories; German novelist Karl May’s (1842-1912) dozens of Western adv
