MovieChat Forums > Django il bastardo (1974) Discussion > Why can't Europeans see that . . .

Why can't Europeans see that . . .


. . . Spaghetti Westerns are actually a mix of American and Asian film genres?

The whole Western concept came from American cinema and the whole "coming back from the dead and seeking violent revenge" comes from Asian (particularly Japanese) cinema.

I don't understand this argument of a European Western (Django, Il Bastardo) coming 4 years before an American one (High Plains Drifter). After all, if truth be told, it's the Americans and Japanese who should be furious at the Europeans for ripping them off.

reply

I'm off to Gran Canaria nest week , may visit the Sioux City attraction to see the set from Fistful o' Green Ones. Send u postcard

"Come back with my Oreos you hairy-ass"

reply

Enjoy your trip.

Say Hi to the buffalo for me.

reply

Maybe because Spaghetti Westerns are a mix of American (hence the setting), Japanese (not Asian... it is specifically Japanese. Asia has many different film industries) and EUROPEAN (especially Italian but also German, Spanish and sometimes French and English). There is a very European mentality to most, if not all, Spaghetti Westerns, for the simple reason they were mostly made by Europeans.

"The whole Western concept came from American cinema and the whole "coming back from the dead and seeking violent revenge" comes from Asian (particularly Japanese) cinema."

The concept of the Western is indeed from America, however "coming back from the dead and seeking violent revenge" is not in Japanese cinema any more than it is in European cinema. In fact I've watched many, many Japanese films and I can't think of many cases of such a trope, especially one close to 'Django il bastardo' which is actually one in a line of films inspired by the film 'Django' (which other than the inspiration and title this film is not connected to) in which the character is called "Django" ("I awake" in Romani) and carried his coffin around with him. Having the trappings of being a dead man arisen though it does not go too far in implying he actually is a dead-man. Later filmmakers expanded on it and thus "Django" became an "undead avenger" (see also 'Django kill!').

Sergio Corbucci's 'Django' itself is inspired by 'Yojimbo' (itself from the hardboiled novel 'Red Harvest) which was also remade as 'A Fistful of Dollars' by Sergio Leone. But the "coming back from the dead and seeking violent revenge" trope is not in 'Yojimbo' (or for that matter 'A Fistful of Dollars' or 'Red Harvest') and only hinted at in 'Django' and expanded upon in later Spaghetti Westerns inspired by Django.

I'd say it is a natural progression, but "coming back from the dead and seeking violent revenge" is a common theme world wide and has featured in European literature and folklore for as long as records go. It is also a common theme in Italian cinema, just look at all the Italian Gialli films.

Lastly Europeans did not "rip-off" Americans and the Japanese. All those groups have influenced each other. If I were to join in on being silly I'd say Americans and Japanese ripped-off German Expressionism by using moving cameras, mood lighting and shadows, and basing the whole "Film Noir" genre on Expressionist principals as well as the earlier American Horror films. In fact everyone ripped-off the idea of films from France and England; the first film 'Roundhay Garden Scene' being shamelessly ripped off by imitators for well over a century.

As you probably haven't seen that many Spaghetti Westerns or even Italian films in general or Japanese films I suggest you do so. There are many great films from Italy (and the whole of Europe) and Japan.

I'd suggest watching the films of Mario Bava, Dario Argento, Frederico Fellini, Sergio Leone, Sergio Corbucci, Roberto Rossellini, Vittorio De Sica, Michelangelo Antonioni and too many others to list.

As for Japan, you should watch the films of Masaki Kobayashi, Akira Kurosawa, Kenji Mizoguchi, Hiroshi Inagaki, Yasujiro Ozu, Kenji Misumi, Yoshiyuki Kuroda, Yoshio Inoue, Kon Ichikawa, Kinji Fukasaku, Isao Takahata and Hayao Miyazaki amongst others.

Other (non-Italian) European directors whose films are well worth a watch include (but are not limited to) Ingmar Bergman, Terence Fisher, Nicholas Roeg, Werner Herzog, Fritz Lang, F.W. Murnau, Robert Wiene, Paul Wegener, Jean Lu Godard, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, David Lean, Charlie Chaplin, Bruce Robinson, François Truffaut, John Mackenzie, Roland Joffe, Ken Russell, Alfred Hitchcock, Roman Polanski, Ken Loach, Carol Reed, Michael Anderson, Freddie Francis, Peter Sasdy, Roy Ward Baker, Seth Holt, John Hough, Victor Sjöström, Lasse Hallström, Jan Troell, Vilgot Sjöman, Carl Theodor Dreyer, Lars von Trier and Benjamin Christensen.

"Nothings gonna change my world!"

reply