Landscape and Violence

The Western has long romanticised both the landscape of the Wild West and the violent terrain which it inhabits. Monument Valley, situated in a remote area on the border between Arizona and Utah, covering 1,500 square miles within the Navaho Indian reservation most captures the imagination. Monument Valley became the prime location for many of John Ford's most famous westerns including Stagecoach. The lonesome twin peaks of Monument Valley have become an iconic backdrop that transcends even the Western, the sixties road movie Easy Rider for example pays homage to the location as Hopper and Fonda ride through the valley.

Rap Brown has been famously quoted as saying "violence is as American as cherry pie" and there can be little doubt of its deep-rooted response. Several John Wayne characters from Tom Doniphon in Who Shot Liberty Valance to Ethan Edwards in the Searchers react with great machismo. Similarly, the sudden burst of violence gives a cathartic punch to many Sam Peckinpah films that became his stock in trade, like The Wild Bunch.

Nigel Arthur, bfi Stills Curator