Spaghetti Westerns at the Crossroads

‘This collection of essays moves over territory and across borders previously uncharted and undocumented in existing accounts of the Western. In taking paths and routes less travelled, Fisher and his contributors show how rich and diverse the genre is in its many international, national and local guises. This is scholarship of high merit.’ Peter Stanfield, University of Kent What links Italian neorealism to Django Unchained, French comic books to Third-World insurgency, and Bollywood song-and-dance to Eastern Bloc film distribution? As this volume illustrates, the answers lie in the Spaghetti Western genre. As the reference points of American popular culture became ever more prominent in post-war Europe, the hundreds of films that make up the Italian (or ‘Spaghetti’) Western documented profound shifts in their home country’s cultural outlook, while at the same time denying specifically national discourses. An object of fascination and great affection for fans, filmmakers and academics alike, the Western all¹italiana arose from a diverse confluence of cultural strands, and would become a pivotal moment in cinematic history. Reappraising a diverse selection of films, from the internationally famed works of Sergio Leone to the cult cachet of Sergio Corbucci and the more obscure outputs of such directors as Giuseppe Colizzi and Ferdinando Baldi, this comprehensive study brings together leading international scholars in a variety of disciplines – revisiting the genre’s cultural significance and considering its ongoing influence on international film industries. Austin Fisher is Senior Lecturer in Film and Television Studies at Bournemouth University. Cover image: Sukiyaki Western Django, 2007 © Dentsu/Sony Pictures/The Kobal Collection Cover design: [EUP logo] edinburghuniversitypress.com ISBN 978-0-7486-9545-4 Barcode