230586 Film Genre: The Western (S) (SoSe 2008)

The Western is the quintessential American genre. The story of pioneers heading west into a vast unknown land, confronting all manner of dangers in order to bring civilization to the wilderness is one of the great foundational myths of American culture. We are all familiar with the basic imagery of the Western - the cowboys, the open plains, the romantic outlaws, the coming of the train, the saloons, shootouts and six-guns.

In this course we will examine how the basic themes of the Western have evolved over time through a number of classic films such as Stagecoach, High Noon, Shane, and Unforgiven. The course will also look at how the shifting themes of the Western may reflect social and political changes in the United States. Students should be aware that we will be looking at these films in depth with reference to areas of film analysis like mise-en-scène, cinematography, editing, and sound - all of which will be discussed in detail during the course - and that all student assessments will require an understanding of these concepts. We will also study one novel, All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy.