The 70s Western and beyond

During the 1970s the western was redefined to reflect the era, often violent, often ironic, and above all anti-heroic. Films by Altman, Aldrich and Peckinpah are some of the finest of the genre although they received a mixed reception at the time. The Western celebrated its centenary in 2003. Since then, the number of Westerns which Hollywood has produced can probably be numbered on the fingers of one hand. A generation has grown up who find John Wayne's Western machismo a little over the top. It's not that audiences don't want action heroes; indeed, contemporary mass cinema might be considered over-supplied in that department. But Wayne and many other Western stars of the past lack the ironic, wise-cracking manner that modern audiences prefer. For today's film-goers, the Western seems hamstrung by its historical setting, handicapped by its primitive technology, by its period costumes and its quaintly old-fashioned manners. Moreover, many in the audience have lost the folk memory which would allow them to understand the conventions upon which the genre depends for narrative coherence.

Excerpts from BFI Screen Guide: 100 Westerns by Edward Buscombe