Spaghetti western is a movie subgenre that is comprised in the main genre of western movies, or cowboys’ movies. This subgenre is mostly common in movies produced in Italy, during the 60’s and 70’s.
Initially, the designation “spaghetti western” had a dyslogistic sense, being specially used to refer low-budget Italian productions that tried to reproduce big and well-known American western movies. However, with the development and growing popularity of this type of movies, the spaghetti western became a subgenre, having its own aesthetics and technics of filming.
The affirmation of the spaghetti western as a subgenre was strongly related to the work of the Italian director Sergio Leone; his adaptation of the samurai movie “Yojimbo”, from Akira Kurosawa, named “A Fistful of Dollars”, in 1964, was the first movie that made spaghetti westerns known worldwide, and that made the public starting appreciating them. The success of the movie allowed Leone to also direct “For a Few Dollars More”, in 1965, and “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly”, in 1966, completing the trilogy starred by Clint Eastwood, and that finish the establishment of the spaghetti western as an important and valid subgenre, which was also well received and appreciated by specialized critics worldwide.
This subgenre is mainly characterized by the exaggerated use of violence, the slowdown of shots with the intent of creating suspense, and for the important role played by the sound track in the narrative itself.
The spaghetti western started falling into decline in the 80’s and 90’s, and also during the first decade of the new millennium, and only in the last years it started reappearing, especially in productions directed by innovative movie directors, such as Quentin Tarantino or Robert Rodriguez.
