Dowdsy McDowds
Sally was here
Last night I watched Rango. Aside from some great animation and Timothy Olyphant voicing a character called Spirit of the West who bore a stark similarity to Clint Eastwood, it was a pretty crap film. The plot being based around water reminded me of Once Upon A Time in The West, which fights Shane regularly for the top-spot in the Western category in my head.
It was late by the time Rango finished and I didn't have the energy to make a start on OUATITW so I compromised and put on another Leone Western; For A Few Dollars More. I've only watched it a couple of times, and both of those were around 2 years ago when I was studying films for my dissertation at University. For all the over-dubbing of voices, unrealistic pistol sounds and at times, weird sounding dialogue, it's still a fantastic film. The 2 bounty hunters try and one-up each other with various shooting contests and exhibitions of toughness and guile, the villain is a general bastard, but the music is what really takes the film to another level.
Before Leone, John Ford was the master of portraying the Western frontier as he regularly teamed up with John Wayne who is essentially America's quintessential cowboy. Ford made countless Westerns but just 2 of them can be held up against nearly any other film and rank higher in terms of influence, directorial skill and overall quality; Stagecoach and The Searchers. Even as more time passes they are still recognised for the masterpieces that they are by institutes such as the AFI and BFI.
So this leads me to ask, in a genre as full as the Western, does it just come down to these 2 in determining who the best director was, or should anyone else be considered?
Do you have a preference between Leone and Ford? Why?
It was late by the time Rango finished and I didn't have the energy to make a start on OUATITW so I compromised and put on another Leone Western; For A Few Dollars More. I've only watched it a couple of times, and both of those were around 2 years ago when I was studying films for my dissertation at University. For all the over-dubbing of voices, unrealistic pistol sounds and at times, weird sounding dialogue, it's still a fantastic film. The 2 bounty hunters try and one-up each other with various shooting contests and exhibitions of toughness and guile, the villain is a general bastard, but the music is what really takes the film to another level.
Before Leone, John Ford was the master of portraying the Western frontier as he regularly teamed up with John Wayne who is essentially America's quintessential cowboy. Ford made countless Westerns but just 2 of them can be held up against nearly any other film and rank higher in terms of influence, directorial skill and overall quality; Stagecoach and The Searchers. Even as more time passes they are still recognised for the masterpieces that they are by institutes such as the AFI and BFI.
So this leads me to ask, in a genre as full as the Western, does it just come down to these 2 in determining who the best director was, or should anyone else be considered?
Do you have a preference between Leone and Ford? Why?
