The two Western films we viewed in class were Unforgiven; directed by Clint Eastwood and Stagecoach; directed by John Ford. Both these films were similar as well as different but none the less were both wonderfully made western films.
These two films were produced nearly 50 years apart, which is a leading cause to many differences between these two films. Stagecoach was based off of the story, "Stage to Lordsburg". It was made in 1939 in black and white. This movie was recognized for the new innovation it incoporated into the movie. It was Ford's first movie that used sound, and the was filmed in Monument Valley; a soon to be popular western location. Unforgiven followed a screeplay by David Webb Peoples, which turned out to be one of the greatest western movies made. It won four academy awards and an Oscar award for best picture. Unforgiven was released in 1992, in color. There are many different themes and morals for western films, which is another point of how Stagecoach and Unforgiven differ. Unforgiven was more based around gunplay and retaliation, which is what the adventure William Munny goes on was for. While Unforgiven on the other hand
Despite their differences, both films followed typical western film ways, which bring these two films together. Both were focused on a journey. Stagecoach was about a stagecoach full of a variety of personality characters that were all trying to arrive at their destination in Lordsburg. The people went for different reasons; to retrieve a husband, to escape and other reasons. In Unforgiven, William Munny; a hog farmer and widower with two children, was on a journey to find a terrible, unjust man, by the name of "Little Bill". Another difference that is visible in viewing these two films was how the whores were portrayed and the roles they played in society. In Stagecoach, there were not many woman in that film but there was one girl in particular that was viewed as the city whore; Dallas. Other women in the town did not like her, but overall she did not play a big role. Although in Unforgiven, in the upper floor of the bar there was a hallway with rooms where the whores lived. These women tried to have a say in what happened in the town. It was obvious they played a bigger role in society in this movie than in the other.
Picture: http://www.soundtrackcollector.com/images/cd/large/Unforgiven_VSD5380.jpg
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i liked how even though the movie were 50 years you still were able to find similarities between the two movies. I also liked how you gave a detailed background of each movie and it showed your underestandings of the western genre. good job megan:]
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