[quote=“Bill san Antonio, post:238, topic:322”]I have Joseph McBride’s book “Hawks on Hawks” where the interviewer asks his opinion about Wild Bunch (for which he replies with the words stanton mentioned) and italowesterns:
“Eastwood made few of them, couple of those were good but after that their quality has decreased. Latest have been made pretty badly. Terribly badly. I don’t manage to watch em through the end.”
interview was made somewhere during 70-74 I think.[/quote]
Thank you Bill san Antonio! It looks like I was right (not that it matters)!
Well, cultie movies like Spaghetti Westerns are pretty much looked down upon in most countries. Over here in Britain, the only Spaghetti Westerns that ever actually get shown on important TV channels are Sergio Leone films. Even the book “1001 Moives You Must See Before You Die” only has two Spaghetti Westerns in it, and both were directed by Sergio Leone (the Spaghetti Western films that are included are: “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” and “Once Upon a Time in the West”).
Not counting the Leone’s, Giallos are generally way more popular than SW’s, and I think more highly regarded by critics too. Bava and Argento have managed to hit the mainstream somewhat.
For all the work he did with SW’s, Giuliano Gemma’s most famous role is still in Tenebre.
[quote=“Lindberg, post:252, topic:322”]At least critics don’t look down on SWs just because they’re Italian, or violent and nihilistic, like they did in the 60s
On the other hand the genre was more ‘mainstream’ or popular among the general audience in those days
So it’s the other way around today than it was in the 60s :D[/quote]
Yeah that is quite an interesting thought Lindberg LOL. In fact, the western in general is not really mainstream anymore, even American ones. Hollywood comes out with maybe 1 or 2 westerns a year nowadays. Its off the beaten path.
To true. Which is a shame really, as most modern Westerns are nothing at all like all those John Wayne Westerns. They are actually closer to Spaghetti Westerns in some aspects.
Yeah thats true. The modern Hollywood Westerns are heavily influenced by SW"s, but they lack a couple of things:
The cool musical score
The really low budget. Westerns nowadays cost at least 30 million to make. Geez, can’t they just film in Texas Hollywood like the good ol days? Save some money LOL
I think the influence of SWs continues to be apparent, perhaps even more than ever in big-budget Hollywood action and fantasy films (I don’t think it’s that pronounced in Westerns, ironically enough), but as far as appreciation or recognition of the films themselves goes, they’re still marooned in a cultural desert.
As far as cult/genre cinema is concerned, it’s horror movies that are hogging the limelight.
Andrew Sarris was probably the only major critic to acclaim the films.
He also praised Eastwood’s post leone films when no one else saw his talent as an actor/director>
I think he lived to see it.
I’m not an expert in the history of movie reviews, but from his first SW to his death he had like 25 years to get some comfort
