Original subtitles

don't fire shot

I'm John Baxter

Sheriff

yeah well they're here this year if you

were to get these men Underground

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westons are some of the most iconic

movies ever made with them having been

an integral part of Cinema since the

Great Train Robbery in 1903 they're

still incredibly important to the movie

world today with revisionist westerns

like Django Unchained and the power of

the dog receiving immense critical

Acclaim it's clear westerns have been

insanely important for as long as film

has existed as an art form but there's a

type of Western that has become arguably

more iconic than the standard Western

the Spaghetti Western

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it'll be a lot easier with it now this

is not to say that traditional westerns

are bad you've got to remember that

without them we wouldn't even have the

Spaghetti Western in the first place and

there is absolutely zero doubt that

classic American-made westerns have

their own merits however this video is

discussing how the Revolutionary

spaghetti western ended up receiving the

same amount or sometimes even more

critical Acclaim than the American-made

ones some have even ended up being some

of the highest rated movies of all time

the sub-genre has not only directly

provided us with Summer Cinema's

greatest moments but has also indirectly

provided us with masterpieces from

contemporary filmmakers so the real

question is what makes Spaghetti

Westerns so good

thank you this

I'm sure many of you are already

familiar with the sub-genre but for

those who aren't here's a very quick

rundown on what a spaghetti western

actually is strange name right why

spaghetti well as funny and stupid as it

sounds the name comes from the fact that

these films were produced and directed

by Italians the name was supposedly

coined by Spanish journalist Alfonso

Sanchez although I can literally not

find anything on this guy online so it's

hard to say if that is actually true

there's a lot of debate over what the

first spaghetti western actually is but

it's safe to say that the most famous

and successful films of the sub-genre

are those in the Dallas Trilogy directed

by the amazing Sergio Leone and starring

the incredibly talented Clint Eastwood A

Fistful of Dollars is arguably the movie

that introduced The Wider world to the

Spaghetti Western with it and its two

sequels being among the most

recognizable westerns of all time it was

also the success of A Fistful of Dollars

that pave the way for even more

Spaghetti Westerns to find their footing

in the Cinematic world so as I was

saying what is it about them that makes

them so good

difference

well before we get into the more nuanced

reasons we should talk about the sort of

umbrella explanation for the incredible

quality of spaghetti westerns that being

their difference not uniqueness per se

although that is certainly another bonus

they have but the way in which they're

different to the traditional

American-made Western is what makes them

so good while the two genres share the

same skeleton the tweaks that spaghetti

westerns made to the original formula is

what sets them apart from their American

counterparts and ultimately ended up

revolutionizing this corner of Cinema

itself there's a plethora of examples

for this and I'd like to start with the

Aesthetics

when talking about the medium of film

it's pretty much imperative to talk

about the visuals while the writing

which we'll get to is of equal

importance we have to remember that film

is a visual based format the Aesthetics

of a spaghetti western are very

different to that of an American Western

while the American westerns at the time

favored clean Aesthetics with

protagonists wearing immaculately clean

shirts and hats often being clean shaven

and having Short Hair Etc spaghetti

Western's featured characters who are

often scruffy and unkempt because of

this there's more of a sense of realism

in spaghetti westerns in terms of their

looks at least the antagonists are

sometimes better groomed than the

protagonists and there isn't always a

clear visual divide between the good guy

being attractive and the bad guy being

ugly

it's not always as easy to tell who's

the protagonist or antagonist from their

looks alone which you could more often

than not do in the older American

westerns

equally towns and their inhabitants are

also not necessarily the best looking

with the towns looking dirty and

dangerous and the townsfolk being hairy

filthy dressed Gunslingers or Saloon

goers

and like I said the actual towns

themselves as settings are more Grammy

and disreputable the almost

picture-perfect Golden Sands and

well-kept wooden buildings are gone and

have been replaced with dingy rundown

structures that reside in Barren

unappealing deserts sometimes there's

even thick disgusting mud Paving the

street of these places

foreign

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Star Wars success was because of how

different it looked instead of utilizing

the Sleek Silvers and bright costumes of

the Sci-Fi that came before it it used

more toned down colors and grimy

locations plus the protagonist was

scruffy and not in flashy space suits

like the aforementioned sci-fi before

well the exact same thing happened to

Spaghetti Westerns about a decade

earlier the brutality of the Wild West

while certainly exaggerated was finally

being displayed properly through these

movies while definitely stylized in

different ways the spaghetti western got

rid of the overly clean and attractive

Landscapes people and settings and

replace them with the brutal reality of

living life in the Wild West

in fact that brings me on to my next

point the brutality and morally gray

characters

thank you

when you have to shoot shoot don't talk

another reason as to why Spaghetti

Westerns are so good it's because of

their willingness to show not only the

harsh brutality of the old west but also

the distinct lack of Morality In the

majority of characters or in other words

it's their ability to have protagonists

that are Charming but sometimes equally

as brutal as the antagonist or simply

just out for themselves

gunfights can be unfair in these movies

either at the hands of the protagonist

or the antagonist a good example is when

the men with no name points a rifle at

El Indio during the final Jewel of for a

few dollars more or when the titular

Django mercilessly guns down his enemies

with a machine gun in Django by Sergio

corbuchi

kobuchi's films are an excellent

demonstration of a spaghetti westerns

way of displaying the harsh violence

that resided in every town in the wild

west does the aforementioned example in

Django which also features horrendous

brutality at the hands of the film's

antagonist who has Django's hands

completely shattered under horse Hooves

there's no confusion as to who the bad

guy is of course but even still the fact

the protagonist is willing to machine

gun tens of people down shows how

violent the time was

this is also similar to how the man with

no name in The Good the Bad and the Ugly

has the highest kill count in the entire

film despite being the supposed well

good

in kobuchi's 1968 film The Grand silence

the protagonist's silence shoots the

thumbs off of his victims instead of

giving the quick One-Shot death like

previous Western Heroes would have done

kobuchi's in Leone's respective series

also feature beatings which result in

quite Gory for the time at least

outcomes protagonist and antagonists are

beaten relentlessly at times and blood

is drawn which sounds stupid and tame by

nowaday standards but remember at the

time this was practically unheard of in

American-made westerns this is also same

with the shootings that happen in these

movies these feature characters bleeding

from their mouths and gunshot wounds in

their dying moments making them

incredibly different to the bloodless

immediate deaths of traditional Western

characters

there's even a scene in Django where a

man has his ear cut off which is

actually so gross and gory even for the

time that I don't think I'm gonna risk

showing the clip here on YouTube but it

is out there if you do want to see it

there's no order to the violence or

barbarity of the West like there is in

other westerns protagonists will commit

acts as stomach churning as the villain

sometimes and our main characters aren't

righteous lawmen or Justice Bringers

they're cold-blooded Killers who

although certainly possess a sense of

morality are ultimately often out for

themselves

more often than not the leads are in

pursuit of selfish gain whether it be

through the pursuit of gold or revenge

and along the way they leave a trail of

not only dead antagonists but also other

people who just simply stood in their

way

spaghetti western protagonists were

ruthless and would draw their gun at the

first sight of anyone who could be an

obstacle

characters will also openly betray one

another for the sake of their own

personal advancement this can be seen

throughout pretty much the entirety of

the good the bad the ugly in which all

three main characters constantly double

cross each other for the sake of

attaining the two hundred thousand

dollar reward at the end of the journey

and this is why I find them so

compelling we don't follow Heroes we

follow criminals who are ultimately

scumbags when you really think about it

yet they're still charismatic and fun to

watch because they practically always

end up doing the right thing even if

that is only because it aids them in

their selfish quest for vengeance or

money

and all of this beautiful storytelling

Charming yet brutally selfish characters

and extreme violence is backed by

another example of why Spaghetti

Westerns are so great

the music

now I know talking about copyrighted

music in a YouTube video is

counter-intuitive because I can't play

any of it but to talk about Spaghetti

Westerns without talking about their

soundtracks is to basically commit a

crime in itself the scores of these

films are exceptional loud Grand brass

instrumentals are a staple of the

franchise with them backing the swelling

climaxes of the famous standoffs that

feature so prominently in the sub-genre

the trumpet solo solidified the tension

while bouncy electric guitars play over

scenes of horse riding or other exciting

action pieces to really get you hyped up

for what's coming next however there is

also the use of some strange musical

combinations and sounds throughout the

soundtracks that result in some

amazingly unique pieces once again

straying away from the traditional

sounds of the classic Western

the best example for this and probably

the best example of any spaghetti

western soundtrack is the score for the

Good the Bad and the Ugly in the main

theme we have a combination of the

aforementioned energetic guitars

whistles chanting and even cannon fire

then in the beautiful Ecstasy of Gold we

met with wildly Lively trumpets which

contrast nicely with the epically ground

operatic vocals throughout the track and

finally the song the trio uses a

combination of Spanish flamenco guitar

castanets and once again the infamous

Mexican style trumpets to create an epic

finale that creates an almost palpable

tension

few other notable examples I'd like to

quickly mention is the final Jewel song

in Once Upon a Time in the West the

Striking combination of the almost Eerie

harmonica dramatic guitar stings and a

powerful string Arrangement results in

cinema soundtrack gold and it's an

example that I think perfectly cements

the legendary status of spaghetti

westerns and their music then the

opening titles to Django are

astoundingly epic and thrush you into

the film's action and drama immediately

they were such a powerful inclusion

Quentin Tarantino even used them for the

opening of Django Unchained but it's not

just epic sounding grandiosity that

makes the music of spaghetti western so

good it's also the more somber quieter

scores that make them so enjoyable there

are plenty of examples throughout the

dollages trilogy however I'd like to get

away from those movies for a second as

there's a piece of music in another

spaghetti western which I think

highlights this point perfectly the

piece in question is titled at the Grand

Jewel Parts Prima and it is a hauntingly

beautiful piece it's a slow piece that

almost evokes mystery with its harmonica

and almost Airy strings it's great like

all the other pieces I mentioned

each musical score complements The Scene

It features in perfectly making

spaghetti westerns as amazing as they

are to be able to have the music

flawlessly convey the same emotions as

what's actually happening on screen is

the skill which I feel wasn't always

present in American westerns at the time

each film soundtrack can make you

excited tense or even quite sort of

melancholy with ease and does so with

the use of these unconventional musical

combinations once again another factor

of filmmaking is executed so

magnificently in this sub-genre

demonstrating exactly why it's heralded

as one of the best and most influential

sub-genres of all time

thank you foreign

ly I was going to end this video by

summing up my thoughts on my spaghetti

westerns are so good but I think there's

an aspect of them that shows just how

good they are which we haven't spoken

about yet and that's their effect on

Cinema as a whole because they're not

just great themselves but are also great

in how they managed to spawn some great

movies after they themselves were long

gone the biggest example of this is how

the spaghetti western actually changed

westerns as a whole all of the violence

disreputable protagonists Etc eventually

found its way into the more mainstream

American-made westerns that followed

these components could particularly be

found in Clint Eastwood's mostly only

westerns such as High Plains Drifter

which sees his character reek as much

revenge on the town's folk as he does

the Outlaws in fact the magnitude of

influence spaghetti westerns have had on

Cinema goes beyond the films that

followed shortly after as we see their

influence still affecting Cinema to this

day most notably as I mentioned before

in the work of Quentin Tarantino both of

his westerns Django Unchained and the

hateful eight take a lot of elements

from Spaghetti Westerns and I mean a lot

not only does Django and chain partially

share the name with kobuchi's 1966

release it also utilizes the music from

two Spaghetti Westerns one being Django

of course and the other being Trinity

titoli which features in the comedy

spaghetti western They Call Me Trinity

the same can be said for the hateful

eight with its Snowden environment being

taken directly from the great silence

so Spaghetti Westerns May technically be

dead and gone in their purest form but

the quality they possess has resulted in

their Spirits living on through

contemporary filmmakers meaning they

will always be a substantial part of

Cinema history and that is why Spaghetti

Westerns are so good

foreign

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