Other Definitions
spaghetti western (dict)
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Spaghetti WesternSpaghetti Westerns is a nickname for a broad sub-genre of Western film that emerged in the mid-1960s, so named because most of them were produced by Italian studios. Originally they had in common the Italian language, low budgets, and a recognizable highly fluid, violent, minimalist cinematography that eschewed (some said "demythologized") many of the conventions of earlier Westerns - partly intentionally, partly as a result of the work being done in a different cultural background and with limited funds. The term was originally used disparagingly, but by the 1980s many of these films came to be held in high regard. The best-known and perhaps archetypal spaghetti Westerns were the so-called Man With No Name trilogy directed by Sergio Leone, starring American actor Clint Eastwood and with musical scores composed by Ennio Morricone (all of whom are now synonymous with the genre): A Fistful of Dollars (1964), For a Few Dollars More (1965), and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966). The last is one of the most famed Westerns of all time (although, atypically for the genre, it had a relatively high budget in excess of 1 million USD). Many of the films were shot in the Spanish desert region of Almera. Because of the desert setting and the readily available southern Spanish extras, a usual theme in Spaghetti Westerns is the Mexican Revolution, Mexican bandits and the border zone between Mexico and the USA. Sometimes the names chorizo/paella Western are used for similar films financed by Spanish capital, although Leone's earlier films were actually shot in Andalucia. Publicity for the Japanese comedy film Tampopo coined the phrase "Noodle Western" to describe the parody made about a noodle restaurant. Robert Rodriguez's Westerns have been called "Burrito Westerns." Sometimes Hrafn Gunnlaugsson's Viking movies are called "Cod Westerns". The German Western of the 1960s (successful in Europe before the Italian Western!) made after novels by Karl May and mostly filmed in former Yugoslavia, are often called "Kraut Western". The Red Dwarf episode Gunmen Of The Apocalypse has been described as the world's only "Roast Beef Western". The Red Western or Ostern is the Soviet and eastern bloc's take on the genre. Spaghetti Westerns include: - 800 balas (2002) is set among former actors and stuntmen in Almera.
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