Requesting a Western

[Hartwin Alfred Gebhardt]

EL-SHAIEB SHAHIR writes:

>      Anybody up for a modern interpretation of the Western?  

Why not? The only modern analysis I can remember reading is one by 
Mark Simpson, who interprets Unforgiven as a tender (homosexual) love 
story - between Eastwood and Freeman, echoing the old Tonto 
wilderness romance. 
The reason I prefer The Good / Bad / Ugly to Josey Wales (which I 
find very good, btw, much better than the John Wayne stuff) is because 
it both parodies and exploits the inherently conservative Western 
conventions, without dismissing people's suffering (the soldiers and 
other, er, preterite). And then there's Eli Wallach's Ugly, which is 
still one of the funniest performances I've ever seen. (But then, I 
generally find it very difficult adopting a critical stance to the movies 
I grew up with. I still love all those old James Bond films, for instance - 
never miss a rerun.)

hg
hag at iafrica.com